THE FIRST YEAR WITH MY OWL | One week old owl | How to raise an owl & How to train an owl
I have been collecting bits of footage of the first year with my owl. In this video I show how a one week old owl grows and develops into a fully grown bird of prey. Its like an episode of real life owl babies! Training birds of prey takes a lot of time and effort, but owls are different. Although not to be taken as a tutorial this video shows how to train an owl as well as how to raise an owl. Training an owl with falconry techniques can start at a much earlier stage than parent reared birds as we raise the owls by hand, this is called imprinting.
If you are thinking about getting an owl or have recently got a bird, this video is not what you should use as your source of information on how to train your owl. This is just a video showing a year with my owl, from picking us a chick all the way to flying an eagle owl.
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Thank you for watching!
Music: bensound.com
#owl #birdofprey #falconry
What a beautiful owl. The bird seems really bonded to you. How lucky to have a majestic raptor as a companion.
I am very lucky to have him!
He is calling for you! Very cute
😮
4:32 maybe it's just the wholesome music but he looks so excited to see snow for the first time then the way he looks at you, I swear it's like he knows you two are having a moment and he's trying to not be all emotional 😂
Owls are just beautiful creatures. The best looking animal in the world, at least I believe so lol
The past few days has been a blast for my wife and I. I recently became a volunteer for owl and raptor in bc. Now I receive owl's when I get called for an emergency. So far handled and delivered a female screech owl and a extra small saw-whet female owl. Both successfully delivered for medical attention in relation of accidents "cars". My area has no one for these beauties so it makes me glad to be here to help.
That’s great work, keep it up, I bet it’s very rewarding for you, I have a wild buzzard that was found by a friend that would have died without help, he’s doing great now!
Beautiful owl sir ! I raised my EEO from 4 days old and it was the best thing I've ever done !! He's a bit stubborn when flight training but has the best attitude and is super calm
Great, do you still fly him?
@@MercerFalconry I haven't trusted him off the creance since he flew off last year so we fly daily still but always on his line. I'd love to get his weight down more for better flight recall response but his temper is allot better when he's a bit fat
How much does he weigh when you fly him on the creance?
@@MercerFalconry he's currently 2600 grams exactly. What weights are you comfortable flying your owl ?
Is he definitely a DNA sexed male? Sway flys at around 1400g
It amazing to see how they look and change from when they born in until they become adults 👍❤😀
And it happens so fast!
I have an owlet that had been given to me as a work at a veterinary clinic. It came in with spinal and brain damage. We believe it is about a week and a half old as it has just started opening its eyes. We're expecting it to make a full recovery and hopefully be able to migrate back into the wild
It will be tough to send it back into the wild after being raised by humans
@@MercerFalconry Will it not fly away?
I have a few baby owls that were hatched by two wild owls on my property. I wanted to keep one chic as I thought this would be cool. But after watching this and realizing the responsibility of basically being the owls mate for life. I decided against it. Just too much responsibility. Thanks for the video.
There is also a lot of laws in place to stop people doing that, I don’t know the rules where you are from but that would be illegal here in the uk
@@MercerFalconry I'm in South Africa. There are no laws against almost anything to do with animals. Then again we don't have crazy people trying to keep crocodiles in their apartments. If you read my comment you would see that my conscience and investigations as well as common sense led me to the decision NOT to keep the owl. One of the reasons I wanted to initially was that the other two chic's died so I briefly considered interfering before the other one died as well(they died of exposure because the mom laid the eggs in a very exposed place, hence I was concerned) Also, I am in AFRICA: there are owls EVERYWHERE as well as Golden Eagles etc etc. so chill, they are not endangered here - and yes the last chic is still with us in the land of the living...
Absolutely stunning owl
Thank you, I think he is too!
This owl has had a beautiful life im so happy for him❤
Thank you I appreciate that
Thank you for sharing this video of the Beautiful Owl & your love & respect of nature, owls & dogs. 💕
He is beautiful! thank you 🤗
beautiful owl, glad to see young people into falconry.
Thank you 😊
Wow how he flies freely to you how beautiful - a very lucky bird to be allowed to fly freely clearly you have a meal in your had and he is hungry = well done.
