I was wondering how many of you have open skylights in your mews...? I am building a 24ft X 12ft mews . The building is made primarily of insulated cement block with a 4ft x 8ft window opening centered in the 24ft long wall. The ceiling is 14 ft to the ridge beam. The rear section of roof and ceiling is completely sealed up. The forward section is yet to be done. I am considering completely sealing that as well. I have seen many of your mews photos and have noticed some roofs closed and some with skylights. I will be building an attached 16 ft x 20 ft weathering area as well so how important is weather getting into the mews. I will be very picky about the husbandry of the mews and the conditions my RT will live in. The mews flooring is cement with floor drains and will be fitted with rubber floor tiles and astroturf. The interior walls will be vinyl sided white to make the most of reflected light. I know that weather is important for health reasons but i think my RT would get enough of it in the weathering area. I just dont want to invite weather inside if i can avoid it.What are your opinions?
As long as the bird has a place where it can get into the sun when it wants and has fresh water where it can drink and bathe, I don’t see any reason why an open ceiling would be an advantage. I personally would never have an opening in my ceiling. It is just too much of a hassle in certain weather conditions.
Not "open" skylights. My roof is solid, with 8' L x 4' W skylights covered with transluscent fiberglass panels. Plenty of diffused light, but no rain, hail, snow, or leaf matter gets inside. I wired underneath the skylights - just in case the wind rips off the fiberglass panel. Don't want a bird escaping.
Post by okiereddirthawker on Jul 20, 2009 22:08:11 GMT -5
My mews have always had an open roof protected with bars of 3/4 sc40 PVC and covered on the outside with welded wire. my birds sit in the sun, in the rain and in the snow but they have several places that are protected where they can get out of the weather if they choose. Gary's mews (the last time I saw them several years ago) are a living garden inside and need the openness to support the plant life as well as providing weather for the birds.
Health....... is the slowest possible rate at which you can die! That's Dr. Okiereddirthawker!
OK, how about a section of roof that's barred, directly adjacent to one of two windows? (as per Gary Brewer).
Had a rehab mews with an open barred roof, and had some birds (mostly owls) hang upside down from the bars. They didn't hang for long, but they did drop down to the floor harder than I liked to see. So I made the roof solid. But the set up seems to work for most falconers, from what I hear.