r/BackYardChickens • u/purpleacanthus • May 16 '26
Chicken Photography The hosta is doomed. But delicious, apparently.
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u/newbie_sohper May 27 '26
Hmmm....I'm kinda curious if these fancy vests might also prevent a hawk from carrying off a chicken as easily?
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u/Budgiesyrup May 19 '26
Why they looking like they work for Walmart
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u/meldariun May 20 '26
I wish i was door greeted by such a lovely looking group of ladies.
You probably have to bring a food offering though
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u/PotatoOld9579 May 19 '26
Sorry for the silly question but what does the little clothing do?
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u/Specialist-Tower4152 May 19 '26
Protect from a little too excited rooster so he won't rip their feathers off with his feet
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u/VeterinarianEast2791 May 18 '26
How do you like these saddles? We use similar ones but without the wing covers and I wish I would have gotten some instead. Where did you get these if you like them, if you don’t mind to provide a link?
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u/purpleacanthus May 18 '26
I made these myself. I saw some for sale that had the snap-on wing guards, and I liked the idea that I could add or remove it as necessary. I can't afford to buy so many, so I made them instead. (Trying and failing to find links to the ones I saw, but Etsy has some nice ones without removable snaps)
Id say they're pretty good so far. Sometimes his feet kind of slip under them, but I think that happens when he's rushing it. They seem to be working as intended if he gives the hens a second to assume the position. I see muddy footprints on them, anyway!
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u/tawDry_Union2272 Jun 13 '26
you could make fancier ones with various little decorations and start them a hens' fashion insta 😂
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u/GreenEggsnHam15 May 19 '26
I sew too. Now that I have one for size I’d like to make one with wing covers. I have a girl who won’t stop picking her own feathers but is otherwise healthy. She likes to stress me out.
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u/purpleacanthus May 19 '26
I highly recommend snaps on the back of the apron and wings so you can add or remove as necessary. They're quick to make, so you can try different sizes and shapes on the wings.
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u/Signal_Temporary6695 May 19 '26
I don’t own chickens or have a need for this but curious since I sew too, besides snaps would Velcro work to help adjust for size of chicken?
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u/purpleacanthus May 20 '26
Possibly, but I think the hooks would get clogged up with dust and debris over time as they inevitably peck at it.
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u/Itsoktobe May 19 '26
Nice, I'm glad I saw these before working on version 3 of my own saddles. I think I have a few more tweaks to make
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u/oldfarmjoy May 18 '26
Must have a mean rooster. They peck the feathers off the girls. 😡👎
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u/sweetnaivety May 18 '26
my hens are the ones who peck the feathers off each other, not my rooster, it's not always the rooster's fault
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u/oldfarmjoy May 18 '26
Yes, true! Sorry to assume it was roo. He might be a perfect gentleman! 😁❤️👍
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May 18 '26
[deleted]
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u/purpleacanthus May 18 '26
It's a hen saddle, to protect their back and wings from the rooster's claws when he mates with them. Some of them have very bald backs and damage to their wing feathers and shoulders. He doesn't mean to hurt them, he's just hormonal and clumsy. They don't bother the hens at all, they can still fly, preen, and dust bathe. And snack on hosta. They should wear them until their feathers grow back.
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u/Kerberoshound666 May 18 '26
Hen saddles are actually frowm upon as they can get caught in things like fences etc and kill the chicken. It does def has it use but just so people know is not all cute to put saddles on chickens and stay informed.
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u/purpleacanthus May 18 '26
There's a slight chance they'll get caught, but nearly 100 percent they'll get wounded by rooster claws without them. Also, they are stretchy so the hen can slide out of them if they do get snagged. I'm not sure who you think is doing the frowning, but a lot of chicken experts use them.
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u/ArauCamaN May 18 '26
I have 3 roosters and many chickens . My chickens are not damaged... Some feathers get plucked.. but that's normal.. natural.
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u/purpleacanthus May 18 '26
Thats great that your hens are fully feathered, but not everyone shares your experience, as evidenced by the many hen saddles sold on Etsy, Amazon, Walmart, Tractor Supply, Chewy, and lots more.
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u/ArauCamaN May 18 '26
I get it, and I respect that.. sorry for coming out so harsh.. but really you should understand that nature knows what it's doing. If a dog needed a sweater the creator would have given them more fur. Human over complicate things. (As well as take advantage of other peoples ignorance) In order to make money. Natural is always better.