You did a great thing for that owl. He is the coolest.👍👍👍
What a cool video love all captors especially owls and bald eagles.
Impression is insane passage is better though. You did a good job
He must be a sweetheart by owl standards.
Yes he is very gentle and somewhat loving for an owl
Owl bet he loves you! (And he looks like the eagle-owl Yoll from Russia.)
I would like to think he loves me!
Beautiful, just beautiful
Stunning owls my fave birds
Thank you for sharing your beautiful gorgeous bird. I love ❤️ owls
Thank you, I love owls too!
hi, i love owls, and they are stunning to look at, am i right in thinking that a fully trained one will only ever be able to free fly to a perch and come back, can they do anything else like catch things you throw up or a trick or anything else? thanks
Hello, I m korean. thanks for cute owl~
Thats an amusing owl 😍
Those eyes are so pretty looks so so cool.
He is spectacular...totally
What a precious and beautiful animal.
He is very special!
So amazing. ♥️
Sweet
Brilliant mate, thanks for sharing.
You are very welcome!
What beloved and sweet dogs
Beautiful eagle owl😍
He really is!
Beautiful!
Beautiful video ... thanks for sharing
Thank you very much 😁
Wowed oh man Sway is beautiful..You make a great parent, 🌎✌💙😁💯 you rock!!
Thank you, I’m a very proud owl parent!
Fantastic, Dan and my favourite
Great, very happy you enjoyed it
Hi, great video and very inspiring. I’ve just got my EEO 4 days ago and it’s about 5-6weeks old. Only been hand reared. I have 6 other owls but they are were all older when I got them so never trained from scratch. This is my first time training an owl myself, any tips? I’d love to get in touch with you. Please let me know how.
Baby was so fluffy lol!
Thank you for this video!
You are welcome
Fantastic
Great! Thank you for good video!
Marvelous creatures..💕
They really are!!! 😁
absolutely superb
Thanks!
I friggin love him.
Beautiful bird, small correction to the Aerodynamics, air moves faster over the upper surface of the wing foil. causing a low pressure area
Fantastic.
I'm currently raising my EEO Theo who is around 6 1/2 weeks old. This video is beautiful ❤. Hes not very food motivated right now surprisingly but I hope that changes soon so we can start jump training.
They’re so much fun to raise and train aren’t they!!!
We haven't been to much into training yet since he doesn't really care about food 🤣. My barn owl was more food motivated than this guy
Barn owls eat so much though 😂
Yes he did! My Theo the eeo doesn't eat near as much as my barn did
Beautiful ❤️ excellent viv 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Thanks 😁
Excellent video 😊
cool i have an owl to!
Those orange eyes !!!!!!
They’re stunning
I was waiting for you to tell me why this bird doesn’t fly away, enjoyed the video.
Because he doesn’t want to!
He is very beautiful..
He’s really is! Thanks
Really cute owlet
Thanks, he’s lovely!
Son tan hermosos!!! 🙏
When the laundry decides it wants to fly.
😂😂😂😂
Beautiful animal. Very squalk-ative :)
He has a lot to say 😂
qgat a good look owl love them eyes
Like big orange marbles!
Amazing video🤩🤩🤩
Thanks
Is the owl a human imprint or did you do the owl puppet trick?
Great video
Thanks!
Like feeding them chicks is much better way than any Grinder, because I understand that male Hens would just beat themselves up with each other so prevention is key. Which is sad but so is life. So if they are KOd humanely and then fed to animal thats the best ending. Even if this one is imprinted and its difficult to deny his request to mate its for his safety as one wrong interaction could end badly for him
This is adorable, I was very surprised to see the border collies at the end, I also have a red and a blue merle border collies, I would love to have an owl... but that might not be the best mix with my parrots. Regards from Scotland :)
Thanks, border collies are just the best aren’t they!!!!
I flew one of these at the NCBP was super cool
Was it Harley?
@@MercerFalconry "My name is Harley owl, no I'm not a bike, but you can come and visit if that's what you'd like, and I'll fly right to your hand for a little treat, urm have you seen my chicken? I lost it near my feet. :(
@@MercerFalconry Yes it was its a shame about what happened to him but I'm glad he got a good home a truly awesome Owl
He was part of my flying team when I worked there!
