Hello from Maryland

[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!