Poultry Talk Ontario (pto.ca)

I made a bunch of hen saddles a while back from outdoor fabric, but I didn't like them because they got wet and dirty. They did not dry in cold weather and I was concerned that the hens would get hypothermic. So I tried making some out of the heavy duty dog proof insect screening, and they seem to work great, so I thought I'd share. They are pretty crude but they work fine. They don't get wet, they don't get dirty from dust baths and the hen's backs air and dry nicely. They give protection from the rooster, and as a bonus the mosquitoes won't be able to bite through them
The screening is sharp when it's cut, so I sewed a small hem ( rough side up). That might not be necessary but I didn't want the screening to saw off more feathers. It's a bit stiff too so I also sewed a stitch along the middle to keep the material "bent". I'm still toying with the design, this one seems to work, it protects the hen's sides as well. But all of them have stayed on and the hens don't seem to mind at all.
I have not tried making it out of regular insect screen but that might work as well.


Here's the basic design

Here's three hens, wearing 3 different prototypes. Note how the Cornish hen does not need a saddle- gotta love those hard feathered breeds!

This one is the above model, on my smallest hen. It has good side protection and I'm sticking with this basic design.

I need to get on this! A few of my rocks have bar areas from the polygamist.

Thanks for sharing this!!! Can you share the approx measurements? Plz :)

I cut it out of 8x10 card stock folded in half I'll post the measurements later today.

Here are the approximate measurements: I folded a sheet of 8 1/2 x 11 card stock in half to get a double 8 8 1/2 x 51/2" sheet. The crease is the middle of the saddle that sits along the middle of the hen's back. I cut two shallow scoops for the neck and back. The tops of the wing holes are about 2" from the top, the holes are oval 2" at the front, 1 1/2" deep. The elastic is 1/4" stuff from the dollar store, 4" long. The one in the photo was 5" and that's too long. I made an approx. 1/4" hem all around, using zig zag stitch and tacked the elastic on after. This fit a medium to large size hen. It's pretty crude, if you just aim for the approximate shape and measures and google hen saddles you can probably make a much better one.

Thanks! I've printed and will try to get too with some time shortly!

Using screen is really one of those 'why didn't I think of that?' ideas! Well done Robbie!

Glad to share.

looks great! good job Robbie!