Baby owl

[Bantex]

Well it flew off last night and so far it has not returned.

I left the door open and replaced the food and water in case it does come back.

Well done with caring for the owl and good luck to it.

[DLock]

Maybe get hold of some day old chicks to feed them. I knew a guy in UK who used to do what you're doing. He had several tawny owls and a couple of barn owls.

Good advice.

I grew up raising black shouldered kites and owls and ravens.

They need require full mice or chicks. They really need the full nutrients from full baby animals, including the bones hair. They cough up the hair balls.

The main nutrient they are missing from just meat is calcium for the bone development. If they don't get full animals, including bones, they can suffer from rickets over time.

Good job raising the little fella. Glad to see he's doing well.

...just saw the post that he flew away. Awesome. I bet you feel really pleased that you saved him (or her). Nice job.

Edited May 18, 2016 by DLock

[returnofthailand]

I had one baby owl too that someone gave me (falled from a tree) . fed him 5 x a day. was very cute and wanted even play. he flew in my room and landed of my shoulder, TV, drawer... he was scared the first day, but after giving food to him, I was his best friend. he was very interested by other birds outside I put him in a cage on the balcony when I was gone

they don't drink a lot but eat often, 6 pieces of meat usually 5 times a day or more . 30 pieces of chicken. (1cm by 5 mm) in average per day.

can eat raw chicken and liver. but this is not good food for them as they eat insect I believe . better if they eat their own food.

anyway after 2 weeks of intense care , I left the door open and the second morning he was gone. bye bye little bird, I still miss him.

Edited May 19, 2016 by returnofthailand

[Fakhry]

Hi, my friend brought me a baby barn owl around 2 weeks old. my plan is to feed it so i can release it in wild when it gets ready. Now it's about 5-6 weeks old, her face started to be drawn with the heart shape, wings came out and small brown feathers on its neck. but the problem is that her wings are too heavy to lift them up so they touch the ground when it stands up. Once a day i find her laying down in the cage after her wings get stuck with her wings while moving and it isn't able to stand up again until i hold her wings up so it lifts her body again. Please any help on how can i handle such cases ?!

[impulse]

Not to put a damper on it- I love raptors. I raised several small hawks while living in China.

Make sure you clean up after the bird- lots of diseases can lurk in the goodies they leave behind.

http://agsci.oregonstate.edu/sites/agsci.oregonstate.edu/files/main/owls.pdf

[willyumiii]

Hi, my friend brought me a baby barn owl around 2 weeks old. my plan is to feed it so i can release it in wild when it gets ready. Now it's about 5-6 weeks old, her face started to be drawn with the heart shape, wings came out and small brown feathers on its neck. but the problem is that her wings are too heavy to lift them up so they touch the ground when it stands up. Once a day i find her laying down in the cage after her wings get stuck with her wings while moving and it isn't able to stand up again until i hold her wings up so it lifts her body again. Please any help on how can i handle such cases ?!

As I stated in an earlier post here, I rehabed more than a few owl in my past life in California, so I do have some experience.

The problem with the cage, may be the cage itself.

When I was working with owls, I used a tiled shower in an extra bathroom I did not use.

I put a couple of dead branches in it the birds could perch on and there was plenty of room for the birds to jump ( not fly ) around and plenty of room to stretch and flap their wings.

It was also easy to clean. I would just remove the birds, turn on the shower and wash all but their pellets down the drain.

It is important to keep their area clean or they will have problems with mites and other parasites.

I know you may not have an extra shower, but it would be great if you could come up with a large enclosed area without bars or wires fore them to get hung up in.

As far as the wings drooping or hanging down, it may be a reaction to the heat if it is in a warm location.

Remember, owls are nocturnal and in nature, they are only active in the cool of the night.

They spend their days in cool shady places, like in the hollow of a tree to avoid the light and the heat.

Holding their wings out and down is an attempt to lower their temperature,

The more surface area they expose to the air, the better the heat is dissipated..

Putting your bird in a cooler location may solve this problem for him.

The best food for any captive owl is live, baby mice.

If you can find just a few, put them in a cage and you will be surprised how fast they multiply.

I hope this has been helpful.

Good luck.

P.S. Even if you do everything just right, I found the survival rate was around 50%.

So, if by chance, your bird does not make it, don't blame yourself, just know you did a good thing by trying and increasing it's chance of survival

[willyumiii]

I had one baby owl too that someone gave me (falled from a tree) . fed him 5 x a day. was very cute and wanted even play. he flew in my room and landed of my shoulder, TV, drawer... he was scared the first day, but after giving food to him, I was his best friend. he was very interested by other birds outside I put him in a cage on the balcony when I was gone

they don't drink a lot but eat often, 6 pieces of meat usually 5 times a day or more . 30 pieces of chicken. (1cm by 5 mm) in average per day.

can eat raw chicken and liver. but this is not good food for them as they eat insect I believe . better if they eat their own food.

anyway after 2 weeks of intense care , I left the door open and the second morning he was gone. bye bye little bird, I still miss him.

The best food for them is whole, live food.

If they only eat meat, they will lack the other minerals they need to be healthy , like calcium from bones, that they would normally get in the wild

I always fed live, small mice and have talked to others who used newly hatched chickens

Keep in mind, they are predators and it is in their nature to capture and kill their food.

[Fakhry]

Thanks willyumiii for the info, i'll try to find a bigger & cooler place for it. Hopefully it can make it and survive!

[returnofthailand]

I had 3, 2 dead, they didn't want to eat.

died after 4 days. I was depressed when the last one ate immediately and start to fly after a week.

Edited May 25, 2016 by returnofthailand