# Barn owl Help!!



## kennethhopley (Feb 26, 2009)

Hi I am after some information, a member of my family has bought a barn owl, it looked when I saw it very weak not really moving much at all! They had it two days and it sadly passed away, while they had it the bird never gave a pellet and it's abdomen became very distended! In my opinion it was not old enough to be rehomed, the breeder says it was 14 days old. Can some please shed some light on how old they should be before the breeder should be looking at rehoming??? And any advise on what we could do to make sure they are a reputable breeder?? The bird was ringed but they were waiting for the breeder to forward the paper work on to them.


Any advise is very appreciated


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## miss_ferret (Feb 4, 2010)

barn owls can be sold on at 2 weeks old, but its very rarely done as the chicks still need heat at that age so, issues with rearing aside, transporting them can be problematic. 

i brought mine home when he was 8 weeks old (would have picked him up at 6 weeks, but many and varied life issues chose that point to crop up, so the breeder kindly kept him the extra 2 weeks for me) so he was well off heat by then. 

two things to look for in a responsible breeder:

1. recommendations from other owners, general good reputation. dont just pick the cheapest out of the sale ads.

2. expect to be asked questions. i had the inquisition from mine's breeder as he was my first bird. ended up getting my mentor to ring him and assure him i knew what i was doing.


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## alfiealbino (Nov 25, 2007)

At that age a baby barn owl should not have been given food which would require it to form a pellet. 

The age should not be an issue if it is being reared by someone who has the knowledge and past experience of hand rearing from this age. I took on my Canadian great horned owl at 14 days with no issues what so ever, however i worked at a falconry centre for over two years and had hand reared tens of baby owls before taking on my own. 

The distended stomach is completely normal, it is a sign the bird is full. After a few hours the stomach should reduce and not be so hard to the touch as it is digesting the food. 

Was the breeder a company or a hobbyist?


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## anthony reilly (Jan 16, 2010)

Why did they get it in the first place? have they had owls before?


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## Scoffa (Nov 23, 2006)

Surely the bird should have cast a pellet between each feed? I know owls don't have a crop, but from my experience with broadwing, if they don't cast before being fed they can get sour crop and die. The only way round this is to feed pure meat with no feathers, fur or bones, but a supplement must be added to replace the lost nutrients in the feathers, fur nd bones. I'm sure it would be similar with an owl.


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## projectalf (Mar 28, 2014)

Scoffa said:


> Surely the bird should have cast a pellet between each feed? I know owls don't have a crop, but from my experience with broadwing, if they don't cast before being fed they can get sour crop and die. The only way round this is to feed pure meat with no feathers, fur or bones, but a supplement must be added to replace the lost nutrients in the feathers, fur nd bones. I'm sure it would be similar with an owl.


Spot on ^ we had lots of owls.and worked with them.at age should have been feed food that should,nt have needed it to get rid of furr feather ect


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## kennethhopley (Feb 26, 2009)

Unfortunately they did not know what they where doing at all, he said he had reared many owls in the past but never showed knowledge of this to me! the breeder gave them another in place of the one that had complications and after a month or so that one also died. made me sick to be honest people like that should not be allowed animals of any kind! I know very little about birds of prey to be honest and have never claimed too, but even I said it should not be having food with feathers and bones and to chop the meat up smaller, but they never listened to me! I would never dream of having anything like that until I have had plenty of hands on experience. I am actually really pissed off about it but not sure what you do.


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