The Lost Art of Chicken Saddles, and Bouncing Ponytails

Who knew that making clothes for chickens would be so much fun?  Or be so adorable?!  Doesn't Pork Fat's Sister look fancy in her tailor made jacket?  Don't worry, I haven't gone completely off the deep end and started to play dress up with the chickens.  There is a reason why this chicken needed a jacket.  That doesn't mean that now that I see the potential for playing chicken dress-up, that I won't go there though.  Mrs. Hall would look so cute in a bonnet...

Just like Pork Fat, before she had her recuperation period at my house, Port Fat's Sister gets so much attention from the roosters that the feathers on her back have been worn off and her skin was scratched by the rooster's claws.  All mom's hens get plenty of attention from the roosters, but for some reason the Easter Eggers get more than their back feathers can handle.  A solution to this problem just might be a padded chicken saddle.  Mom came up with an idea for the pattern, and cut the shape from some paper, so she could trace it to a piece of fabric.  

The fabric she selected was from a set of chair cushions she was going to make once upon a time. The cushion we sacrificed to the chicken saddle was already cut and marked to be a high chair bottom.  Not a high chair for the grand kids, the high chair she had when my brothers and I were little!  Not every chicken is lucky enough to get a saddle made from vintage fabric.  

Mom wanted to know why I was taking pictures while she worked.  Well, chicken saddle making is a lost art, and we owe it the world to share this long lost skill, right?  Plus, it's just a funny thing to do on a Friday afternoon, and I may want to remember how we did it.    

Following mom's design, I used her sewing machine to sew it together and attach an elastic strap to go around the wings.  

This pictures a little dark, but it was meant to show how the elastic band goes over the top of the wing.  Port Fat's Sister didn't really enjoy being fitted, but once the saddle was in place, she didn't seem to mind it at all.  Actually, she stopped cowering near the nest boxes and joined the rest of the flock in the the grass.  The rooster didn't mind that she had it on either.  

I raised the jacket and took a picture of her poor back.  Her scratch is healing, but I'm sure it painful when the rooster stands on her back.  Hopefully the saddle will help. 

See the blue egg in the nest above?  That's a Pork Fat egg!  In all the months I had her, she never laid an egg for me.  She must be feeling better.  The eggs in the nest that have been marked with a red line are the ones mom is allowing one of the hens to sit on to hatch.  The other hens still lay eggs in the box too, so mom knows to leave the marked ones and take the unmarked.  

After sewing and playing with the chickens, my nieces and I had so much fun trying to capture photos of them suspended in the air when jumping on the trampoline.  Even with the fancy cell phone camera with stop action, it's harder to do than I thought it would be.  We had big laughs when we reviewed the photos together and saw their funny faces and bouncing hair.  Ponytails are the perfect hair style for trampolines.