# Baby Barn Owls



## Exotic Mad (Jul 11, 2009)

Does anyone have experience with breeding barn owls?

i took on a pair with eggs and the second egg has hatched today. i have done tons of reading up but would appreciate anybody's personal experience with them :blush:

they are so tiny and cute by the way i will get some pics as soon as i can :flrt:


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

Pm Loveforlizards, she has a baby barn owl at the minute and seems to have a lot of experience with BOPs.


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## Zoo-Man (Apr 12, 2008)

I hand-reared a baby Barn Owl last year. He grew to be a gorgeous big boy I named Angel.


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

So Colin, what was your technique??


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## Zoo-Man (Apr 12, 2008)

I got Angel at 3 weeks old. He was on 4 feeds a day. He would come to work with me. I used cut-up bits of chick to feed him. Generally at first he would take the majority of a chick in one feed (the legs, wings & the body for eg). As he was to be a falconry bird, I would whistle just before giving him the food so that he would associate the sound with food. It was easy to encourage him to open his beak by touching the whisker-like hairs around the base of the beak. He ate like a horse (an ugly horse at that hehe) & was growing like a weed. His feeds went down to 3 times a day, then 2. He soon grew his feathers through & began taking his first trips into the air, at first just vertically up & down. At this point I soon realised that baby Barn Owl down gets everywhere & the flapping only served to make sure that every part of the room was touched by some of the fluff :lol2:


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

We only get wild baby owls at work, so we don't have to whistle! :lol2:

We do all the rest though!


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## Exotic Mad (Jul 11, 2009)

i am amazed how small a newborn barn owl is. i kept looking at the eggs thinking they must be really squashed but they are so so tiny. the first one was born on monday and the second today. the 2 day old one already looks totally different to the newborn one :lol2:

how am i supposed to get the babies out of there??!!

dad clicks and hisses at us when we go anywhere near his babies lol.

and is it agrred by everyone that hand rearing should start at 2 weeks for friendly babies? as i say anything personal would be great as this is my first time so i only know what i've read


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## Zoo-Man (Apr 12, 2008)

Oh and owl crap on the sofa is a lovely decorative talking point!


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## Zoo-Man (Apr 12, 2008)

Exotic Mad said:


> i am amazed how small a newborn barn owl is. i kept looking at the eggs thinking they must be really squashed but they are so so tiny. the first one was born on monday and the second today. the 2 day old one already looks totally different to the newborn one :lol2:
> 
> how am i supposed to get the babies out of there??!!
> 
> ...


As I said in my earlier post, I hand-reared my Barn Owl at 3 weeks old & he was as tame & friendly as my 4 parrots.


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

I do find myself wondering if you have so little experience why you took them on in the first place though?


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## LoveForLizards (Apr 20, 2008)

Forget it, you have a PM!


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## Zoo-Man (Apr 12, 2008)

It was brill watching Angel swoop down onto my male Siamese cat's back & him dash away as if it was a Harpy Eagle trying to snatch him off :lol2:


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## kimmylizards (Feb 8, 2008)

*barn qwls*

l have hand reared about 20 barn owls and other birds of prey , my ex partner is always avaible for any advice you need , contact if you need any help


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## Exotic Mad (Jul 11, 2009)

i have visited the barn owls i have got a lot and seen his babies grow up (he has 3 breeding pairs) but the only way to get hands on experience is to have them. everyone starts with their first somewhere. like i say i have read up loads and asked a thousand questions from the guy i got them off but he leaves his babies to be parent reared handling regularly which i why i was asking for anybodies personal experiences on hand rearing as it seems thats what people want


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## BenjaminBoaz (Jan 6, 2006)

chick arent really a good source of food. you really want to feed rat. The best thing though for young is a minced mixture of rat and chick. Defrost an adult rat and some chicks. skin the rat and gut it. cut head off and mince with a hand mincer (£10 off ebay) add to that minced chick. remove head and feed first and remove yoke but keep the feather on. this is then kept in the fridge and fed with tweesers. feed 3-4 times a day as much as they will eat at that sitting. 
as they get bigger you can give them mice and small rats. id keep off the chicks unless you can afford to keep them on rodents. 
hope that helps. 

oh and if your stuck for a day slithers of chicken and beef are ok will you get other food sorted.


