An owl breeder has come up with a novel idea to help him tell his young fledglings apart - by giving them brightly coloured manicures . Jay Brittain , 63 , was worried that the baby owls at Small Breeds Farm Park and Owl Centre , Herefordshire , look so similar at birth that he could end up overfeeding them , which can be fatal for the birds . So he instructed workers at the farm to varnish the claws of each fluffy owlet using nail polish in their very own 'talon salon ' . The first born Tawny owl is given orange talons , the second hatched has theirs painted purple and for the third born , pink . Scroll down for video . Talon salon : An owl breeder has come up with a novel idea to help him tell his young fledglings apart - by giving them brightly coloured manicures . So far , a total of seven cute owlets born to two different mother 's have been given the colourful makeovers at the centre in Kington , Herefordshire . The first born Tawny owl gets orange talons , the second hatched has theirs painted purple and for the third born , pink . Alice Pond applies nail paint to a baby tawny owl which hatched on April 8 at Small Breeds Farm Park and Owl Centre . Staff use ordinary nail varnish for the job . Staff at the farm park have to feed baby mice to the little owlets within 12 hours of hatching and initially three or four times every day . But after three days their feeds reduce to three times a day and , by two months , they need to eat twice a day . Mr Brittain said : 'It is just normal ladies ' nail varnish . It is as simple as that . It is important to keep accurate records and it is important to not to overfeed any one of the single owls . 'So to make sure we can see the ages we do this . They all look very similar ' Mr Brittain said : 'It is just normal ladies ' nail varnish . It is as simple as that . 'It is important to keep accurate records and it is important to not to overfeed any one of the single owls . 'So to make sure we can see the ages we do this . They all look very similar . 'We paint the nails then we know which ones have been fed and which ones have not . 'It also means that we know exactly which is first born and second born , or hatched rather , and so on . Alice Pond applies purple nail paint to a baby tawny owl . The fledglings look so similar at birth that he could end up overfeeding them , which can be fatal for the birds . Mr Brittain , who has been breeding owls for 22 years , said the risks of overfeeding can be fatal . He added : 'Owlets need to eat more food the older they get but if you do overfeed them it can be very dangerous . 'They could die . The food just sits in the stomach ' Jay Brittain applies nail paint to a baby tawny owl which hatched on April 8 . The owls talons are simply painted and not filed in any way . 'So each one family member in one clutch is painted a different colour depending on when they were born . 'We have for instance three Tawny owls from one clutch , or family , so we have painted their nails three different colours according to when they were hatched . ' Mr Brittain , who has been breeding owls for 22 years , said the risks of overfeeding can be fatal . He added : 'Owlets need to eat more food the older they get but if you do overfeed them it can be very dangerous . 'They could die . The food just sits in the stomach . 'It is a bit like us having a really heavy lunch or dinner . They just lie there and they are not in any way active . Painted nails on a baby tawny owl . The new owls will go to other farm parks , zoos , breeding centres or private collectors when they are old enough . 'It should be a lesson for us all really . Something to remember next time we have a Sunday Lunch . ' Staff at the farm park have to feed baby mice to the little owlets within 12 hours of hatching and initially three or four times every day . But after three days their feeds reduce to three times a day and , by two months , they need to eat twice a day . They are fully grown at three-months-old and are able to break up the food themselves . Animal carer Alice Pond said : 'In the wild , owls only live three to five years but in captivity they live a lot longer . 'We have a Tawny owl that is about 20 years old . He was rescued from the Weobley area of the county by Jay and he is still here . ' The new owls will go to other farm parks , zoos , breeding centres or private collectors when they are old enough .
Jay Brittain , 63 , paints the talons of baby owls at Small ##wl ##tone farm and Owl ##ett , respectively . The fledglings look so similar at birth that staff members end up overfeeding them , which can be fatal for the offspring . So he instructed workers at the farm to paint their nails using nail polish in their very own ' talon salon '