Injured Barn Owl arrives from Great Yeldham…
After requests for help on Facebook, made contact with Emily whose dogs had discovered this injured adult male Barn Owl in a field in Great Yeldham. Emily grabbed the bird before the dogs showed too much interest and very kindly brought the owl over to me. The right wing is droopy and the joints did not “feel right” so took him over to Linkswood Vets for XRays to see if any bones were broken. Happily the XRays showed all was well with the bones so gave Yeldham a dose of anti-inflammatories and painkiller. Phew! Once home, I hydrated him and later hand-fed him. Unfortunately there is no swallow reflex at the moment so it is little and often until this returns. The pictures are deceiving as he looks incredibly fit and well but, once in the cage, he settles down into a hunched over position and looks very unwell. Managed to hydrate and feed him again this morning and it was slightly easier to get food down him, but far from normal at the moment. No visable brood patch so thankfully no chicks or eggs requiring his attention. Back to Linkswood Vets to see Kieran tomorrow for another injection. I think Yeldham just needs time, rest, medication and good food to help him recover from whatever trauma befell him. Fingers firmly crossed please…
P.S. Yeldham had a BTO ring which we have investigated and apparently he was ringed as a nestling on the 6th of July 2013! Obviously had a good life and that is impressive for a wild Barn Owl…shows the value of ringing.
