newbie needing advise

[bparrott85]

hello everyone i am a pre apprentice from Ooltewah Tn. i am studying for my exam and getting ready to start my mews. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.(i.e. mews design,study tips, reading material)

[FredFogg]

Welcome to NAFEX! I would suggest reading the thread in the link below all the way through and taking some of the advice on there.

http://www.nafex.net/showthread.php?t=2007

I also would suggest seeing as many mews and weathering areas you can see of other falconers before starting to build your own. You won't believe how much you will wish you saw this or that before you built yours after seeing others. And I guarantee you, you will have to change something after building it, every bird is different and you have to adjust accordingly.

Good luck and ask plenty of questions after you have read through the apprentice threads.

[bparrott85]

I also would suggest seeing as many mews and weathering areas you can see of other falconers before starting to build your own. You won't believe how much you will wish you saw this or that before you built yours after seeing others. And I guarantee you, you will have to change something after building it, every bird is different and you have to adjust accordingly.

thanx for the advise but looking at diffrent mews is going to be no easy task for me other than the pics i find on line, there are only 3 licensed falconers any where close to me and two apprentices. there are only 22 licensed falconers in the state of Tennessee.frus I have read through the list that was linked and ive already got a falconry package from the twra and i ordered the california apprentice guide. ive been hunting with a guy that ,i hope, might take me on as a apprentice when i get to that stage.

[paganlove22]

there are only 22 licensed falconers in the state of Tennessee.frus

Im coming as fast as I can.LOL. Wouldnt do you any good since Im an apprentice also. I think we will be moving to the Cosby area. Where are you at in regards to that area?

[bparrott85]

I think we will be moving to the Cosby area. Where are you at in regards to that area?

I am about 15 miles outside of Chattanooga.So that's probabally about 2 and a half to three hours away from cosby.

[everetkhorton]

Brandon. I guess my advice would be, build the best mew passable when you get ready to start. 2x4 on 16 inch centers, lights, covered wall with the stuff you see in wal-mart bathrooms, food tube.
double door, room for freezer. Work bench. Falconry is a life time experience.

[FredFogg]

thanx for the advise but looking at diffrent mews is going to be no easy task for me other than the pics i find on line, there are only 3 licensed falconers any where close to me and two apprentices. there are only 22 licensed falconers in the state of Tennessee.frus I have read through the list that was linked and ive already got a falconry package from the twra and i ordered the california apprentice guide. ive been hunting with a guy that ,i hope, might take me on as a apprentice when i get to that stage.

My sponser was only 20 minutes away, but all the other falconers were anywhere from 45 minutes up to 2 hours away. I looked at a couple of their facilities and then built mine. Over the course of my first season, I got to see several more mews and weathering areas and if I had seen them first, I would have built mine differently. So spending a Saturday driving all day to different falconers to see their facilities is well worth the time and gas money, I can assure you.

And using pea gravel is fine, it all depends on your setup. I use pea gravel, but with my setup, the birds hardly ever are on the ground, so the pea gravel doesn't dull their talons. Here is a link to pictures of my weathering area and mew, to give you another one to look at and get ideas. Mine is far from perfect, but it works for me.

http://home.roadrunner.com/~fredrick...pic01_jpg.html

http://home.roadrunner.com/~fredrick...pic01_jpg.html

[bparrott85]

nice setup Fredi had thought of building attached to my garage originally, but then thought of trying to get my wife get rid of all her junk in there and quickly reconsidered.

I was thinking about free lofting my bird. but i would like to hear the pros and cons of this if anyone has any input. also any pics of mews would be greatly appreceated I've my outside design the way i want it,not to hard since i was a construction worker for about 5 years, but really have no clue about the inside
thanks

[FredFogg]

nice setup Fredi had thought of building attached to my garage originally, but then thought of trying to get my wife get rid of all her junk in there and quickly reconsidered.

I was thinking about free lofting my bird. but i would like to hear the pros and cons of this if anyone has any input. also any pics of mews would be greatly appreceated I've my outside design the way i want it,not to hard since i was a construction worker for about 5 years, but really have no clue about the inside
thanks

The best thing you can do is go ahead and find a sponser. These are things a sponser can tell you how to do. One thing to remember when you are building for a hawk, you build things sort of inside out and by that, I mean you want the smooth part on the inside. If you are going to build walls and cover both sides of the beams, no problem, if not, then you want the wall to be on the inside and the beams on the outside, which is usually the opposite of a normal building. Something to think about and confuse you more. LOL

As far as free lofting, I wouldn't my first couple years. Learn how to keep a bird tethered and feather perfect and you will go a long way in this sport. As you can see in my weathering area, I keep my red-tails tethered to a line where they can fly to the bottom perch and back up to the tray perch. They stay feather perfect and have sharp talons. I free loft my accipiters during the molt as they don't do as well being tethered above hunting weight during their molt.