Great-horned Owl Fun in 2015

[aart]

I consistently forget how far north missouri can be.
We got ~8" of wet snow today....been clearing of mesh run roofs all day.
At least I don't have owls trying to get in.

 

[centrarchid]

We are far enough but can also have winters with essentially no snow. Climate is more variable here and extreme cold events are not as sustained.

Pens and coops tightened up for night. Some birds have moved to roosting in nesting box with one Missouri Dominique cock roosting on ground in corner behind barrel. Owl came into bard at least twice tonight already and sun has been down for barely an hour.

As I was putting up netting my daughter took a nasty spill although netting broke her fall. She tried to help move roosters by almost pulling tail feathers of one out.

Owl is also working neighbors flock to immediate north. My suspicion is they have been loosing birds to owl and attributing the losses to something else. Owl very much has a reason to work their area which has an abundant rat population that even my dogs target. Their dog got riled a little bit ago and shortly after a single firework was launched. If they figured out an owl is about they may be trying to repel the owl with the fireworks. Such I have little confidence in because you have to be awake to use such and those folks do not have a proper sleep schedule to stop early morning visits.

 

[centrarchid]

Every time I have gone out to shine barn with light tonight the owl has been in it. Last time owl was wrestling on ground with pullet carcass that was tied down with a rope. Chickens roosting near made no sounds until they could see owl. When they made sounds dogs quickly ran in. Also with all of this owl activity, none has been directed at birds surrounding by deer netting. Deer netting will be explored as a method of keeping owl from using smaller openings. Long strings will dangle down like a thin curtain to block entrance I use routinely. A little supplemental lite will be applied so chickens can see owl so they will produce alarm calling dogs in as soon as owl visits.

 

[aart]

Every time I have gone out to shine barn with light tonight the owl has been in it. Last time owl was wrestling on ground with pullet carcass that was tied down with a rope. Chickens roosting near made no sounds until they could see owl. When they made sounds dogs quickly ran in. Also with all of this owl activity, none has been directed at birds surrounding by deer netting. Deer netting will be explored as a method of keeping owl from using smaller openings. Long strings will dangle down like a thin curtain to block entrance I use routinely. A little supplemental lite will be applied so chickens can see owl so they will produce alarm calling dogs in as soon as owl visits.

This had crossed my mind when you told about owl going into open barn...and made me think about those old hippie beaded doorway 'curtains'.

 

[centrarchid]

Later today I intend to setup the "hippie curtain" although binder twine will be material of first choice to control cost. Having owl to eager to come in will provide good test of efficacy. We will see if owl will resort to walking in. They clearly hunted from ground for much of last summer so walking does not seem out of question.

 

[aart]

Later today I intend to setup the "hippie curtain" although binder twine will be material of first choice to control cost. Having owl to eager to come in will provide good test of efficacy. We will see if owl will resort to walking in. They clearly hunted from ground for much of last summer so walking does not seem out of question.

Curtain would need to go to the ground then huh?
It still may walk thru it.

Gonna be hard to have clear visual of open barn end and deter preds too.
Maybe once your pens are completely enclosed with mesh, it won't be a concern?

 

[centrarchid]

I think the owls will avoid any contact with strings yet I will be able to see though them.



Neighbor to north was just out apparently looking for signs off lost poultry. Same party launching fireworks last night. Almost noon before noticing something amiss. No way GHO could fly off with even their smallest bird. Something else may be visiting. Note they are located only 75 yards from my front door.

 

[centrarchid]

It took me 7 hours today to move 40 pens. Over half of that was invested in just 10 cages that were well over 100 yards away from where they needed to be. The last two hours was a virtual sprint to get birds policed up and moved. A couple did the move themselves although they did not try too go into the correct pens. I was given warning by songbirds when owls were coming up hill and the alarm was not false. I could here three juveniles calling again.

 

[centrarchid]

This evening I moved a couple more chickens, including an American Dominique that got drunk off her butt yesterday. At this tine a juvenile owl came up from south along fence row and was announced by songbirds the whole time. I could here additional pronouncements to the north that were soon replaced by chickens and ducks producing alarm calls. Shortly later I heard a human female yell a phrase that I think included the word "duck". Person was not happy.

 

[Crowlung]

Personally I have not had issues with owls. But I have had problems with hawks recently. The solution I used was not orthodox, per-se, but seemed to be effective, as I have not suffered another loss to hawks since its inception. I happen to own a couple of lower-end quad-copters that I like to fly around. We had a couple of juvenile Cooper's hawks that liked to perch around the property with line of sight to the coop and pen. So I managed to scare the feathers off of them with a few flights in their area, morning and evening. The noise, the strange flight pattern, and the flashing header lights kept them away, and after a few flights I haven't seen them since. If you know where they frequent, it could potentially be done at night. If you know someone with a drone who owes you a favor this is my suggestion

. No guarantees, but like I said, it has helped with the hawks significantly for me.