One of my friends uses a dog pen that's 8 by 8, covered with chicken coop wire, for a weathering area. anoyne think this is a good idea?
"Falconry is not a hobby or an amusement; it is a rage. You eat and drink it, sleep it and think it. You tremble to write of it, even in recollection. It is as King James the First remarked, an extreme stirrer up of passions." --- T.H. White
did you say chicken coop wire...?!?!?! the pentagon shaped things connected to another?!?!?!! the bird can seriously damage their feathers if they get stuck in those....... id go to like aviary netting... ooor somehting else.. im planning to use aviary netting... its made for birds... so its kinda a no brainer to use it...
I would use something diffrent if possible. If the bird is teathered to a prech and can't reach the wire it should be fine. The small thin wire is dangerous to raptors that come in contact with it. I have seen birds faces and feet all cut up if they are allowed to come in contact with it. I use a live stock wire that is much thicker. I also don't free loft any bird in a wire inclosure. I wont free loft any bird in a chamber that dosen't have vertical bars on it.-Zach
I used to think i knew some things. But i'm not so sure anymore.
DO NOT USE CHICKEN WIRE Use a heavy gauge wire with a vinyl coating. Better yet, you can use treated wood lattice or vertical boards gapped 1 1/2 in. apart. See photo below.
For many years I used a dog run made out of chain link wire as a weathering area. I always kept my birds tethered in the center so they could not touch the sides. If I freeloft the bird, I don't use the chain link dog run. The first eagle I trapped, I had a 12 X 24 foot chain link dog run with a steel cable running down the center. It had a large ring on it and the eagle was tied to the ring and allowed to fly 20 feet back and forth without touching the side or the top of the enclosure.
"Falconry is not a hobby or an amusement; it is a rage. You eat and drink it, sleep it and think it. You tremble to write of it, even in recollection. It is as King James the First remarked, an extreme stirrer up of passions." --- T.H. White
for my weathering area I was planning on using like an 8X9 dog run, with aviary netting (by the way, where can i find that?) and then build a dome over it (using something similar to tent poles and string the net up over so its like type of enclosure you see at the zoo. what'd you think?