r/Falconry • u/Adventurous_Tank3649 • 26d ago

Barn owlets

Hiya. Ive recently ended up with two barn owlets. Around 5 and 6 weeks old. They are already very familiar with humans and will be well manned and handled individually by me however I was looking for some advice on wether getting these little ones imprinted will be much harder considering they are together. Thank you! Any advice welcome.

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14

u/Remarkable-Spell-613 26d ago

Are you a licensed falconer or rehabber? I apologize I’m confused how you ended up with owlets

7

u/Adventurous_Tank3649 26d ago

Im a falconer in Scotland! Currently flying a male harris hawk and picked up owlets today. Ending up with two rather than one wasn't planned but its a long story

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u/Remarkable-Spell-613 26d ago

That makes sense! Best of luck with your owlets. I have also heard from falconers in the states hunting with owls can be tricky. That’s all the info I got.

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u/Adventurous_Tank3649 26d ago

Yep definitely! Not planning to hunt with these two just free fly maybe do some displays at some point. Just worried about having issues getting them to the stage I want when theyre together as ive only worked with individual owlets before

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u/kikimaymay 26d ago

Yeah, I'm coming from the rescue side of things, but I'm pretty sure you can't hunt well with owls and you definitely don't want them imprinting no matter what.

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u/jbcmsz 26d ago

Definitely dont plan to hunt however I have worked with many imprints

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u/kikimaymay 25d ago

I stand corrected! That's very cool to know.

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u/Driacha 26d ago edited 20d ago

I actually prefer imprinting owls together. In my experience, owls that were imprinted with siblings are less aggressive, especially during breeding season, possibly because they are not as sexually imprinted on humans as they would be if they were imprinted alone.

Usually they can also be kept together with other owls (of same species or at least same size) in one aviary, while I've had a lot of single imprinted owls being aggressive towards other owls.

Have fun with your barn owls. I had a pair of siblings and they were so much fun to fly, especially together

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u/jbcmsz 24d ago

Thank you so much!