Owl!!!!

[geoff40]

I say it's a Barred. Great horned owls have visible "ears" and the owl in the photo does not.

 

[sourland]

Quote:
X 2 and far more likely a rodent eater although if desperate it might take very small chickens - not likely though.

 

[Terri O]

I would be very careful...I have an owl that visits every night lately and takes a guinea every night (not last night it was pouring rain) They are very bad at gosling and duckling season also...I do love the raptors but sure wish I could shoot them legally--

THinking about becoming law breaker! Terri O

 

[7L Farm]

Say what owls will kill your flock.

 

[7L Farm]

Quote:
I don't understand why you can't protect your livestock. Its not right. Things need to change.

 

[Shireshome]

It's not the right color to be a great horned owl. It looks like a great barred owl and yes it will attack your ducks, it might not kill them right off but it will cause some major damage trying to carry them off. Trust me I know from experience

I would make sure the ducks are put up 30 mins before dark.

 

[walbarbsa]

I had a great horned owl during the spring. My 3 sided coop became a four sided one very quickly! That owl flew into the 3 sided and grabbed a roosting chicken and ate what he wanted and left the carcass for me to find! I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it fly out of the coop....it took me six days and six hens before I realized that it was NOT a raccoon.

 

[harveyhorses]

Quote:
I don't understand why you can't protect your livestock. Its not right. Things need to change.

Can't you put them up? That would be a first line of defense.

 

[centrarchid]

Barred owl. Not a threat to my adult standard sized chickens but will knock them off roost.

 

[1MrsMagoo]

It is hard to tell with the photo being so dark, but it definitely could be a Barred Owl. The surest way to tell though is to Google" Barred Owl Cry" or "Barred Owl Vocalization" and find an audio file to play on the net (their are a few good ones on YouTube): They have a very distinctive hoot/cry/sound that is easy to identify. We have a pair that live in the trees over my chicken coop: I've only lost one chicken to them in nearly three years and he was a very small bantam rooster who was re-homed here and slid out of the run one evening unnoticed. We found him missing the next morning and a pile of feathers under the tree where the owls nest. They tend to be smaller owls and I rarely see them, but hear them every day.

The barn owl that lives around here is another matter entirely though. She, I'm assuming it's a she, is huge and hunts during the day sometimes. Except for the juveniles, all my birds free range during daylight hours. I had to watch helplessly as she plucked one of my French Guineas off the horse paddock fence this summer: He was about 8 pounds and she whisked him off like it was nothing. After that and a sudden influx of hawks (not uncommon to have over a dozen in the sky over my place), I decided to invest in a BIG pair of geese. I have seen the Barn owl in the trees a few times since then and if she tries to so much as fly over the geese raise a ruckus. So far, they have been excellent deterrents for the flying predators.

Good luck with your owl and I really hope it turns out to be a Barred Owl. If you have to have one living at your place at least these are small!