Will an owl take a chicken roosted in a tree at night?

[rod5591]

My younger birds roost up in a Douglas Fir tree. Will an owl try to take one at night? There was a loud commotion (chicken alarm calls) at 9 p.m. and when I hurried out I heard wings flapping away( I think…). Do owls pick off roosting chickens at night?

As it turns out, I was mistaken about an owl visiting my chickens roosted in a Douglas Fir tree at 9 p.m. What happened was that a chicken had fallen or was pushed off of her limb and was pretty vocal about her unhappiness. The flapping noise that I heard was not an owl flying away, but another chicken flapping her wings, trying to avoid falling also, or trying to keep her spot on a limb. I came to this conclusion by sitting in the chicken yard at dusk and observing my birds roosting. There is quite a bit of jostling and pushing apparently, They don't all sleep in the same spot each night--the roosting spots are fluid and there is competition for "the best" spots, apparently.

 

[Purelychicks]

My younger birds roost up in a Douglas Fir tree. Will an owl try to take one at night? There was a loud commotion (chicken alarm calls) at 9 p.m. and when I hurried out I heard wings flapping away( I think…). Do owls pick off roosting chickens at night?

Definitely ESPECIALLY in the fall in winter to feed their babies. We had this happen to about 8 chickens last year. Chickens are so big that they rip their heads off and take the head then later come back for the rest. They usually will take a chicken anywhere from 12pm to 4am