Owls; A Gift in the Night

[lclough1998]

I love owls!! My favorite owl is the one you have pictured, the Barred Owl. I frequently hear them in the woods near the house(I've even "talked" to them a few times!). So far, none have tried to take my hens. Amazing birds!

We have only lost one small silkie to something that came down in our yard in the afternoon, my daughter saw a large bird swoop in but didnt know what it was. I would guess a hawk or eagle, but I suppose it could have been an owl. Do they hunt during the day?

 

[Queen of the chickens]

I agree owls are amazing. We live near a wooded area and hear Great Horned and Barred Owls calling often. In order to keep owls out and chickens in, we covered the top of our run with chicken wire and zip-tied it together. So you can imagine my shock and dismay when I came home one evening in December to find a Great Horned owl flying around the run and my favorite blue-wheaten EE laying decapitated on the ground. I was pretty sure I was going to be next as I tried to shoo it out of the gate. Scary! I really don't know how it managed to find a gap big enough to get in. It had to have really searched.

 

[JKeiser]

Owls can hunt the day, when food is scarce or in high demand ( I.E. Owlets) but is rare indeed. Make sure that netting, and fencing is metal, and can withstand being ripped. I recommend hitting it a few times, just to make sure

 

[Nslangton]

We are building an owl house on the side of our barn in hopes of getting a barn owl. I heard that the hole for the nest should only be big enough to fit a barn owl and not a larger breed. I have heard they are great for rodent control and we are tired of barn cats. They all seem to wind up as house cats. (5 currently in the house). The owl house is gonna be 40 feet away from the covered chicken run. Hope it works out!

 

[cafarmgirl]

We are building an owl house on the side of our barn in hopes of getting a barn owl. I heard that the hole for the nest should only be big enough to fit a barn owl and not a larger breed. I have heard they are great for rodent control and we are tired of barn cats. They all seem to wind up as house cats. (5 currently in the house). The owl house is gonna be 40 feet away from the covered chicken run. Hope it works out!

Might just want to make sure it's nowhere near any bedroom windows in your house. The owlets stay in the nest a long time and boy are they noisy little buggers! We have a box up in the back of our hay field behind the house. It's really not that close to the house at all but we slept with our windows closed most of last summer because those babies were so noisy, shrieking for food deliveries until about 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning every night. But, they sure do consume a whole lot of gopher's and other rodents.

 

[AHDCST]

Okay, this might not make me very popular but here goes! Owl are beautiful creatures but they are called PREDATORS people! They kill and maim chickens just as much as eagles or hawks do. My chickens are put up at night but I have had an owl come through the small door into my coop! I just happened to hear it and was able to shoo it out before any harm was done--this time. Now he knows were to come for an easy meal! They will keep returning and returning as long as they know where to find an easy meal. I do not advocate killing an animal for fun but if it is killing my chickens it will be eliminated!Period!

 

[Beekissed]

The only chicken I've ever lost to aerial preds was to an owl....but it was a stubborn and stupid young pullet who would not roost in the coop with the flock. Survival of the fittest and all that....I didn't begrudge the owl at all.

Yeah, they are predators but they are also beneficial birds for a farm or homestead and eat far more rodents and snakes than they do chickens, so I say live and let live. I simply LOVE to hear them calling at night....so much more melodic than the hawks and eagles in the area. If I have to listen to that pair of osprey one more season I'll just scream down my own neck!!!

 

[L0rraine]

I LOVE the owls too. We get wee glimpses at night and hear them on a regular basis. We can even get them started by hoo-hooing ourselves first. Never worry too much about them as the chickens and ducks are well tucked in by the time it's dark. We mostly just have the great horned owls (that let themselves be known). The barred owls will move in every now and then and I've actually seen these in the trees, but they don't last long as I think the horned owl population does them in (or chases them out). Wish the Great Horned owls didn't compete because the Barred owls seem to spend their evenings hunting rats around the coops.

 

[Nslangton]

Good to know, It wouldn't be near my bedroom window, but real close to the neighbors. How far away is your owl house and is set on a pole or on a tree? I could set one up behind a horse pasture. If you have any suggestions, please let me know. Thanks

 

[JKeiser]

Good input! I too have a bran owl box, but it is several hundred feet away from frequented places. I am sure the barn owl will find the box, and yes, make sure the hole is as small as an owl will fit. Look at the Hungrowlproject.org... These guys know what they are doing


JK