Anyone else having a problem with an owl?

[swampwander]

If you've got an owl at night coming in, then you could surely get possums, coons, weasels and a hawk. Use a tarp to block paws and netting for the sky raiders. Easier to short fix it than wait for all to disappear in the night.

 

[LadyShred]

We live in the county, so animal control won't come out. Our neighbor had a shetland pony that got loose and ran down the road into incoming traffic and animal control wouldn't do anything because we were beyond city limits. Even so, there's a pretty good population of people out here. Nobody cares if we shoot the wildlife - we've all had problems with prey animals. My neighbor even has a bear-trap to catch coons because he doesn't have a dog and my dog scares all the coons into his yard . . .

We have small netting around one of the pens, but he still seems to get his beak through the wire. The clipped off feathers on the rooster in that pen are a lot shorter, but it still bothers me that his hairdo is getting messed up.

And I just can't seem to imagine the owl dive bombing the pen and jamming his face into the wire. Seems like it would making a loud crashing noise. There's nothing sticking out for him to sit on and pick at the chickens with unless he clings to the side of the cage. . .

We'll just have to work faster on the other coop. Some of the roosters have already been moved into the finished parts of the pen, but we stil have four more pairs of chickens to move into it. Our dog does her best when she senses the owl there, but she can't really pinpoint it i guess. She's probably about as confused as I am.

 

[Timbercrete]

Quote:
Sitting with your shotgun makes your chickens a protected species also. I think your level of protection will be greater.

Housing your chickens in a properly designed and constructed coop is what makes them a "protected species".

Sitting with your shotgun only makes you a...nevermind.

....It makes me the one with ALL MY CHICKENS.

 

[roracrittercorner]

Quote:
I'm sorry, but I don't agree. I have a serious owl issue!! I have a family of Great Horned and a pair of Bard ed, plus several screech owls, and the great horned will hunt everyday between noon and one. I have researched them and if food is over abundant they will hunt all day. I have lost just this year, over 20 baby ducks, three adults, two guineas , and multiple others. I have tried talking to conservation in my area and no one can seem to come up with any ideas. Hoping to find some answers here

 

[roracrittercorner]

Quote:
I might have to think it is a coon to. We had a coon attacking a few nights ago till we were able to trap it and thats what the feathers looked like on the ones it didn't kill. I have so many owls out here it is depressing at times, but they take the whole bird and leave virtually no feathers or blood behind! I have seen with my own eyes. They are on the hunt every morning, between noon and one pm and again just after dusk. The really bad part is they get something every day almost! And yes, they take whole birds!!! I had one try to take an adult peahen!! I had to chase it till it finally dropped her. Adult ducks and chickens, along with guineas are all victims if possible. We have an awesome coop with a full top, but if I let them out, one always disappears! It is so sad that I'm hardly able to let them out anymore. The right coop helps a ton, and the hen to roo ratio is a great idea to, just really sounds like a coon to me. Hope you get things under control.