Specifically:
I thought it was pretty cheeky of this young fellow to brazenly sit there in broad (though admittedly early) daylight.
I decided to wait a while before releasing the chickens.
This is our resident immature great horned owl which has been hanging around, grasping the concept of hunting on his own. In this instance, he was being warily watched (and eventually dive-bombed) by a kestrel, itself a predator.
The owl sat, unperturbed, for a good long while.
So, curious, I went out into the yard to see how close I could get.
As it turns out, very close.
The kestrel continued to dive-bomb the owl (the blurred shape at lower center).
Finally, wanting to release the chickens, I walked slowly toward the owl until he flew off.
He soared away behind the barn. Just to be safe, I waited above five minutes before opening the coop door.
We haven't lost a chicken yet to the owl. I hope to keep it that way.
I lost 3 babies to what I think is our resident teen owl. However all of our chickens as adults and teens are doing well. I know it was an owl because one day he swooped at the unbelievable hour of 1:30 in the afternoon while we were there, thankfully the hen closest to this attack sounded the alarm for all to hear. And here I thought they were nocturnal.
ReplyDeleteI've not lost any to owls but hawks are another thing. Have a wonderful week
ReplyDeleteWe had two mating owls in the spring and now the juvenile is staying around our place. A few nights ago it swooped out of a tree and above our heads by only 10 feet. It spooks our horse a bit but we enjoy having the owls around.
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