Owl Attack

[Eggofarms]

We had our first predator attack (that we know of). All the birds are fine, but they sure were scared!

Our 9 birds (4 Rhode Island Reds and 5 Blue Delawares) are 20 weeks tomorrow and we were excited to see them in their nesting boxes this morning, thinking they were going to lay their first eggs. We went back and looked at the footage and we found out what really happened!

Our backside of the coop is open and covered in 1/2 in black vinyl coated hardware cloth. We designed it this way because our winters are rarely that cold but spring/summer can be extremely hot and humid in Georgia.

We thought it may have been a raccoon or opossum but the more I watched it, it is definitely an owl in my opinion. Hopefully youtube didn't destroy the quality of the video but right as the video starts you will see a glowing eye on the right hand side and then what appears to be spread wings.

2 of the Blue Delawares didn't seem to mind and didn't move much on the roost. The others flipped out.

 

[CluckerFamily]

I saw the eye but I would think if it was an owl you would see both eyes at once.
I wasn't able to see the wings.
How high off the ground is the coop?

 

[Eggofarms]

I can see the wings pretty clearly now with my brightness all the way up. It's 2 feet off the ground but the run is underneath it. It's all surrounded in the hardware cloth.

With the speed of it all it seems to me it swopped in. A ground predator would be more methodical in trying to get in?

Edit: the bottom of the roost floor is about 2 feet off the ground.

 

[CluckerFamily]

I can see the wings pretty clearly now with my brightness all the way up. It's 2 feet off the ground but the run is underneath it. It's all surrounded in the hardware cloth.

With the speed of it all it seems to me it swopped in. A ground predator would be more methodical in trying to get in?

Edit: the bottom of the roost floor is about 2 feet off the ground.

I see it now with my brightness turned up all the way!
Thanks for the hint!!
It looks like a little owl.
Glad everyone was okay!

 

[Weeg]

I saw the wings after looking gat the video a few times. I only saw one eye, which would make sense because an owl striking at an angle, would only show 1 one. If it was another predator, it seem like you would have seen 2. I saw what looked like it fly away. Owl makes sense.

 

[Eggofarms]

Just a little update - We got our first egg this morning! Maybe the owl scare got them laying

 

[cmom]

I have had issues with owls in the past. Here is one that got caught in some netting covering the pens. We managed to get it into a cage and called a wildlife rescue who came and got it. They said they had a rellease area so it shouldn't come back. I have posted this picture on other threads. I have seen other owls since.

 

[LeahPaige]

We had our first predator attack (that we know of). All the birds are fine, but they sure were scared!

Our 9 birds (4 Rhode Island Reds and 5 Blue Delawares) are 20 weeks tomorrow and we were excited to see them in their nesting boxes this morning, thinking they were going to lay their first eggs. We went back and looked at the footage and we found out what really happened!

Our backside of the coop is open and covered in 1/2 in black vinyl coated hardware cloth. We designed it this way because our winters are rarely that cold but spring/summer can be extremely hot and humid in Georgia.

We thought it may have been a raccoon or opossum but the more I watched it, it is definitely an owl in my opinion. Hopefully youtube didn't destroy the quality of the video but right as the video starts you will see a glowing eye on the right hand side and then what appears to be spread wings.

2 of the Blue Delawares didn't seem to mind and didn't move much on the roost. The others flipped out.

 

[LeahPaige]

A barred owl just attacked and killed my adult buff duck in our pen this evening at dusk. Ducks go in their house when it starts to get dark and there are plenty of places to hide and take shelter. Part of the roof on the pen was off due to snow breaking it.. 1/4th we hadn’t repaired it yet. We have not had a problem with predators in a year of having them. The owl was smaller than the duck, I had to practically kick it off my duck to make it let go. Was trying to fly away with the duck. We have a bright solar light in there.. surprised it happened in the pen didn’t realize that owls were predators.
looks like it choked and pecked at the neck of the duck. The owl keeps hanging around..

 

[LeahPaige]

A barred owl just attacked and killed my adult buff duck in our pen this evening at dusk. Ducks go in their house when it starts to get dark and there are plenty of places to hide and take shelter. Part of the roof on the pen was off due to snow breaking it.. 1/4th we hadn’t repaired it yet. We have not had a problem with predators in a year of having them. The owl was smaller than the duck, I had to practically kick it off my duck to make it let go. Was trying to fly away with the duck. We have a bright solar light in there.. surprised it happened in the pen didn’t realize that owls were predators.
looks like it choked and pecked at the neck of the duck. The owl keeps hanging around as dusk approaches I go to lock up the house at night.. was just starting to get dark..