Hello from Maryland

[blackhandle]

Like some others, I was really interested in falconry early on in my life and life got in the way. My life wasn't stable (cancer, job, moves, etc.) and it wasn't responsible to continue working on apprenticing let alone having a living being that needed significant time commitments when I was having to commute 3 hours a day and didn't know how I could possibly make it work in an apartment let alone whether I'd actually be alive. So about 28 years ago I made the painful decision that it had to come later.

Life went on, I moved many times, spent a year travelling around the world, got married, had kids, and ended up with a house that backs up to a corn field and managed to get permission to hunt it.

Over the years I've talked about falconry a lot. About how much fun it was. How working as a team with dogs and a hawk felt right. I talked about how I felt it was a really positive thing that increases the population of raptors and if it weren't for the conservation efforts of falconers we would have lost several species of raptors. I got into bow hunting as a replacement and I'm so fantastically bad at it that my family teases me about the score being "Kevin: 0, Deer: 2000".


I guess I made an impression on my wife and kids. About 4 weeks ago my oldest (15m) asked me if he could get into falconry. Inside I was like "YES! YESYESYES!" and I told him that I'd absolutely love to if my wife would agree. So he went to her AND SHE AGREED. WOW! So I thought about things and realize that my life is pretty much at the perfect place for getting started again. I work from home 100% and choose my own hours, my boss used to work at a raptor rehabilitation place, the kids are getting older and appreciate quality one on one time with me more than quantity of time with them.

So I started studying and learning again. I pulled out my old books (I even have the original WA state falconry packet they sent me). Started refreshing everything and figuring out what has changed. Still, I didn't talk about it. I needed to know that my son was serious.

A week ago he came to me again and explained that he was frustrated that I hadn't helped him at all yet. So I explained that I needed to see commitment from him and that falconry was more than a passing fancy before I was going to let him move forward with it but now that he has clearly been thinking about it for weeks, I'm ready.

So I started to reach out to the people listed as possible sponsors. Got assistance to track down some with changed numbers. Networked with about 4 now and setup a time to go hunting with ddcast1234 and we did that yesterday. We went hunting and my son got his first experience with raptors, working a hunt with a dog and a bird, and got a fantastic introduction to falconry. He came away having a much better understanding of falconry. Seeing first hand what goes into it, dealing with meat and dead animals, long walks on a hunt, and what the different parts of the equipment are used for. He didn't get to experience the run to a bird on the ground with quarry but that's okay it'll happen.

As for me, it was both nostalgic and felt new again at the same time. I realized how much I'd missed it and how little I truly know. I know so much of the lingo, I remember almost all the parts of the gear but I know it from reading / memory instead of setting it up and using it personally. When I was younger I had big ideas about what I needed but I can't remember them being specific. I knew I needed a mews but I hadn't put thought into the size, type of raptor, materials used, etc.

So I'm currently studying for the 100 question test along with my son. We have much studying to do. Hopefully we'll be apprenticed soon but in the meantime we're going to keep learning, networking with other falconers, and going hunting a lot more (my son needs to be really sure he wants it as a lifestyle) and with multiple falconers (so he understands the different hunt styles). My wife's on board with building a mews but she wants us to both work with one bird while I think we want different things out of falconry / hunting so that still has to be worked out. (Honestly, I don't even know whether that's possible or a good idea if possible. My son is leaning towards a kestrel and I like rabbit jerky so I'm totally leaning towards a red-tailed hawk. Unfortunately, my wife is already suspicious about the size of mews I want to build being big enough for both. )

I'm here mostly to search for older things, look up information, and get ideas. You'll probably see me asking a bunch of noob questions too. :-P

If you're in Maryland or nearby in PA then please give me a shout.

Thanks!

[Kaz5071]

Welcome aboard! Good luck on both your journeys. As far as having two birds go. Kestrels and other micros tend to be kept indoors to make weight management easier. There is a lot of great information here.

