Hen Apron

I wanted to spend some time with some friends today, seeing as my birthday was yesterday.  But my dog has yet to really recover from his trip to the Veterinary Specialist (VSCT, in Tucson, I highly recommend them) after a 4th of July trip to the same hospital for an emergency visit.  Poor guy is having urinary issues, and the main treatment is some drugs that also happen to make him very drowsy and clumsy.  Since he fell twice this morning, and has been a bit incontinent today, I decided it was better to be home with him.

Which sort of works out, because I do have some things to work on.  Like Hen Aprons.


I have chickens.  Hens and pullets; I don't keep a rooster, since I don't intend on increasing my flock.  Chickens are an easy and delightfully fun backyard animal.  They're a funny mix of smart and bird-brained, and can be very entertaining to watch.  My hens are pretty tame - I've hand raised them all.  I have different breeds that are all known for their egg production: one Orpington, one Rhode Island, one Plymouth Rock, one Leghorn, and a trio of Easter Eggers.  They used to all be named after the ladies on The View, since they have a lot in common with the ladies when they argue, but I have lost some hens to coyotes and added to the flock since then.

At any rate, Elizabeth, my Rhode Island Red, spends each spring and summer like this:

Freshly plucked chicken.

Last year, it was worse.  She was bleeding from several cuts on her back where she'd been pecked (so I suspected.)  I cleaned her up, caged her with a warming light, and gave her some antibiotic food, in the hopes she would get better.  Fortunately, she did, and grew all her feathers back by the next moult.  She spent the rest of the winter without any problems.  The hen I suspected of pecking (Joy, the Barred Rock, and boss hen,) broke her beak early in the spring, so I thought perhaps there would be no picking this year.  I know that the Orpington - named Sherri - isn't to blame.  She's too sweet, and spends a lot of the spring being broody.

Well, there was.  I wondered who was doing it this time, since Joy was not particularly able to, as far as I could tell.  While out bothering the hens, Jen and I discovered this:

The new suspect.

So it turns out Consuela, the Leghorn, has spurs.  I was not really aware that hens could get spurs, but it turns out that many do.  None of my other hens or pullets has developed spurs before. Consuela, like a lot of her breed, is nervous of people, so I don't handle her often.  She does tend to be a bit confrontational with the other hens - I guess she's making up for her size (she's a bantam, the rest of my hens are not.)

So, spurs might explain last year's awful wounds on Liz - plus once a hen is wounded, other hens take a peck at the pretty, red, tasty, blood.  It's one of the few things I don't like about chickens - they have no sense about what they're doing when they peck their sisters or their eggs.


So now what?  I want to build a new chicken tractor, but I'm pretty well broke, and it'll need to wait, since no materials have drifted my way.  I need to protect Liz from Consuela and Joy somehow.

What came up in my search was something called a hen apron or chicken saddle.  It's basically a apron shaped bit of clothing that covers a hen's back to protect her from an over-attentive rooster.  Or, from other hens.  After looking at some photographs of these up for sale, I made my own:

Thanks, old denim scraps!

I quilted part of it to make it a little more sturdy, and because I wanted to.  The buttons are completely decorative, and you could just omit them - they're hiding the stitching that holds the elastic on.  Also, the elastic is a little longer than it needs to be in this photo.  I shortened it a bit to make it fit Liz.  The result?  Well:

I can't say she loves it, but she didn't flip out.

I really never thought  I'd be making chicken clothing.

I'm hoping this will solve the problem for now.  If anyone is interested in my pattern, I'd be willing to try and scan it in.  Just leave me a comment, and I'll get on it. I'm also considering selling a few of these, should it work out for Liz - let me know if you're interested!

Bonus photo - because Sherri takes an interest in anything odd in the coop (like my camera:)

"Is that thing edible?"