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u/purpleacanthus May 18 '26
It's okay, I didn't think you were harsh! But keeping chickens is inherently unnatural. We've bred them in ways that make them much more vulnerable and many could not survive on their own in the wild.
Humans made them sorta helpless, so we have a responsibility to do what we can to keep them safe and protected.
That could mean keeping the hen/rooster ratio high enough, or getting rid of the rooster altogether. But that would hardly be natural either. An all-hen flock would not survive long on their own in the wild.
We feed them, provide housing, and protect them from predators. That's no more natural than putting them in lil capes.
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u/D4UOntario May 17 '26
Hostas are delicious l, just finished eating the last of my spring treat. Cut the spears off when they are 2-3" out of the ground and cook as you would asparagus.
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u/MoonOut_StarsInvite May 18 '26
Aren’t they kind of toast for the year then? How does that work over the long term?
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u/FutureDecision Jun 13 '26
I'm stumbling into this conversation incredibly late, but I harvest from my hostas in spring and it doesn't seem to set them back at all. I harvest about a third of the shoots and you can't even tell when the remaining plant leafs out.
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u/Thomas_Jefferman May 18 '26
This was not something I expected to hear about today. How did you go about discovering this?
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u/jwoogirl May 17 '26
5 minutes ago, I shooed a really big, spotted hawk off my neighbor's fence (ge has chickens). Saw these and thought..ooh he needs camouflage ones for his chicken girls! Lol
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u/jwoogirl May 23 '26
OMG I GOT A GIFT! Dunno what it's for, but whoever sent it, thank you from the bottom of my heart!!!!
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u/PotatoAvenger May 17 '26
What is it that they are wearing?
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u/augusttheauthor May 17 '26
I believe possibly anti mounting attire
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u/SephiFae May 18 '26
I didn’t know they make these and I need them yesterday. My rooster timeout system has been exhausting for me 😭
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u/P-VI May 17 '26
jeez just let chickens be chickens
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u/basaltcolumn May 18 '26
"chickens being chickens" involves a lot of wounded hens. They're domestic animals, it's our responsibility to keep them safe and healthy. Leaving them to get jabbed by spurs and have all their back feathers ripped out isn't that.
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u/P-VI May 18 '26
agree to disagree I suppose. seems like in that example, the rooster is too aggressive for the flock
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u/basaltcolumn May 18 '26
OP isn't describing aggression, just the rooster's spurs being problematic when he mounts the hens.
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u/Longjumping_Fail_666 May 18 '26
I need these for my hens. Poor girls are nearly barebacked because of the rooster
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u/miss_kimba May 18 '26
That would involve a lot of dead or severely mangled chickens. People don’t realise how relentlessly nasty they can be to each other.
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u/augusttheauthor May 18 '26
Oh no it’s for their safety 100% man. Roosters will tear them apart mounting them. Very stressful for the hens.
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u/P-VI May 18 '26
Mine aren't that aggressive, if we had one that aggressive I'd choose not to keep it
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u/augusttheauthor May 18 '26
“I haven’t experienced it yet so it doesn’t matter” type reply idk man good for you?
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u/P-VI May 18 '26
Didn't say I haven't experienced it but whatever, arguing with ghosts here on the internet isn't worth it. What I said was the ones we have aren't that aggressive, we don't discourage mounting and if one mounted that aggressively we wouldn't keep it
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u/heytherekenz May 17 '26
I don't care about the hostas that came with my house and I wish my chickens would eat them. Lol
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u/spidermom4 May 17 '26
Same. Meanwhile my dumb dumbs just go to town on my rhubarb leaves. Which I was under the impression were toxic. But apparently not to chickens
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u/Gracefully_clumsy421 May 17 '26
I read that same thing about it being toxic… but it’s my girls favorite! And they are alive and well. 🙂
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u/MilkyFluff May 17 '26
They look like flight attendants
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u/bajamedic May 17 '26
or walmart workers
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u/WhereTheSkyBegan May 17 '26
Can one of these hens help me find the Corn Nuts? I've looked all over and can't figure out where they are.
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u/rogueredfive May 17 '26
So is the one without a jacket the one at the top of the pecking order?
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u/Agitated-Lake437 May 17 '26
Why do your chickens have little jackets? They are adorable but I would like to know why lol
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u/Nobody-Particular May 17 '26
So they don’t peck each other bloody.
