barn owl beak clip

Re: barn owl beak clip

Sal the 1st — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 19:07:06 GMT

thats good to hear - because never having had this with my own birds we now have a harris hawk in next week for the same thing

Re: barn owl beak clip

Diane Westwood — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 18:13:13 GMT

The procedure went really well. Very chilled bird, he was a year old and had been with his very experienced handlers since he was 2 weeks old. Everyone happy.

Re: barn owl beak clip

Diane Westwood — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 22:07:47 GMT

Thanks everyone. I will let you know the outcome.

Re: barn owl beak clip

Sal the 1st — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 11:12:58 GMT

[quote user="Carli Dodd"]

We use a battery operated dremel for coping.

Top tip - always work from the underside of the beak, never the top.

Beak overgrowth is relatively commonplace, tips for the owners to help stop it/slow it down is to ensure they are not overfeeding (tho sometimes suggesting this can get you 'the client glare!!') and to offer whole adult prey at least twice a week i.e. something that requires ripping and tearing to use the beak in a more 'normal' way. Some people will put a phesant wing or rabbit spine (sorry bunnies) in. Also providing a rough surface on which to feak (rubbing the beak after feeding/bathing).

Hope that helps - Good luck!

[/quote]

maybe I was just lucky with mine then? but must admit there was always an abundance of rabbits and game birds to keep them busy

Re: barn owl beak clip

A Little TLC — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 12:52:14 GMT

We burr them.... and... what she said ^^ lol!

Re: barn owl beak clip

Carli Dodd — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 12:01:16 GMT

We use a battery operated dremel for coping.

Top tip - always work from the underside of the beak, never the top.

Hope that helps - Good luck!

Re: barn owl beak clip

Anonymous — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 00:49:12 GMT

Its called 'coping' and if you google it there is plenty of advice out there :) Done it loads of times... but avoid clipping the beak, always file it if you can! Look for barn owl pictures to get the feel for what length it should be, as it is quite long anyway, or even phone a local falconer so he can give you advice.

Good luck ^_^

Re: barn owl beak clip

Sal the 1st — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 00:07:09 GMT

I have kept them in the past ( more than 20 years ago)- either aviary bred or rehabs for release - have only ever had a beak trimmed if it was deformed ( ie wild bird that had sustained damage) dont recall any of my own birds needing a beak clip? They do have very long beaks - is this an owner who has never kept them before? is the bird very old? or having problems with food at all?

http://www.barnowl.co.uk/page8.asp

you could try contacting this group for further info

http://www.barnowl.co.uk/upload/docs/593/gallery_of_owl_skulls.pdf

think the picture of the skull sort of puts the length of beak into perspective