Dead owl INSIDE coop!!

[The Moonshiner]

Anyone have barn owls mess with their chickens?
I've had them in the barn where my chickens live and they didn't seem to bother them. Now every other kind of owl has.
Just curious

 

[tlcmurphy]

Anyone have barn owls mess with their chickens?
I've had them in the barn where my chickens live and they didn't seem to bother them. Now every other kind of owl has.
Just curious

I was thinking the same thing. We have owls, but not barn owls. Only the hawks go after the chickens

 

[The Moonshiner]

I was thinking the same thing. We have owls, but not barn owls. Only the hawks go after the chickens

We have hawks and bald eagles and in 10+ years I've only had 2 hawk attacks that I know of.
Not complaining though.

 

[tlcmurphy]

We have hawks and bald eagles and in 10+ years I've only had 2 hawk attacks that I know of.
Not complaining though.

4 hawk attacks in 4 years, the last one left my little Ameraucana with only 1 eye.
You’ve got to admire the ambition in a small hawk that thinks it can take off with an overweight BO.

 

[tinychicky]

I have friends who are federally permitted to work with live raptors in educational settings. The barn owls they care for are incredibly sensitive to stress. It's possible simply being trapped in the coop was stressful enough to have given the beautiful barn owl a heart attack

 

[ClickityChick123]

You should absolutely contact the local athorities because barn are protected. I put out a fake owl right next to the chicken coop and we haven't had any owls attack since. Most hawks avoid it too (that might just be because we watch our chickens and have a dog).

 

[SourRoses]

Anyone have barn owls mess with their chickens?
I've had them in the barn where my chickens live and they didn't seem to bother them. Now every other kind of owl has.
Just curious

We have barn owls nesting in our oak trees overhead... I haven't lost any chickens to them. But, they show up and get agitated every time we have new chicks. I know by now the owls will absolutely be drawn in by the sounds, and make sure to close the coops up before it's fully dark. Then half the night it's "Whhooo cooks for yoouuuu" between 2-4 individuals.

One night a month ago, I was out after dark in the yard painting some lumber under a shop light. To escape the fiery death ray in the sky, you know...
The hair on the back of my neck won't stop prickling. After glancing all around, I finally look up, and on the lowest branch about two yards above my head is a big owl. He's staring right at me, and let me tell ya it wasn't wisdom he was waiting to share with me but wondering if I had an ear or eyeball to share with him.
I told him to go away, waved my paint brush around (yes, that set of clothing is still showing the effects).
He turned his head back and forth and then pinned me again with his glare.
Then a second owl showed up to a nearby branch and also laser-eyeballed me. I maybe didn't feel so secure in my position as an apex predator (snort). So I shined the flashlight at both of them and yelled a bit louder about my right to paint in my own backyard. Then the first one lifts from his branch, and does he fly up and away? ... No. He flies down. Right over my head. I ducked, or he would have been snacking on one of my eyeballs.
I may have run away a little bit.
I may have announced as I came in the house that I was done with painting for the evening, as if it was my own idea.

... They're out there. Always watching...

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Maybe they were just taking painting lessons ....

 

[twoquinns]

We have barn owls nesting in our oak trees overhead... I haven't lost any chickens to them. But, they show up and get agitated every time we have new chicks. I know by now the owls will absolutely be drawn in by the sounds, and make sure to close the coops up before it's fully dark. Then half the night it's "Whhooo cooks for yoouuuu" between 2-4 individuals.

One night a month ago, I was out after dark in the yard painting some lumber under a shop light. To escape the fiery death ray in the sky, you know...
The hair on the back of my neck won't stop prickling. After glancing all around, I finally look up, and on the lowest branch about two yards above my head is a big owl. He's staring right at me, and let me tell ya it wasn't wisdom he was waiting to share with me but wondering if I had an ear or eyeball to share with him.
I told him to go away, waved my paint brush around (yes, that set of clothing is still showing the effects).
He turned his head back and forth and then pinned me again with his glare.
Then a second owl showed up to a nearby branch and also laser-eyeballed me. I maybe didn't feel so secure in my position as an apex predator (snort). So I shined the flashlight at both of them and yelled a bit louder about my right to paint in my own backyard. Then the first one lifts from his branch, and does he fly up and away? ... No. He flies down. Right over my head. I ducked, or he would have been snacking on one of my eyeballs.
I may have run away a little bit.
I may have announced as I came in the house that I was done with painting for the evening, as if it was my own idea.

... They're out there. Always watching...

You have barred owls, not barn owls, if they’re nesting in a tree and saying “Who cooks for you.”

 

[fowltemptress]

Oh no! Poor owl . . . I hope it didn't leave a nest of starving nestlets behind. I'm sorry you had to walk in to that; I know it's awful seeing such a wonderful wild animal dead.
Everyone saying it's time for coop reinforcements and doing coop sweeps for predators before locking up the chooks for the night is giving great advice.