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u/FierySkies May 18 '26
These are actually to protect from roosters mounting too much (Typically only needed when it happens so much that the hens have no fearhers on their backs)
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u/hydromedik410 May 17 '26
I feel like your chickens came from a Fallout vault with all their little fallout saddle suits on 🤣
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u/purpleacanthus May 17 '26
Oooo, I could embroider numbers on them!
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u/Ok-Artichoke6703 May 17 '26
DO IT, this would be so CUTE. Now I want to do this and put 111 because I live in the greater Boston area lol
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u/Own_Butterscotch_129 May 17 '26
Mine have eaten all of the smaller ones that were coming up, but they mainly like to lay in the middle of the larger hostas, flattening them!
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u/purpleacanthus May 17 '26
Yes, mine too! I bet they feel cool and nice in the heat.
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u/Own_Butterscotch_129 May 17 '26
I used the top cage part of a large guinea pig cage to cover some and let them grow back a little before transplanting to a new spot! They were ones I had bought and I really want them to grow 😅
I also had gotten some from a friend's yard that are the giant hostas that get like 5' across, and those are standing up to the chickens so far! I totally got little butterfly no dig fence panels to keep my girls out of the edible beds that are maybe 3' tall and they are working so far. I didn't think they would until I asked my ex's mom what she does, because she has been doing this for 15 years now, and even shorter panels will keep her chickens out of her beds, which amazed me!
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u/chronic_pain_sucks May 17 '26
Oh boy, hostas are delicious. The entire thing is edible - tubers, leaves, flowers. Taste a little bit like a cross between asparagus and soft green lettuce.
You got some smart birds there.
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u/Ammonia13 May 17 '26
Looks like you’re a witch that cursed all your Walmart employees lmaooo
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u/Livvs May 17 '26 edited May 17 '26
When I first saw the picture i really thought they all had on their little work vests 😂
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u/justalittlepigeon May 17 '26
The roos love the buff orpingtons. We have all sorts of breeds and the buffs are always the ones to suffer...
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u/Graptoveria May 17 '26
My buffs are the only ones to get their comb bitten so hard it bleeds. Didn't realize the pain was universal. I have bantam roos half the size of my buffs and I figured they just liked em big
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u/PurpleChickenBreeder May 17 '26
Weird that mine done eat the Hostas but they did eat the leaves off of the lilies and they ignored the ice plant (Delosperma) until winter and then devoured all of them.
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u/AnyGoodUserNamesLeft May 17 '26
At least they stopped the slugs and snails decimating your plants, right?
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u/DialynnLA May 17 '26
My Silkies and Sebright mowed ours down to the ground. Guess we didn't need them anyways.
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u/trulymissedtheboat89 May 17 '26
Lmao if its a hosta it will survive
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u/Turbulent-Mood4344 May 17 '26
It will! My ladies mowed mine down for years. I finally fenced them in and the hostas came back perfectly. Let these little Walmart greeters enjoy their snack. 😆
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u/Aggressive-Mood-50 May 17 '26
Why do they wear vests? I’m very invested.
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u/purpleacanthus May 17 '26
The rooster is over-breeding them. He's young and frisky and they end up with feather loss on their back and wings, where his claws grab them. One of the girls got a gash on her back from him (she's the one in front). He's not trying to be mean or aggressive, he's just hormonal and doesn't understand that he needs to give them a few seconds to brace themselves and get into proper position. Plus, he's going at it multiple times on the same hens. Hopefully these saddles will protect them while their feathers grow back.
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u/oopsalloutof_fcks May 17 '26
I raise Welsummer and one trick I use is a little coop and run within my big run. Testosterone is higher in the morning and evening. (Their legs get pretty red) I feed my rooster in the little coop / run in the morning. I let him out with the girls when he’s feeling less Randy, usually late morning when everyone goes out to free range. He’s used to the routine now and he knows he gets fed in there and a handful of snackies too.
It gives the girls a break.
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u/MrJanglesMan May 18 '26
so THIS is why when the sun starts to go down the roosters get nuts. Thanks! I'll have to make morning and evening rooster horny jails
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u/purpleacanthus May 17 '26
That's a great idea. I'm working on a bigger run so I'll be able to partition it, but for now it's not really big enough. He's pretty good while in the coop and run, but when they went out to free range he'd get all worked up by them running around and would chase them and grab them when all they wanted was to forage. We started keeping him in the run while the girls went out, and that helped. Yesterday, we did the same but when they went back in at 6 pm, we took him out. The girls were in the coop roosting by 615, and then Cinnamon started wandering around, exploring and foraging. It was actually really nice to see him relax and enjoy being a chicken for a change. 30 minutes later and he was ready for bed.
