# signs of pregnancy in barn owls



## gaz0123

i have a breeding pair of barn owls and i am just wondering if there are any signs that the female would give before laying, i have never bred birds of prey before and i am not set on breeding them but if she does get pregnant i just want to know the signs before the eggs turn up so i have everything sorted (documenting it etc) 
the main reason im asking is she has started spending alot of time in the back of the nesting box i have in the aviary and the male will spend alot of time sat in front of her protecting her and they have recently come out of their moult.

as i said the main reason i wish to know this is so i can get things ready for when eggs arrive( if they do ) and so im not constantly in or around the aviary disturbing her.


any info or links will be greatly appreciated


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## miss_ferret

other than changes in behaviour their isnt really any physical signs that a bird is going to lay. you need to keep a very close eye on her though, that way at any signs of being egg bound she can be taken to the vet immediately.

it certainly sounds to me like shes getting ready to lay, but some birds have been known to go through the motions of nest building, without anything actually happening. just keep an eye on the nest, then when you start seeing eggs appear you need to decide what your going to do with them (ie. hatch them, chuck them or give them a quick boil and put them back). i dont think theirs much of a market for parent reared barn owls (largely because any parent reared owl tend to hate people) so you'l be doing the majority of the raising, you just have to decide whether you let her try to hatch them, or put them in an incubator.

once they've hatched then you start applying for paperwork (breeders rings/documents, A10, IBR ring and so on), then they need ringing as soon as. you might want to look for a member on here called LoveForLizards, i think she's bred owls before, so will know more of the legalities than i do.

in all honesty, if your not sure you want to breed barn owls then dont do it. the markets flooded, i could pick a chick up for £50-70. if you want to breed them then fine, but be prepared for a lot of sifting through of wannabes when you sell them, and be prepared to hang onto them until the right homes come up.


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## gaz0123

miss_ferret said:


> other than changes in behaviour their isnt really any physical signs that a bird is going to lay. you need to keep a very close eye on her though, that way at any signs of being egg bound she can be taken to the vet immediately.
> 
> it certainly sounds to me like shes getting ready to lay, but some birds have been known to go through the motions of nest building, without anything actually happening. just keep an eye on the nest, then when you start seeing eggs appear you need to decide what your going to do with them (ie. hatch them, chuck them or give them a quick boil and put them back). i dont think theirs much of a market for parent reared barn owls (largely because any parent reared owl tend to hate people) so you'l be doing the majority of the raising, you just have to decide whether you let her try to hatch them, or put them in an incubator.
> 
> once they've hatched then you start applying for paperwork (breeders rings/documents, A10, IBR ring and so on), then they need ringing as soon as. you might want to look for a member on here called LoveForLizards, i think she's bred owls before, so will know more of the legalities than i do.
> 
> in all honesty, if your not sure you want to breed barn owls then dont do it. the markets flooded, i could pick a chick up for £50-70. if you want to breed them then fine, but be prepared for a lot of sifting through of wannabes when you sell them, and be prepared to hang onto them until the right homes come up.


thankyou for the info  and i didn't try to breed them but i got them as a breeding pair without intentions of breeding them i said to myself that if she did lay i would be incubating them and rearing them myself, if she is infact pregnant i will most likely keep the young but obv i will apply for paperwork etc, 

again thankyou for the information


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## Spadger

Hi
as she becomes ready to lay she will become lethargic and her eyes will become oval unfortunately these are also symptoms of lots of illnesses.
Just keep an eye on them and leave them alone ( i know this sounds daft/impossible lol). If youre not experienced with them then leave the eggs with them and let them incubate and hatch them then leave the chicks with them for around 10-14 days before taking them out and hand rearing them.
Hope this helps


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## gaz0123

thankyou for the info 

and thankyou to everyone who has messaged me etc about what to do i really appreciate it


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