* Added Video of Owl v. Peacock** What to do about a predator you can't shoot, you can't catch and i

[RhondaLynn]

Urbanscratch has the RIGHT idea!!!!

Rhonda

 

[wildriverswolf90]

Maybe try some solar or wirless motion/heat sensor lights mounted in some of the trees. A sonic pest deterent. You can also leave scratch feed out in the yard to attract blue jays and crows(they dive bomb and harass hawks and owls). Bottle rockets or flash bang fireworks will stun and blind him. Try a couple fake owls mounted in different spots. And you can even find sound bytes on youtube of male owls claiming territory, play these sounds out a window to make him think another owl has moved in.
It'll take a while and you will probably have to impoly all these ideas(it took me doing everyone of these to get my GH owl to leave) but making him feel uncomfortable and hard to hunt, and his territory “invaded“, is the only way to get rid of him.

 

[kellysmall87]

Urbanscratch has the RIGHT idea!!!!

Rhonda

But killing it isn't an option for this thread starter.

 

[jdywntr]

I do not mean to sound heartless in regards to the owls...but a problem like this is one that you do not post about or ask anyone about. You just take care of the probelm and let it be. Its sort of along the same lines as the guy that shot the bear that was about to attack his kids, then got arrested. Had he not said anything, and gotten rid of the evidence, noone would have known. Animals should NEVER have more rights than humans when it comes to safety or well being IMO. And IMO eggs keep you healthy and well.

I'm assumg that the OP does not want to break the law as ALL raptors are protected by FEDERAL law. The OP did the right thing by asking the local game office. I would love to see a report about someone that was arrested for shooting a bear while protecting human life.

To me, having chickens outside of a completely covered, secure pen (like I do) requires that we as owners accept the fact that some birds will be lost to predation. Being responsible requires that we do everything that we can to protect our birds and still protect the environment, which includes predators. I lost about 8 young birds to hawks and coyotes before I changed things. My birds are no longer able to free range in the pasture but have about 1/3-1/2 acre that they can roam. Don't get me wrong, if I see the coyote again and the gun is handy, I will shoot it but that is legal here.

 

[3 NH reds]

Two things

#! get a wrist rocket sling shot and shoot at it with dried beans or plastic marbles ( non lethal but it will sting.)
#2 See if they still sell bird bombs for shotguns. It shoots out a loud explosive charge(again non lethal)

Hope you can find an end to this. Ask the dept of wildlife if someone can trap and move this owl

 

[furbabymum]

Yup. It's the owl. We've seen him hanging about the property at all hours of the day and night. This pic was taken around 10am and it's bright as anything out. He's unbothered

Can't get our chores done before dark in the winter unfortunately. When we get home from work it's already dark.

Sorry for your losses. You'll need to practice strict vigilance on your security. When going in the barn, the door is closed behind you, etc. I know it would be a chore but what about making a pop door in the barn? That way you wouldn't need to open the barn doors to let the birds out. Also, try to get most of your chores done before dark.

Netting over an area for the chickens during the day and plenty of hiding spots should help. Are you sure it is the owl that is taking them during the day? Thats unusual for owls.

 

[furbabymum]

I'm assumg that the OP does not want to break the law as ALL raptors are protected by FEDERAL law. The OP did the right thing by asking the local game office. I would love to see a report about someone that was arrested for shooting a bear while protecting human life.

To me, having chickens outside of a completely covered, secure pen (like I do) requires that we as owners accept the fact that some birds will be lost to predation. Being responsible requires that we do everything that we can to protect our birds and still protect the environment, which includes predators. I lost about 8 young birds to hawks and coyotes before I changed things. My birds are no longer able to free range in the pasture but have about 1/3-1/2 acre that they can roam. Don't get me wrong, if I see the coyote again and the gun is handy, I will shoot it but that is legal here.

Yes killing it is out for us. I've joked about killing it but there is no way in hell 5 years and a $50k fine is worth it to us. Buying more chickens is cheaper. Plus I do work for a criminal defense attorney so I'm just not willing to break the law.

I never worried about coyotes, coons, skunks etc because of the dogs. They are just completely unable to protect against something that is always above their reach. Very depressing. Maybe we'll put a top on the whole chicken run but it's so large we'd hate to do it.