Have a great day,

W

[Diana-Morrissey]

Welcome Kevin! Unlikely you missed it but The Modern Apprentice website is still one of the top sources for information online. Ben Woodruff on Youtube and Falconry Told podcast are my two favorites as well.

[blackhandle]

Thanks!

I’m aware that most people keep kestrels indoors but my wife is pretty set on me creating a temperature controlled mews. My parrots can be blamed for that because they’re kind of punks when they’re irritated and will throw food just to show you how seriously irritated they are and I’ve spent a lot of time figuring out how to keep them from throwing seed everywhere while having their little tantrums.

So I’m going to setup both an outside mews and an inside mews incase I can’t control the temp well enough in deep winter. Something small indoors. Basically a shelf mews with a ring or bow perch elevated from the ground so it won’t be surprised or stressed by curious dogs. I will probably make it a 4x4x4 with a door so they can be separated from any other birds. (I only have one parrot now and will not be getting another.) The indoors will only be for if I can’t control the temp and weight in the winter or if I need a place to manage a sick bird.)

For outdoors, I’m thinking of an insulated mews (using xps foam) on either side of a prep room since I have a freezer and stainless steel food prep table already.

I have to figure out the substrate. I’d prefer pea gravel on the ground but I think that might contribute to it being hard to keep warm in the winter and my soil is clay which might contribute to the pea gravel staying moist. I was thinking about astroturf on dricore on cement as that gives you the ability to remove and pressure wash the astroturf while the dricore and the air movement under the dricore really contributes to the substrate being dry and I’ve had my parrots on it before without health issues. Love to hear any other ideas and I’ll definitely be searching the forums for ideas.

Still trying to work out what to do about the bars on windows and whether I can find a stainless steel hardware cloth that’s strong enough. Mostly wanting the hardware cloth to control visits from mink or snakes. (We get some awful big black rat snakes that would be large enough to take a kestrel.)

Thanks again!

Welcome aboard! Good luck on both your journeys. As far as having two birds go. Kestrels and other micros tend to be kept indoors to make weight management easier. There is a lot of great information here.

Have a great day,

W

[ehh]

I would not over engineer a deluxe mews until you know more about what you are doing and more about what you want. It is easy to over look what is important to the hawk and focus on what is important to you, and then you have wasted a lot of time and money. I suggest you build a simple 8 X 8 mews of a modular design with a solid wooden floor that you can easily take apart and move. If you are like most of us you will end up moving it a lot. As for a kestrel I don't know what the rules require but too bad you can't just keep it on a perch in the house because that is the best thing.

[blackhandle]

I think you could do that with kestrels to be honest. The rules say you have to have the jess, swivels, and all that equipment. A water bowl big enough for them to bathe in and at least one perch. Personally, I'd like to keep it in a specific area doing exactly what you're talking about BUT it was suggested to me that the parrot and the falcon not see each other. It's kind of disappointing actually because I'm 100% certain that Gonzo (his beak is friggin' huge for his head size) would love having another bird around but being a prey species he'd utterly flip out if a predator was visible. TBH, I'm not even sure I can have them in the same area even if he can't see the falcon. He'd probably be okay once he figured out the falcon isn't able to get him and I have plexiglass surrounding much of his cage already to control the food throwing so I don't necessarily have to worry about the falcon crabbing.

Out of curiosity, why would people move their mews?

As for over engineering it, I should probably explain that I was going to build an insulated shed anyways because I homebrew and desire a place to homebrew without keeping all my stuff inside. It takes up a pretty big amount of my office and I temperature control it anyways for fermenting and aging beer.

Any thought on whether the wood floor should be coated with something like Blackjack #57? I know it's used by a lot of poultry people inside chicken coops and it's pretty inert once dried unless you sand it.

