As I have been reading, most texts suggest that the mews is personal and varies from person to person; that there is no best Mews. Consequently, I can't find any directions or patterns. I know 8X8 and a double door entry but beyond this I don't get much.
If anybody has any directions of a classy and dignified mews, please let me know.
8X8 with double doors is pretty classy and standard.
I think mines like 6X8X10.
Its a mews, its not a guest room. 4 walls a roof, a door or two and verticle bars are all it has to be. Use quality materials and put chicken wire along the bottom foundation before you put the ground filler in. That way no critters can tunnel in.
If you would sleep in it, the bird will be fine, but it doesn't have to be spectacular, especially your first one.
Personally i think insulation is going a bit far. If the bird is trapped in your area, it is going to do fine in a mews with no insulation. If it can withstand the temps and weather in the wild it can handle them in a mews.
There are some precautions to be taken in extreme weather, but again, if the birds in the wild can flourish in it, your bird will be able to in a mews.
Post by BlueTiercel on Jan 19, 2005 8:12:36 GMT -5
Hmm..i wonder about kestrels though.... we never have any that winter up here but they are trapped up here. The obvious solution is to keep them inside of course as is recomended. i don't think anyone in Maine is currenly flying aharris hawk though if they doid and kept them outside insulation would probably be a must in any mew for them.
"every dream you keep inside, another part of you has died"
Personally i think insulation is going a bit far. If the bird is trapped in your area, it is going to do fine in a mews with no insulation. If it can withstand the temps and weather in the wild it can handle them in a mews.
There are some precautions to be taken in extreme weather, but again, if the birds in the wild can flourish in it, your bird will be able to in a mews.
Maybe so, but insulation helps keep the tempeture stable.
/shrug
It all depends on how much you want to spend on your bird. I like to have a constant breeze flowing through my Mews. So I have the windows facing North by South.
Everything that everyone is saying about Location, Safety, and construction are right on.
Down here at my place in Texas, the wind is blocked by several fences so it can get awfully hot in the mews during summer. If it is 110 degrees outside, then the mew is 130-140 inside. I put insulation inbetween two layers on plywood for the roof to try eliminate some of the heat and it worked by dropping the temp by about 10-15 degrees in the mew. My mew is in direct sun also which does not help things.
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."
thanks for the input all. I tend to go over the top when I build as my vanity gets involved. For example, The kennel for my dogs is made of wrought iron instead of chain link.
I am here in the high desert of Kingman, Arizona so I tend to be more concerned about the wind and the heat of summer than I do the low temperatures. We have only dipped below freezing twice all winter.
Well hell, the Arizona Falconry Association just held thier field meet in kingman last weekend. You should have gone and spoken to some guys there. They could tell you best what is required for a mews.
And really a mews is going to be dictated by your sponsor. And if not dictated, at least you are going to weigh thier views above even your own.
Ran : My mews is 10'x 10' x 9', and weathering area 10' x 15' x 8'10" , with a something to concider, went designing you mews also think of what you my fly in the future ? , number of add ons?, etc. check out Manny's mews squirrelhawking.homestead.com/home.html, I think it very nice, mine NOwhere close to this, try searching web, I found some others as well on this forum. Happy Hawking wes
Actually that's Gary Brewers mews...Manny built one similar later on I beleive
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."
I did attend the field meet and it was awesome. I met a great group of people.
All I wanted to do was jump from what I needed to satisfy the requirements to what I could do to make it nice. My sponsor is awesome and helpful I just thought it would be nice to include some aesthetic value with its basic function.
Thanks Weasel: All responces I've had with web page has been with Manny, his address if I remember right. I " ASSUMED" and you Know what that means. No offense to Gary or Manny intended, real kool mews away! wes
Im hoping to start building my mew soon and what i decided on was a shed and then encase an area right outside the door. The shed can be bought at home depow or someplace else it really doesnt matter as long as it will hold and for the out side im going to make a frame with chicken wire all over it. But back to the shed they are really easy to put up, cheaper than buying all the stuff individually, and with a third door (besides the 2 doors outside the shed) makes it almost impossible for anything to get in. Just run some wires to it for lighting and heat or air conditioning and it should be fine.