At 4:37 am a loud explosive noise accured outside (i was hoping) my house. I jumped out of bed, threw the curtains back, fully expecting to see a house or car engulfed in flames. A split second later I jump to the other window, looking for the same, seeing nothing I start praying real hard it wasn't coming from inside the house because we are on the top level & mom doesn't run real fast with her sleeping pill in her. I run for mom's room telling her to get up, get her robe on, be ready to move, there was a very loud explosive sound & I'm going to go hunt for it. Then we hear it.. squawking. I'm think.. WHAT? did the neighbors blow up my chicken coop! I pear out mom's window fearing the worst, seeing flames coming from my coop.. nothing.. hmm.. now i'm starting to actually get scared. Something thumps again but not as loudly. Then i hear a squawk again & then Nutmeg's outraged little voice cuts thru really telling someone off. Ok so its chickens. My brain finally wakes up & it clicks.. there are chickens in the tree tonight. The idiots would rather sleep in a cold tree than inside the nice coop. I run to teh next bedroom of the house & peek out that window.. there is something in the tree.. something very large & scary looking.. It turns his beady eyes to look at me.. (i thumped the window & yelled at it) from about 6 feet away nearly level with the window. Suddenly it flies away, up to the light pole & perches.. What in the world! its my beloved snow owl. He's trying to make a meal out of my chickens! i start racing around hunting up warm clothing, fly down the stairs, grap a flash light, grap a coat, tell mom to grab old towels, bowl of warm water & peroxide. I'm expecting to be bringing back a chicken who's near dead & very bloody. I get out to the tree & teh chicken is gone.. i look again.. o no.. did it come back. I can see it no where. Then i hear mouse squeaks. poor mouse.. but thankfully the owl is preoccupied for now. I slip & slide down the icy steps to find Lucky bunched against the wall shaking like a leaf. I throw a towel over his body wrapping him tightly & head for the door. Thinking with every, step can we save him... mom starts moving things on the counter & I put him down, telling her to hold him still, I run back for the tree & start trying to reach birds before the owl comes back for dessert. Nothing, can't get a one of them to come to me. The do crawl deeper into the tree, further down which will make it harder for the owl. I rush back inside & start pealing back the towel. Mom's holding her breathe fully expecting the chicken to be a bloody mess also. Nothing.. a few feathers falling out... i lift wings, turn him over, check his belly, nothing.. no blood, no wounds nothing... there is a little blood on the side of his beak but it appears he got in a good shot of his own nothing more. In totally relief I find a box, put him inside & leave him to huddle in front f the fridge vent to stay warm. I colaspe into bed a few minuites after this starts... totally shook up. My beloved owl is sitting on the tree outside my window looking in at me. (limb is about 10 ft from window.) I tell him to leave my chickens alone.. if owls could smile i swear he did.
again at 7:30 the thump but not as loud... no chickens missing this time. I can just imagine the force that owl had to of hit the tree limbs to create the sound he/she did. It sounded just like a propane tank exploding very close by. All this happened within 5 minutes, from the time my feet hit the floor till i put him to bed in the box.
I laid down in bed wondering.. Do chickens have nine lives like cats do? THIS chicken seems to have more than one.
So.. any suggestions on how to get rid of an owl.. i need to deter him from visiting my yard again.
How many lives to Chickens have?
it has been bothering me.. my beloved snow owl does not have ears.. this had ears.. so i looked up what others are very pale in color..
Great Horned Owl - interior race - subarcticus
This must be what i saw. My beloved snow owl is still beloved. :) I wish i could get a picture but he hates cameras. He is a beauty.
I examined Lucky once more just to be sure before I put him outside this morning, I missed his wing being broken, dislocated.. whatever would cause it to hang funny from his side & not allow him to fly. Going to wrap it & hope for teh best.. idk what to do beyond that. he's in good spirits, eating, chattering. Doesn't appear to be in pain.
Hoping for the best...no suggestions yet...
