Barn owls are suffering secondary poisoning from rodenticides at alarming rates, with farm-based habitat management offering both conservation and welfare benefits.
Barn owl welfare impacts from rodenticide poisoning are severe and widespread. Anticoagulant rodenticides cause death through internal hemorrhage — a prolonged process causing weakness, disorientation, and eventually fatal bleeding. Birds found dying from secondary poisoning are suffering significantly before death. The irony is stark: barn owls are natural rodent controllers, yet rodenticide use designed to control rodents is killing the owls that would naturally do the job. Farm practices that support barn owl populations — nest boxes, rough grass margins, reduced rodenticide use — simultaneously benefit owl welfare and provide ecological services. Regulatory reform to restrict second-generation rodenticides is urgently needed based on the weight of evidence.