The Barn owl on Owl TV laid her first egg on 29th April - now 36 days ago. The usual incubation period is around 32 days - so this is a bit of a worry as we do not seem to have had a happy event as yet. It is however extremely difficult to really see what is going on, and it is possible that a chick has hatched but we are just not able to see it on the camera.
She has four eggs and starts to incubate as soon as the first one is laid - laying the rest of the clutch at two day intervals. This means that, all things being equal, the chicks hatch at two day intervals - which gives the first born a significant advantage over its siblings - with the last born at a significant disadvantage - particularly if food is short.
It is not at all unusual for one or more of the clutch of eggs to be infertile. We obviously hope that this is not the case in this instance.
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