 

[furbabymum]

Maybe try some solar or wirless motion/heat sensor lights mounted in some of the trees. A sonic pest deterent. You can also leave scratch feed out in the yard to attract blue jays and crows(they dive bomb and harass hawks and owls). Bottle rockets or flash bang fireworks will stun and blind him. Try a couple fake owls mounted in different spots. And you can even find sound bytes on youtube of male owls claiming territory, play these sounds out a window to make him think another owl has moved in.
It'll take a while and you will probably have to impoly all these ideas(it took me doing everyone of these to get my GH owl to leave) but making him feel uncomfortable and hard to hunt, and his territory “invaded“, is the only way to get rid of him.

Thanks. I'm making a shopping list right now!

 

[furbabymum]

He's taken even our full grown laying hens and 3 full grown guineas. He hasn't bothered the peacocks as of yet but IMO it's just because they are smart enough to get the hell outta the way if you know what I mean. He picked off 3 laying hens from their roost, side by side they all were. They must never have moved. Read that was common. He hasn't touched the ducks though. Again, I think the ducks are more self aware and thus aren't stupid enough to stand still and get their heads ripped off.

Dog training tips please! We are just starting our dogs out and I'm not sure they could distinguish the birds they should be proptecting v. the bird they should be protecting against.

I called game and fish again and they told me to get those beaded door curtains to hang over our door. He doesn't believe the owl would try to go through them. Seems like an easy idea so we are going to give it a try.

As for the birds roosting in an easy place, they aren't. lol They're in our barn which has a run in area and a tack room. You enter the barn into the run in area and the tack room has a seperate entrance to the left. The tack room is where we keep the roosts, etc for the birds. The chickens he took were actually on the lower roost. He did take a chicken from the rafters last night (only 2 of our chickens ever ventured into the rafters). The door to the barn isn't even all that large. We fenced 80% of it off and just have a human sized door to enter and exit. He flew in that door last night. Shocking really. We never expected him to be so unafraid of us and our dogs.

Dogs work very well for me against even great-horned owls. Key is birds small enough for owl to fly off with must not be accessible. For my great-horned owls, anything more than 3 lbs is too big to pack like OP describes. If owl has to grapple larger bird with action going to ground, then dog has no trouble distinguishing between owl and chicken with owl, despite complaining with talons is told to go. I do not loose birds to great-horned owls even when they roost in trees because dog shuts them down.

In you situation, you can be careful about who is allowed to enter door and you can make so vulnerable birds have a second container / pen they can go into while on roost providing another barrier for owl. Get birds off rafters as well.


EDIT:

I had to re-read OP's comments several times to swallow and process. Can you build large walk-in coop starting with a modified stall? With owls, even chicken wire will work. Position roost so birds can not roost close to sides / top of the coop thus denying owl option of grabbing through with talons. Keeps birds confined to it for a few days and upon release treat birds as if they have been moved to a new location making sure they are properly imprinted on the new location. Owls are ballsy but not all that bright. If done properly, owl may not even be able to figure out how to get into coop with door open yet chickens will retreat to it each evening to roost. Such a design will make so even when owl does beat you through door it no longer has straight shot at roosting birds.

 

[centrarchid]

Now that moon is waxing near full my great-horned owls are visiting as well. One was on power line as I pulled in to drive. The great-horned owls for me visit only at this time of month while barred owls at opposite on lunar cycle.

I did not train my dogs on owls per say and that would not be able to get at one more than 10 feet up but they clearly are a bigger concern than I am to great-horned knocking chickens out of trees around midnight as I watch. Most dogs likely have similar abilites to humans in regards to discriminate bird species. When barred owl was caught in garage a couple weeks ago it was very close to a similar sized (with respect to feather volume, not weight) dominique cross cockerel on floor when I found dog pinning down. Owls also different from chickens which even you can pickup on at close range.


Great-horned owls will pursue prey on foot and negotiate tight areas on wing to get at a prey item. I do not think they will actually push through a barrier as provided by a bead curtain. You might also be able to deny them with tarp used to make a cheap wall. Having owl work your barn during day is going to make issue difficul.I. Suspect owl will be concerned about dog if it has to get down on ground with dog to get at chicken. Can you pen dog in with birds?Otherwise covering run may be required.