If you asked most people what was their favourite season, you would be told Summer, or Spring. Mine is Baby Season! Technically it is everyones! Who can deny seeing a baby animal?! I certainly cannot!
As it is baby season, we decided to get two new additions to the family. If you are following me on Instagram or Snapchat, then you will see that we have two baby Barn Owls.
May I present to you, Smokey and Bandit!
Adorable, right!? Smokey is to the left, and Bandit to the right. As you can tell one of them doesn't look like a typical Barn Owl chick. Smokey is a Dark Breasted Barn Owl, and Bandit is a British Barn Owl. This picture was taken a week ago, and they have changed drastically since. It's much harder to take pictures of them now though, they just want to run and jump away, or bite the lens!
Smokey is currently 8 weeks, and Bandit is 7 weeks. They are insane. We, at first, were just going to get a Dark Breasted chick. It was my great idea that we should get two and grow them up together. Ever since I got Bear up and flying, it's always something I've regretted doing. So when we 'booked' Smokey, we decided to hunt for another Barn Owl to grow up with him/her. This resulted in a 3 1/2 hour journey to go get Bandit, and then on the way back we picked up Smokey. At times, I really regret getting two. I forgot how much time and effort it takes with just one baby, let alone now with two.
The reason I wanted two was because I knew that they would encourage the other to do things. It would either make them both really confident, as they would be trying to be the better one, or make one really shy. This changes rapidly throughout the day, Smokey is the more shy one, but as soon as she has learnt to do something, that is all she will do (even when it is jumping all over the sofa ;) ). These birds are quickly defying their names, as Smokey is developing lots and lots and lots of spots! This means Smokey is a girl, and as we cannot see any on Bandit, we are taking it as he is a boy. Which is exactly what we wanted! The only problem is that we will not be breeding from these. They will be display birds, so we are letting them spend some time together, but making sure they spend some time apart so they are used to both.
In a matter of a few weeks, they will be fully feathered. This is something I cannot wait for. We have never had a Dark Breasted Barn Owl before, and from the pictures I've seen of them, they are gorgeous.
We have a busy few weeks ahead of us, trying to get these little rugrats up and going. I will try and keep you updated on their progress, hopefully with lots of YouTube videos!
Here is one I made of Smokey from 5 weeks to 7/8 weeks! Enjoy!
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Well, now you've met the babies! Go follow me on all my social media to be kept up with their progress!
Konnie
xox
