this is great! in a week im going to build my mews on my tennis court, the best part is, we're using the existing fence. this makes building it easier, and it'll be 12ft high 12ft wide, and have a flying/weathering area about 30ft long. i hope it comes out well, since this will be my first one, but hopefully it will because i got my dad and my sponsor helping out COLIN
Chain link and birds.... I'd be careful about that. Chainlink tends to have little metal "knicks" at the joints, which can cut the birds feet. Talk to your sponsor about it, he will know best. Atleast you will have a HUGE mew though, that should help . Also, you might want to cover the floor with something, so its easier to clean. Just my $.02
Falcon Boy Apprentice Falconry Administrator
Ethics make the individual, not the other way around.
I would be very carefull about using a shelf perch as FB is right they can damage the tail. This is not to say that it can't be done as I know of several people that use them in the mew as a roost perch in the corners. I guess if you really want to use one you will need to see how the bird acts on it before leaving it unattended. My 2 cents ;D
Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines "Give a man a fish, and you'll feed him for a day; give him a religion................ and he'll starve to death while praying for a fish."
Ok here goes( that dang Canuck has got to everything different. ) I do have a shelf perch in my mew. Granted she is free loft I believe the term is, I also use the shelf perch as a place to weigh her and change her jesses and any other small things that need to be done. Now if I was tethering her I'd would provide a perch on the on the table so that she can use the table and can get up off the table. the biggest fear i have with table perches or shelf perch is that if your bird bates off the edge of the shelf shew can find herself hanging by her jesses. A good many bird have lost their lives do to accidents like this. (usually when tethered to a screen perch.).
Well, I have begun the building process once again. I am now building the double mews in my back yard. It's 8' deep by 24' long. It has two 8 x 10 mews with a 4 x 8 walk in area in the middle. I'll send some pics once it's done..... ;D
Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines "Give a man a fish, and you'll feed him for a day; give him a religion................ and he'll starve to death while praying for a fish."
Round the corners off on the shelf perch so on of the jesses doesn't catch on it, and cause an unpleasant experience. Same goes for the table -- it should be a round, not a square table, and it should be big enough so that the jesses don't catch on it. i wouldn't free loft a bird with a table unless you build and design the table yourself. Because i bet the bird will, particularly in bad weather, will crawl under the table, and perhaps try to use one of the supports or legs as a perch. Particularly if this is a folding type table (which is what i'm thinkng of). Again, stressing that flat surfaces like tables and shelves can damage a birds tail feathers.
My mews will have a seperate room for equipment and weighing, etc, and with the amount of space your advertising, i'd cut a little off of the mews and make a small room for that reason -- and it will also act like the double door system that will perhaps save yourself from losing a bird one day.
Well, I have now spent almost $1500 on the new double mews in the back yard. I still have about $2-300 more to buy before I'm satisfied....
Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines "Give a man a fish, and you'll feed him for a day; give him a religion................ and he'll starve to death while praying for a fish."