Keeping a 8 week old Barn Owl ... ? (1 Viewer)

Hi all, I have taken on a Barn owl due to a family member unable to look after it, it is only 8 weeks old.
I am after abit more info on them,
whats the best place to keep them, what shall i put in the cage/house with them i.e. hay? paper .. etc?
what age is best to get it trained to fly to the hand ?

any info would be greatly apprenticed

Rearing Barn Owls and successfully releasing them back into the wild is a highly specialised operation. For this reason (amongst others) its not legal for the general public to keep them and there are centres over much of the UK that are dedicated to these scenarios. There will be a centre somewhere close to you and I'm sure folk on here will give you their contacts - I've not lived in the UK for many years!

They are very beautiful creatures and I understand your wishes, however it really is in the best interests of the bird to be treated by licensed professionals. They cannot be kept as pets (as all wild birds) and only licensed falconers can train them.

jayjaymozza said:

Hi all, I have taken on a Barn owl due to a family member unable to look after it, it is only 8 weeks old.
I am after abit more info on them,
whats the best place to keep them, what shall i put in the cage/house with them i.e. hay? paper .. etc?
what age is best to get it trained to fly to the hand ?

any info would be greatly apprenticed

Click to expand...

If you need to ask this then shouldn't be attempting this,take the bird to an rspca centre.The bird will be passed onto the right people.

Steve.

Yes, the proper welfare of the bird really really should come first ...

would be nice to see how the story ended? jayjay what did you do with the owl?

I would never attemp to do that on my own. Here it is forbidden, and I would never put the life of the owl at risk.