Ozzie likes routine

We’re in a regular routine now, Ozzie wakes up early, at first light.  He stands up then and is ready for breakfast which is cut up pieces of dead day old chick, complete with feathers.  This is as natural a diet as we can manage, the roughage in the little bones and feathers helps him to digest his food.  Ozzie can’t feed himself yet, his chick pieces have to be just the right size, about an inch or so across.  If they are too big he won’t tackle them, too small and either I drop them or he misses them .

He has a meal every few hours and will eat most of a chick at each feed.  We feed him to appetite.  He’s always very hungry at the start of a meal and snatches at the food, then settles to a more gentle ‘grab’ when he’s had a few good bites.  I wear a glove when I feed him, I’d be reaching for the plasters if not!  His beak is very sharp but his talons are his real food-catching tools, even at this age (only a few weeks) they are large and powerful.

Adult owls sit upright but Ozzie settles down for a snooze as soon as he’s dined.  He nestles into his bed of leaves and looks quite snug, his eyes half closed and it’s nap time till the next feed in a few hours time.