I would not over engineer a deluxe mews until you know more about what you are doing and more about what you want. It is easy to over look what is important to the hawk and focus on what is important to you, and then you have wasted a lot of time and money. I suggest you build a simple 8 X 8 mews of a modular design with a solid wooden floor that you can easily take apart and move. If you are like most of us you will end up moving it a lot. As for a kestrel I don't know what the rules require but too bad you can't just keep it on a perch in the house because that is the best thing.

[Saluqi]

I think you could do that with kestrels to be honest. The rules say you have to have the jess, swivels, and all that equipment. A water bowl big enough for them to bathe in and at least one perch. Personally, I'd like to keep it in a specific area doing exactly what you're talking about BUT it was suggested to me that the parrot and the falcon not see each other. It's kind of disappointing actually because I'm 100% certain that Gonzo (his beak is friggin' huge for his head size) would love having another bird around but being a prey species he'd utterly flip out if a predator was visible. TBH, I'm not even sure I can have them in the same area even if he can't see the falcon. He'd probably be okay once he figured out the falcon isn't able to get him and I have plexiglass surrounding much of his cage already to control the food throwing so I don't necessarily have to worry about the falcon crabbing.

Out of curiosity, why would people move their mews?

As for over engineering it, I should probably explain that I was going to build an insulated shed anyways because I homebrew and desire a place to homebrew without keeping all my stuff inside. It takes up a pretty big amount of my office and I temperature control it anyways for fermenting and aging beer.

Any thought on whether the wood floor should be coated with something like Blackjack #57? I know it's used by a lot of poultry people inside chicken coops and it's pretty inert once dried unless you sand it.

Hi Kevin,

Welcome to NAFEX and the wonderful world of falconry. With regard to your parrot there are a lot of falconers who also have parrots and I've never heard of any parrot having issues with a bird of prey nearby. In fact, falcons evolved from parrots, so it's kind of family thing . Hopefully someone with parrots will chime in on this thread.

I homebrewed for years, all grain, 2 -3 batches/month, I always had 2-3 different styles on-tap in a dedicated chest fridge it was great. Then one day I was working in the yard and almost got hit the face by a canyon towhee as he was fleeing a sharp-shin that too also almost smacked me upside the head. Next day I searched the internet for falconry, and here I am 22 years later and I can count on one hand how many batches I've brewed since then. Not saying it'll happen to you, but your home brewery might not be seeing the use it once did after you open Pandora's box of falconry.

Good Luck!

[blackhandle]

Thanks for the welcome!

I *TOTALLY* hear you. I brew all-grain myself but have moved to an all-in-one system instead of using a mash-tun to make it easier. I also heavily prefer german lagers so that works out. I brew, let them age for months, then brew more.

The freezer I'm using for falconry is technically the freezer I used as a fermentation chamber before I had glycol chillers. I thought about turning it into a keezer but I think my wife (who is a pescatarian / almost vegan) would appreciate not having blocks of beef hearts and random dead animals waiting for me to cut them up in the main freezer.

I personally couldn't care less if it's dead as long as it's not spoiled/rotting.

Thanks for the response. I hope others with parrots will chime in also.

Hi Kevin,

Welcome to NAFEX and the wonderful world of falconry. With regard to your parrot there are a lot of falconers who also have parrots and I've never heard of any parrot having issues with a bird of prey nearby. In fact, falcons evolved from parrots, so it's kind of family thing . Hopefully someone with parrots will chime in on this thread.

I homebrewed for years, all grain, 2 -3 batches/month, I always had 2-3 different styles on-tap in a dedicated chest fridge it was great. Then one day I was working in the yard and almost got hit the face by a canyon towhee as he was fleeing a sharp-shin that too also almost smacked me upside the head. Next day I searched the internet for falconry, and here I am 22 years later and I can count on one hand how many batches I've brewed since then. Not saying it'll happen to you, but your home brewery might not be seeing the use it once did after you open Pandora's box of falconry.

Good Luck!