Hens with saddles~Three months and more not one feather has grown back

[HappyHippyChick]

Hi, the three hens have saddles for many months but they are all bare backed. Is there any way to get them to grow feathers or is there a certain time frame? Thanks for any help

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

A hen saddle is also called a hen apron to clear confusion from the feathers also called saddles, and I will be using the term hen apron or apron because I will also be talking about the saddle feathers.

When a hen has been overbred by a rooster, the main target areas of feather loss would be on the back (near the tail and saddle feathers) and the rump feathers surrounding the vent. A hen apron is used to protect the back area from more feather loss, but keep in mind that the apron also prevents the growing back of those feathers because it presses down on that area and there is no room for the feathers to grow back. If you want their feathers to grow back, then get rid of the rooster overbreeding them (assuming the one mounting them too much is a rooster—in some cases the dominant hen in a flock without a rooster that has taken on the rooster role will "overbreed" the females as well) and then you can get rid of the hen apron.