Owl Control????

Question

Lately a owl has been killing 3 of our chickens every night. I know its an owl because we have seen it before. I would prefer not to go to the WildLife agencie and Also I would prefer not to poison it. What can I do to kill or make it quit killing our chickens?

Answer 1

Put the chickens inside at night or keep them in an enclosed pen with a net or chicken wire over the top. An owl won't go through the wire.

If you continue to lose chickens then you know you have another predator. It you have a strong pen for the chickens, check for holes and areas that have been dug out. I've never heard of owls killing chickens like that. 3 a night is not owl behavior, but dogs, skunks, and raccoons will kill several chickens at one time. The Great Horned owl is the only owl know to hunt chickens as other owls species are to small.

I hope you don't poison it as owls are federally protected. You will have to get both state and federal permits to kill or trap the owl.

Answer 2

So you've seen an owl. What kind? A barn owl, mostly white, or what?

You loose 3 chickens every night? That's a lot of meat. One owl would probably not be eating that much. And most owls do not eat a lot of birds.

Are your chickens in a coop, or at least a covered yard? They need a roof, with high perches to be safe at night.

Look for other predators, like weasles, skunks, oppossums, rats even. Or maybe some neighbor humans.

Chicken wire and plywood will enclose your birds for the night. They will quickly learn where they are safe. They will put themselves to roost in the evening.

Yes, owls are federally protected. Don't poison or kill it. You will be overrun by rats and mice, which is the normal food of owls.

Answer 3

You can check out this product:
skydancersintl.com. They keep birds away too.