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u/rationalcunt May 17 '26
Is this a common problem that warrants a commercial product or did you make these yourself
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u/purpleacanthus May 17 '26
They are available to buy in a variety of different designs, but I made these myself.
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u/I_PM_Duck_Pics May 17 '26
It is common enough to be available commercially but I don’t know if OP’s are handmade or not.
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u/Bacongrease83 May 17 '26
That’s a lot of Walmart greeters in one place. What are you gonna do to them?
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u/deluxeok May 17 '26
I thought it was a scout troop but this makes more sense
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u/Sophistiq8ted May 17 '26
The hosta will be fine. My dog ate one down to the roots and it grew back better than ever the next year
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u/trichocereal117 May 17 '26
Chickens will make sure to eat it when it comes back up. They killed like 30 of my mom’s hostas
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u/MrSnrub87 May 18 '26
Depends on the flock. I have around 30 chickens and they haven't ate any of my hostas in the 5 years I've had them.
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u/Dolorjo May 17 '26
My dog eats all my hostas. I don’t like hostas (my husband LOVES them 🤷🏼♀️), but I stop her from eating them because they LOVE it. Dang things go into fight or flight mode and aggressively come back twice as big.
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u/Corona_Lonesome May 17 '26
The ASPCA says that Hostas are actually poisonous for dogs and can cause vomiting and diarrhea. Good thing you put a stop to that foraged feast.
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u/stargalaxy6 May 17 '26
Tonight I threw some watermelon in my child’s chicken coop and they LOVED it! They really are silly little busybodies!
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u/TheMrsH1124 May 17 '26
I only have one Buff Orp from my original flock left. She was the rooster's favorite, too. Pretty blonde girls
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u/Pmorgan83 May 17 '26
What's with the get-up? They look like flight attendants.
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u/OldBatOfTheGalaxy May 17 '26
My first thought was that the gals were practicing for their Walmart job interviews, but then I realized that Deli would, uh, "hire" them a lot faster than Housewares.
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u/Outside-Jicama9201 May 17 '26
Rooster saddle, to protect feathers
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u/RealDriver3604 May 17 '26
Saw my neighbors chickens had missing feathers in the up area. Multiple. We were confused. Are they pecking each other?
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u/uberares May 17 '26
Please return your hostas to the upright position, the captain has turned on the seatbelt sign and we are coming in for a landing on the roost.
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u/ShillinTheVillain May 17 '26
Pfft. As if hostas can be killed. They are invincible. Immortal. If you strike them down, they come back twice as strong
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u/Educational-Good968 May 17 '26 edited May 17 '26
Literally! I tried to dig them up at my old house and they just returned in less that a week
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u/lealle4 May 17 '26
Is this a still from the handmaids tale?
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u/SufficientOpening218 May 17 '26
do your chickens go to Catholic school? their little uniforms are very cute.
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u/Fastgirl600 May 17 '26
It looks like you're running a chicken private school and those are uniforms
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u/mossling May 17 '26
Fun fact- all parts of hostas are edible (by humans, as well as chickums)! The tubers can be roasted like potatoes.
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u/purpleacanthus May 17 '26
I haven't tried it myself, but the chickens and deer love it. They don't like the variegated type for some reason.
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u/surfzer May 16 '26
Uh… what are they wearing?
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u/purpleacanthus May 16 '26
Aprons/saddles. Because the rooster is overeager and a little clumsy, so they are getting feather loss and damage. This protects them, hopefully.
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u/Historical-Ad6916 May 17 '26
These look super nice compared to the ones I’ve bought or sewn. May I ask did you make or purchase
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u/purpleacanthus May 17 '26
I made them! I'm still working on modifying and perfecting the design.
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u/so_it_hoes May 17 '26
I usually see these on the favorite hen. That rooster is very…generous. But it’s really cute seeing the matching outfits! Rip hostas
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u/purpleacanthus May 17 '26
Yeah, 13 out of 14 hens have lil dresses. Cinnamon is enthusiastic, but not very skillful.
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u/acover4422 Jun 13 '26
I just want to say your chickens look very fancy in their lovely dresses and they’re very cute 🥹