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There are thousands of barn owl breeders in Great Britain. Are you one of them? There are thousands and thousands of captive bred barn owls in Great Britain. That is an indication of the relative ease with which these birds will pair up and breed. The market is overburdened with them. The rescue centres are mown down with numbers of injured, abused, traumatised or just plain lost barn owls. See the Independent Bird Register for figures relating to lost and found barn owls. And those are the ones people care enough about to report! Some are having to be euthanased because their owners can't be found and no suitable homes are available for them. This situation has been evident in the stray dog and cat population for decades. And for almost the same reasons. Do we really need to add more to the total?
Are you a conscientious breeder? Do you fit your birds with a recognised ring? Do you keep accurate records and obtain article 10 certificates for each bird to be passed to the new owner? Do you ensure the buyers have a good understanding of what they are taking on? If so you are to be commended and these pages are not for you.
If you don't, then why not? Rings are not expensive and as from January 2001 the certificates will cost only 20% of the market value of the bird. Considering barn owls are the cheapest owl on the market, surely that's not a lot to find? Keeping accurate records costs a little time and effort but will help enormously if there are ever any questions asked about a particular owl, or if one is found and the ring number is traced to you as a breeder. You will at least be able to say who the bird was sold to. It does help in tracing owners of lost birds. It also helps to establish your reputation as a decent breeder.
However if all you're interested in is the revenue which comes with selling barn owl chicks to just anyone, without going through the correct and legal procedures, then you won't be interested in these pages, and probably haven't got as far as reading this. So you won't find out that it is impossible to make money by breeding barn owls. The income generated from the sale of the young will not cover the cost of feeding the parents throughout the year plus the extra cost of feeding the young until they are sold. Added to that is the fact that so many people have jumped on to this bandwagon that supply has far outstripped demand. The longer it takes to sell your chicks the more it costs you to keep them until they are sold. What if you don't sell them all? What if the replies to your repeated adverts dry up? What do you do with those you don't sell? You can't release them. It's illegal, and cruel. And in the meantime your female is incubating another clutch of 6 or 7 eggs. More for the market in a few weeks time. And while you are trying to sell those, the female is incubating yet another clutch of eggs! For heavens sake, either close up the nest box or separate the pair!
When customers arrive in response to your adverts to buy a barn owl, (probably their first,) how often do they ask what sex it is, then request another of the opposite sex. Do you end up eventually selling them a pair? If so, have you ever stopped to ask yourself why? Ok, we know. It's for the money, and to get the youngsters sold. However, the only reason a buyer would want a pair is to breed from them. Do they live in your area? Or within reasonable distance. If so, then next year, you will have competition for the Barn Owl market as he tries to sell his youngsters. The market then becomes flooded with twice the number of young barn owls. You then become desperate, lowering the price to get rid of them. Which then defeats the object of trying to make money by breeding them. And in the meantime, your female is incubating another clutch of eggs…………….
So is the one belonging to the person whom you sold a pair to last year!
And did that person sell a pair to someone else? ……………..
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