Owl attacks

DaniMasters

In the Brooder
Jul 22, 2020
10
21
26
Calrksville TN
So, it’s taken me 6 dead birds to really feel confident in this conclusion, but there is a large owl that has been getting into my chicken run and killing my chickens! 6 deep now, I’m tempted to post up and and just shot the dang things! But I can’t in my state. What have you guys done that has worked in deterring them without having a rooster?
 
How is the owl getting in? Is this night time that the owl is killing them or is the owl coming in during the daytime. That is really weird. Can't wait to hear what others are going to say about this.
 
:welcome :frow I noticed you are a fairly new BYC member. I have had issues with owls. I covered all of my pens with some good heavy duty netting. I didn't have quite enough so I ordered some online but it wasn't what I thought it was and was crappy. I put it up anyway thinking it might deter any aerial predators, wrong. An owl went through the netting three times and killed some birds. Each time the owl went through I replaced that section with another piece of the crappy netting because that is all I had at the time. I have since replaced it with some good netting I moved the birds to another coop and pen and put up a camera and the owl did it again. After I replaced the crappy netting with the good netting, the owl tried again but this time got caught in the netting. We managed to get it out and into a cage and a wildlife rescue came and got it. Good luck...
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How is the owl getting in? Is this night time that the owl is killing them or is the owl coming in during the daytime. That is really weird. Can't wait to hear what others are going to say about this.
So, bit of an update; the owl was tearing through the “roof” which is not a very good material Idas more of a thick netting. But the run is 17ft x 25ft so it’s huge! And that seemed like an inexpensive option at the time, but now it’s costing us our birds... but now! I’ve discovered we have a land predator too! So I’ve solved the problem for now by attaching a lock to their small door into the coop. Which before was only shut and blocked with a rock. Something had been moving the rock and getting in the coop. Whatever was doing that was very smart! But with out the lock key, that predator is not getting in!
 
Rooster will not work. Show a picture of coop so we can figure out how owl is getting in. If owl killed a bird last night, then leave for owl tonight to test your modifications.
The chicken run is in the very back, it’s huge and the top covering is why the owl keeps getting in, it’s a fabric like netting that is pulled tightly and stapled along the top. It tore through on one of the corners and I have since patched it.
 

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It will keep coming back like mine did. Here are my pens which are completely covered with good heavy duty netting now. As I said in a previous post, the owl tried to go through the good netting and got caught after I replaced the crappy netting several times before I got the good netting for the section that had the crappy netting. The wildlife rescue that took the owl said they had a release area several miles away. I have seen another owl since but it hasn't made any attempts. I realize you don't need a very large piece.
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Tensile Strength: 85/245 LBS per Mesh.
https://www.amazon.com/Aviary-Netti...keywords=aviary+netting&qid=1600272477&sr=8-6
https://www.amazon.com/Poultry-Nett...274476&sprefix=aviary+netting,aps,462&sr=8-20
 
Would extra outside lights scare the owl away? There are even solar lights so that you don't need electricity to the areas and you would be able to put the lights on the posts inside the run.
 

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