Cleaning out barn owl box

How to clean out barn owl box?

We’re asked often: Do barn owl boxes need to be cleaned?  When to clean out barn owl box? How to clean out owl box? How often should barn owl box be cleaned out?

Cleaning barn owl boxes / owl houses should be done annually, ideally in the fall. While it’s  known that owls sometimes will make nest on top of last season’s nest material, it’s best to provide them a fresh start.

Tools/ items we recommend using:

• Hand held (short) garden hoe

• Medium handle length scrub brush

• Paper bag

• Disposable mask for face

• Glasses or eye protection to keep dry dusty material out

• Gloves

 Steps:

1)    Practice safety: If you’re working at height, secure your ladder.

2)    Put on your gloves, glasses, and disposable mask

3)    Before you open the nest box, knock first, and if possible take a look inside the best you can.

4)    Twist the latch screw and open the service door. Note: you may need pliers to twist the latch, the weather over a year can make them hard to remove.

5)    Open your paper bag and hold it under the nest box with one hand

6)    Use your garden hoe to scrape out nest materials. Start with the area closest to the service door. Scrape all contents into the paper bag.

7)    Use your brush to brush out any material remaining in the nest box, including on the walls. Often you’ll find spider webs in the off season.

8)    Note: if the owl box is packed with soft material like redwood tree bark, gorilla hair ground cover, etc, it’s likely squirrels have nested in it.