@@MercerFalconry It was a wonderful encounter and i plan to go back in spring, he lost every piece of chicken that was near his feet though. 😅 The entire team of owls where wonderful.
Such fascinating birds. I have heard many imprinted birds of prey become aggressive towards strange humans, is the same true for EEOs?
Not that I have experienced, if a bird is imprinted correctly they shouldn’t ever become aggressive
Amazing xxx
Thank you 😁
My grandfather used to have an owl, and her name was Muriel, she used to keep the mice and rats out of the house, better mouse management than my mom’s cat Garfield. I loved both of them but Muriel sadly passed away a few years ago and my grandfather now just relaxes, telling me there wasn’t a bird like her. Though he did express interest in raising a silver cockatoo
Oh that’s a shame, a very interesting way to keep an owl
My daughter is considering to raise an owl, just wonder how to build relationship so she won’t fly away for good? Thx!
I commend you for the dedication you have for this bird. Owls are not the smartest birds nor are they the easiest to train.
Thank you I appreciate that 😁
Good afternoon Mercer, have you introduced your own into hunting? If so, would you mind answering a few questions?
Hi, I havnt done any hunting with my owls, they are all display birds
“When we deny their mating requests,” I hope you at least let him down easy
“It’s me not you” 😂
I will get one in the future. Maybe after i finish with the sparrowhawks lol
You should train him to deliver your mail for you lol. 😉
I’m actually planning a video about everything that Harry Potter films don’t show you about keeping owls for mail delivery!
@@MercerFalconry oh nice!
Have you recorded his first - who? - And what’s his name? You said it too fast but it sounded like Sway ... I love the sound of his toenails across the floor. If his name is actually Sway I have a question about the name but only if it IS sway.
He has done a couple of ‘who’s but I havnt recorded it because he doesn’t do it often and yes he is called Sway
Fan of your vids and work, yesterday I recived my Harris kowk ( male 630gr) Iv been read many books about falconry but y would like to know your steps from the very first one in order to start his tryning. Ive seen your vid about how did you train your harris but not from step one, this one has never recived any trayning and seems to be very wild. Thanks
Thank you I’m happy you like the videos, I have a series planned all around new arrivals from preparing to get one all the way to starting to train so they are on the way. The next video I am working on is all about manning so that may be helpful to your situation!
@@MercerFalconry thanks, also i have another issue , i have a wild couple of howks un the área AND they attak allá day long to muy Harris, very stressful for he... He takes cover un the floor and as he Is un a very big place lock he Is fine bit what about.when i try to maje the first fly.....mmmmmm
He hopefully will eventually get used to them and the wild birds get used to him, I just wouldn’t leave him in the open unsupervised in case one does try to attack, by the time he comes to start flying he should be comfortable enough with his surroundings
@@MercerFalconry perfect ! thanks, sounds logic. Finally, you leave your harris hawk on her perch during the day right ? and what do you do with her during the night ? does she has a cage or something? thanks
She lives in a weathering, it’s a sheltered area with doors and a heater and she is feathered to a bow perch in there overnight
One of those wreaked havoc on the cats in my neighbourhood. Can't say that I'm too mad about it.
What country?
@@MercerFalconry Romania, of all places.
Oh excellent, you are very lucky to see wild ones!
@@MercerFalconry I'm 36yo and till this week I never saw one in person. I went outside at 6am and she was in a tree, right in front of my garage. Was pretty intimidated when i saw her. A neighbour told me that she starts grabbing small cats when the sun sets, in slight darkness.
Can you make a video about people that own an owl as pet how they can provide the needs other than food water and playing inside because my niece got one after harrypotter and she wont listen to me maybe if you make a video about it she might provide the actual needs and enrichement of hunting
looks like a sesame street character when young
They do look very funny as chicks
question: If a bird of Pray finds a good source of food (like leftover meat) while on Free flight it'll still come back right? (so in over words, after some time the bond is more Important then food)
It depends on the bird but generally with birds of prey if they have had enough food and are completely full they will prefer to go and find somewhere like a branch to sit, maybe with the exception of some imprints, they are not like dogs that would return to you out of love
Do you do free flight with any non parent reared owls? New to your channel so sorry if you've gone over this more in another video!
No I don’t, parent reared owls are very difficult to work with and not worth the stress!