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## Zoo-Man (Apr 12, 2008)

animalstorey said:


> chick arent really a good source of food. you really want to feed rat. The best thing though for young is a minced mixture of rat and chick. Defrost an adult rat and some chicks. skin the rat and gut it. cut head off and mince with a hand mincer (£10 off ebay) add to that minced chick. remove head and feed first and remove yoke but keep the feather on. this is then kept in the fridge and fed with tweesers. feed 3-4 times a day as much as they will eat at that sitting.
> as they get bigger you can give them mice and small rats. id keep off the chicks unless you can afford to keep them on rodents.
> hope that helps.
> 
> oh and if your stuck for a day slithers of chicken and beef are ok will you get other food sorted.


I agree that rodents are more nutritious, but I would not use them as the staple diet of an owl or bird of prey, as in captivity they do not need such a rich diet.


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## BenjaminBoaz (Jan 6, 2006)

its always good to mix the food, mice, rat, chick, quail but not just chick like a number of people do. birds will be much better for it.


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## LoveForLizards (Apr 20, 2008)

animalstorey said:


> chick arent really a good source of food. you really want to feed rat. The best thing though for young is a minced mixture of rat and chick. Defrost an adult rat and some chicks. skin the rat and gut it. cut head off and mince with a hand mincer (£10 off ebay) add to that minced chick. remove head and feed first and remove yoke but keep the feather on. this is then kept in the fridge and fed with tweesers. feed 3-4 times a day as much as they will eat at that sitting.
> as they get bigger you can give them mice and small rats. id keep off the chicks unless you can afford to keep them on rodents.
> hope that helps.
> 
> oh and if your stuck for a day slithers of chicken and beef are ok will you get other food sorted.


 agreed. Chicks shouldn't make up a big parT of any birds diet much less a young barn owls.


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## LoveForLizards (Apr 20, 2008)

Zoo-Man said:


> I agree that rodents are more nutritious, but I would not use them as the staple diet of an owl or bird of prey, as in captivity they do not need such a rich diet.


All of our birds of prey including the owls get rodents, chickS are low in nutrients so need a supplement with them all of the time. Chicks are also a negative calorie just like pheasant so it's not recommended to feed it as the main stay of a Diet.


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## Exotic Mad (Jul 11, 2009)

thanks for all the comments its really helpful. the owls were fed purely on chicks when i got them which is why i have moved them onto a mixture but i will phase out chicks for the adults and stick with a good mixture for the babies. the oldest one has grown quite a lot in its 4 days so i guess mum is doing a good job at the moment. i'll have fun mincing for the chicks :lol2:


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## ryanr1987 (Mar 7, 2009)

Many barnies have had chicks and grew into gorgeous healthy adults. i have spoken to many expeienced BOP keepers and they have also said chicks are fine. a mixed diet of both chicks and rodents will be fine. For a barnie to be tame when there eyes first open they ahve to be with you and not the parents.


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## BenjaminBoaz (Jan 6, 2006)

i bought my barn owl when it was two weeks old and hand fed. id take them away if you want them to be well imprinted. are you planning on selling them? if so get them advertised.


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## Exotic Mad (Jul 11, 2009)

http://www.barnowltrust.org.uk/content_images/pdf/Feeding_Barn_Owls_13.pdf

the barn owl trust recommend a main diet of chicks with some rats but not many mice


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## ryanr1987 (Mar 7, 2009)

Exotic Mad said:


> http://www.barnowltrust.org.uk/content_images/pdf/Feeding_Barn_Owls_13.pdf
> 
> the barn owl trust recommend a main diet of chicks with some rats but not many mice


 chicks are actually better then most people think. though of course not a bird my burmese has been on a diet of chicks and i have never seen a growth rate like she has. many falconers use chicks and i would always recommend them with like you said a mixed diet with rodents.


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