At Work Brainstorming Ideas...

[jmsst2]

Alright guys, I'm here sitting at work (DEP Office) and I'm thinking about mews ideas. I'm not ready to build any yet, I'm simply planning and thinking about ideas. Here is what I came up with for size. Now, remember, I still have much to study and research, so just humor me. =)

The facility I thought up of is a total of 8 x 32.

There would be 3 different rooms.

First room: 8 x 8:
This room is simply for storage and work area.

Second Room: 8 x 12:
This room is the indoor mew, thinking maybe 2 windows on each side.
Windows: 1 foot from each side of the wall, 2 feet between each window, window 4 feet long. (1 + 4 + 2 + 4 + 1 = 12)

Third room: 8 x 12::
This would be on the other end (opposite of the work room). This would be framed with some sort of fine mesh wire, or something. The point is that this "room" would be an outside weathering area.

Okay, like I said, its just a brainstorm idea I thought up of in a few minutes. Any ideas, thoughts or anything?

Thanks.

Back to work I suppose...

[m4tt]

who have the ROOM to do that? wow i envy you.

ok for the weathering, my ownly comment is, are you free lofting in the weathering? or are you going to have the bird teathered? if your free lofting, use aviary netting and such for weathering, not fine mesh wire.

also, if the building is 8x32, wouldnt you have to walk through one building to get to another? like work area to mews... mews to weathering, etc?

why not build the building like this:

--------------------
|W.A. \ Mews | <-- combined 8x24
|_____|_______|
.....| \ / |
.....|____| <-- 8x8

ok, the bottem part, is the prep room. the \ and / are doors, and the top parts are mews and weathering. and you have a door at the top to enter mews or weathering also. saves time, say the birds in the weathering tethered, now you dont have to walk through all the other rooms to get to the bird. (the periods arnt anything)

now that just an idea. its up to you what you want to do.

[jmsst2]

Matt,

Thanks for the advice! As for free lofting or teathering I really don't know. I have just started my interests in falconry, and still waiting for many books to arrive by mail, so I know little terminology. I would guess free lofting means the bird is free to move about, and teathering means its on a teather (leash). Forgive me if I am totally wrong. I would love to give any birds staying in the mews as much freedom as possible (free roaming, not teathered) but I don't know the pros/cons of each.

I would love to build the facility to your idea stated, but I'm not sure if I have the space.

I'm pretty sure I would have the space to make it 8 x 32, however the land around my house is about an acre large and many trees. I'm not sure if I could fit the configuration you showed into the areas I have to work with. I think I would be able to more easily fit a longer rectangle in the spaces available, rather than a wider/shorter block configuration.

However, after work I think I'm going to hit up the hardware store, buy some tape measurers, stakes and string and see just exactly how much room I have to work with.

Again, I'm not going to start building or anything, as I have far more reading and research to do (I'm just highly excited about it all). I won't be doing anything without someone (experience in falconry) watching over me and helping. Just want people to know that!

Also, about building materials. What do you think would be best? I live in Pennsylvania, so we get decent snowfall at times (nothing too bad). Temperatures are pretty low in the winters compared to some states. I know a lot of people use ply wood, but I didn't know how durable that would be.

Also, flooring. I hear pea gravel is common, but I also read it could dull a falcon/hawk's talons. I read about different types of wood chips and that sounds like a good idea.

How about venelation, should I put in and smaller "windows" prehaps near the top of the structure (along the walls) to provide more venelation, or would 4 windows be alright?

Last (for now) what about drainage. I know little about construction, and when I do start I would obviously have someone there with experience helping me out.

Thanks a lot for all the help!

[Master Yarak]

So far you are on the right track. Freelofting and tethering mean exactly what you think. There are some falconers on this forum from PA. Maybe PM them and find out where they live and maybe see there facilities. Plywood works great. Paint it and it will last longer. As far as what to put on the bottom, I use pea gravel. It does not dull my birds talons because she does not spend anytime running around on it. It drains great and is easy to clean. Your interest is timed well if you can locate falconers in your area the season is just starting and you should have an opportunity to get out with one or two and see what goes on. What part of PA are you in. I have relatives there but have not met any falconers there. Somewhere on the forum you should be able to locate a link to PA's falconry club maybe send them an e-mail. Good luck and I hope this site helps you out with some of your questions and basic info.
Yarak

[jmsst2]

Yarak,

I live in York County of PA (about 15 minutes south of Harrisburg). I research the falconry organizations in PA, sent emails, and got in contact with a local falconer. I asked her a few general questions, and she has been responding to my many questions and interests. She invited me to go out with her on a few hunts in the near future. I was so excited and heppy to hear about it, as I wanted to go on a hunt, but with such little contact I wasn't about to ask her about it (I thought that would come later). But I am still keeping an eye out and lookinf for falconers in the PA area.

[Master Yarak]

Small world. I have relatives in Lebanon, Harrisburg and Marysville. I got back from up there in early August. Glad to hear you have found someone.
Yarak

[hawkstir]

jmsst2, your about 3 hours south of me. Feel free to PM me and I'll try to help you out if I can.