Nieko's Mews

[nieko]

Initial setup.....



Yesterday.......






Today........




We finally got started on the mews this weekend, hopefully I will have most of it done by this weekend, The exterior demensions are 10x 12, and there is a four foot partition, making the actual mews space 8x10.

[kenbro77]

looks good so far, how are you going to drain off the concrete pad?

[cody13]

For the concrete pad draining i would say like take a hose in there and spary it through the door...lol eas and simlpe or spray it down then sweep it out with one of those big factory brooms they work realy well on concrete and with moving water and what not...

[nieko]

I am planing on putting astroturf on top of the concrete. Also there will be a vent along the botom so i can spray it out. Is astroturf ok to put directly on concrete?

[chrismt89]

you might want to think about rubber mats too i know ive heard of a few people using those as well and they are easy to clean

[kenbro77]

The reason I asked, was it looked like you had your walls right against the pad, and no place for water to go. Spraying off and sweeping off water out the door is not considered good drainage.
This is from the Texas Administrative Code:
(D) The floor of the mew shall permit easy cleaning and shall be well drained.
But if you are providing vents along the edges, that sounds great.

[ikcus]

I us the inter-locking rubber anti fatigue mats over concrete and I love them. Very easy to clean and talons stay razor sharp.

Joe

[nieko]

Thanks for the input! still not sure what I am going to put down though. Do you have to pick up the rubber mats to clean them?

[ikcus]

Yes, I take half of the mats at a time and haul them to the driveway. Fire up the pressure washer and I am done washing them in 10 minutes. While the mats are drying, I clean the screens and walls and then vacuum out the mew. The whole ordeal is 35-45 minutes. All in all I like the ease of cleaning, and the razor sharp talons used for jack rabbit hooks.

Joe

[kurt]

I also use the mats for the redtails and after four seasons they still don't show much wear. I've mounted them under the mats I'm using on my table perch for the Cooper's and her talons are like needles. My cleaning is the same as ikcus's. Kurt

[nieko]

Awesome, thats what I will probably go with then. Where did you guys get yours?

[kurt]

I got mine at Lowes. Sometimes they have them at Walmart. Kurt

[kenbro77]

Does any of you use the mats right on the ground, or only on cement pad. I have a dirt floor in my mews and was getting ready to add more pea gravel. but giving this pad thing a thought, unless it needs to be on concrete.

[miket307]

I kept my bird over a mat that was on dirt last season. I kept him tethered so I didn't have the whole floor covered with mat. That way I could hose it off and it would drain quickly.

I got interlocking mats from lowes too.