Great video Dan, why can eagle owls run so fast I don’t get it!
You would think the skirt like feathers would cause so much drag it slows them 😂
I think the reason is that the owlets are so big that they don't fit in a tree hollow before they can fly, so they have to spend some of their time growing up on the ground, where they might need to run fast to get away from danger.
An interesting theory
Hello . I was thinking to get a barn owl for imprinting. But I have a question. Do all owls need day old poultry chicks and rats to survive? Like I almost dropped my plan of getting an owl after I came to know that they require dead cockerels or rats (as suggested by some people). Like my question is that can I raise the owls without feeding rats or dead chicks ? Can I just feed them variety of birds like sparrow, pigeon, chicken hearts, and other small bird ? Thank you very much
The reason the chicks are used so commonly is because they are cheap and a very good complete diet containing all the nutrients the owl needs, if you keep an eye out, the next video I am making is all about what to feed the birds
I love the Uhu! I want to learn about them. Your film is very nice. But I am from Germany and I don’t understand you because you are speaking too fast!
Sir i have a question for you do you recommend me to have a pet owl like yours,and one more thing can you buy an owl?
Not unless you have gained all the proper knowledge and experience, they’re not a pet really
I have a three legged dog too😍
It doesn’t slow them down does it!
Ayo bro i need help..I got two owletts being attacked by some crows in my balcony..I took the owlets but i kinda looked for their mother but she was nowhere to be found...So i dont know what to do or what to give the owls...Please help me,I need to know what should i give my owls to eat..Is giving chicken meat to owl daily good?
Can he fly away and never comeback to you? If so why he hasn’t?
"Baby" Owl ...LMAO!!!
Just because KZhead is a search engine and ‘baby’ owl gets searched by more people than ‘chick’
IAM getting a barn owl soon!!!!
Congratulations, you must be very excited
So like falconry can owls be used for hunting too ? Can owls go on hunts with humans ?
Yes they can be but it’s not done very often
His-her name?where does that huge owlet live?lovely dog is precious too...does he-she agree with raptor?
He is called Sway and he lives in an aviary in the garden with all my other birds, and he did get on well with Blue the dog but unfortunately she got cancer at a year old and is no longer with us
I would like to know the legal hoops you have to jump through to have one here in the US.
Someday I would like to have a snowy owl
I have worked with snowy owls before, I wouldn’t like to own one personally
Well, get studying!! Falconry isn't like owning a pet, that snowy owl will be your symbiotic companion.
Hi Sir, when did he start to wear his anklets?
I can’t remember exactly but I think around 10 weeks of age when his feet where fully grown
Hey, could you possibly have Male and Female EEO and inprint them?? Will they still give mating request to the owner even if there is an opposite gender??
If you raised them together that would be a different situation because they would be classed as crèche reared. You could not raise them separately and then put them together
@@MercerFalconry what does that mean? i've never heard of that before, mind you falconry isn't that popular in my country, so would that solve the problem with mating season??
Crèche rearing is kind of inbetween parent rearing and imprinting, people raise the birds but they are raised in a group of their own kind. To be honest I still think it would be very difficult to breed naturally from a crèche reared hawk
@@MercerFalconry ohh, okay thanks, that is actually make sense.
What kind of perch should I use most people sid use an arab perch? Will that be fine?
I have a spotted wood owl at home, what do you think is the right time to train an owl?
I start training with my owls at about a week old
@@MercerFalconry what food is good for owls? mice, beef, quail or chicken?
A mixture of all of them is best
I am actually in the process of filming a video about diets
@@MercerFalconry thanks for the advice, I'll be waiting for a video about diets and i'm sorry if my english is bad
Bro i want to be like you...where can i get an baby owl? I like to raise one..
They take a lot of work and if you don’t have the right knowledge it won’t go well, the best thing to do would be to find a falconry group/ society in your country or area and contact them
@@MercerFalconry well put. A owl such as a barn owl is something I consider in the future when I have the time and space ( and my zoology licence) I love predatory birds
What do you feed them?
I have a video all about that called ‘what to feed a bird of prey’!
can owls be kept together with other birds?
Parent reared owls could be housed with other parent reared owls for breeding purposes but you could not house a trained imprinted owl with another