I've had chickens that had been "roughed up" hold their wings strangely for a few days--even a week or more--then suddenly look fine....my Serama, Wilder, did it for weeks after the other roos almost killed him...just one wing hanging down.....now he is fine and has a girl friend!
Catscan i poked my finger up around in there & its definitely not where it should be.. its loose from the "joint" area where it connects to the body. he can't move it at all & falls on his face if he tries to fly. I taped it to his side for now.
How about a plastic owl perched in the tree? would he think the tree was someone's elses territory and move on?
or used cd's that dont work anymore hanging in the tree?
This message was edited Dec 28, 2009 3:15 PM
Oh--that does sound dislocated. I know with cats and dogs (and people) you can pop the joint back in shortly after the dislocation--but after a while it won't go without surgery--however in mammals a "false" socket will usually form with time. I had it happen with my cat....don't know about chickens.
idk.. he won't keep the tape on.. he does lthis dance & gets out of it.. I've retaped him 5 times today already.. its getting frustrating.
Can you wrap him in an ace bandage--you know the classic figure eight?
i got the pet tape stuff that is self sticky & wrapped him in that. Idk that i can do a figure 8.. he's just a bantam.. not much area to work with. I think i wasn't wrapping it tight enough bc i was afraid of hurting him.. i did it much tighter & he's not been able to dance out of it in the last hour. i was keeping it in front of his legs bc i don't want him pooing on the tape.. & i was trying to not pin down the other wing.. & not put it across his front so much.. i poked my finger around the area again when i re-taped him.. it feels less loose now. more like a joint should. it still hangs down funny & he walks on it. it looks broken. idk how birds do with pain but until i taped ti up his face got really bright red.. now its back to its normal color so i'm guessing having it hanging was hurting him maybe? i know cats don't feel pain like we do.. maybe birds don't either.
I did a search on keeping owls away....not much out there that works, not much on owl deterrents period other than using owls to keep other birds away....most recommended is a scarecrow, one is playing heavy metal music (that would keep anything/anyone away....lol). I wonder if the Audubon Society can recommend something?
This message was edited Dec 28, 2009 5:09 PM
idk..considering this is the first owl of this kind to be seen in this neighborhood in 30 yrs I'm not sure I want to open that discussion up... they might fuss at me for bothering the owl.
if i played music all night my mom would kill the chickens then me.. or the neighbors would.. who ever got their first. IDK how the thing landed in the tree to begin with.. its the shortest tree in the yard & there are other big trees that are above it. The owl nearly had to dive bomb the tree to get there. I thought about hanging shiny pieces of something from the tree.. but idk that i can get them up there. I"ll have to find some tin foil & rig something. I manage to get all birds into the coop tonight.. not by thier choice but by my stubborness.
How is Lucky? Is the owl still hanging around?
Lucky is ruling my kitchen currently. Idk if the owl is around or not. I devised a "get the chicken out of the tree" device. so no more chickens have been sleeping in the tree they so love. :)
ok problem here.. how do you tell if the wing is working properly? Can a chicken survive with just one wing? he's in the house.. i can't just let him roam about as I have cats in here too that only experience chickens when they are in boxes.... not risking that. I can't take him out side yet.. too cold for him. (yes i baby him) He can't get off teh snow if he can't fly. so.. help! please! idk what to do with him.
Can it stand on your hand or arm? If so -then raising your arm up and down quickly enough that it will spread its wings to balance works well. We had one with a wonky leg -she couldn't get up off the ground enough to fly and lived only about 1.5 years...
he refused to use his wing when i did that.. but i thought maybe it was bc it had been tapped for nearly a two weeks. He's been isolated & confined in a tiny box too.. i moved teh office around so i could put him in a xtra large dog crate this morning, thinking that maybe a little more space at this point will allow him to test the wing? he is crowing really funny too.. he crows.. then goes *eeeerrrrrawwww* at the end.. i can't tell what's up with him. he won't make it long outside not able to fly & mom is not up for a rooster in the house till spring.. He needs company. I debated on bringing the silkie in to stay with him but idk if he would accept another chicken in the crate. Any ideas on that?