Wear gloves.

Long title, short answer, and one that is so simple and straightforward that it hurts I didn’t think of it sooner. I tried three different colored silicone bands (I wasn’t risking any gemstones!), and have three wounds on my ring finger for my efforts. Checking the chickens one cold morning I pulled on my gloves and sighed. I love simple answers.

I do have a little solace in that when I googled the problem, other people suggested not wearing rings or jewelry around chickens. No mention of gloves there either, although one suggested tucking necklaces into your shirt. Getting there.