low key weathering area wanted

[demarest]

Right, so i'm going to get a kestrel pretty soon here and am looking for a low-key low cost weathering design, nice and roomy for a kestrel but still a tad roomy for redtail size. I'm thinkin a 3 sided fenced area with one side(front) some sort of wire mesh(chickenwire?). kinda like the british weathering,(Ford, 1992) but without the sloped roof(at lease not as sloped). any body have any ideas?
-rwdesmaret

[wes]

rwdesmaret , please do yourself a favor and don't use CHICKEN WIRE, it's for chickens not raptors, even a Kes. will damage it's feathers, look into something like shadecloth, conduit, wooden dowels, netting or another fencing materal. look at any of the old post on here and see feather damage from C/W
Happy Hawking
Wes

[BlueTiercel]

Well, In a mews any type of wire is unacceptable but in a weathering area, used only for weathering where the bitrd will be tethered to a perch or block then some sort of wire is acceptable, although I would use somehting stronger than chicken wire. The area should be large for falcons my sponsor and her husband use a 10 by 10 foot area for each individual falcon, which is then tetherd to its block at a length where even at the end of the leash there is no way the wings or tail comes in contact with the wire enclosure. I wil be using a similiar design of the same size for my birds in the future. No where in the mews will ther ebe any wire fencing. Only dowels.

[wes]

Blue your correct, I seem to forget that most people teather there birds, as most if not all in my area freeloft. The mews I remember from Ford's book was a three solid wall mews with an open front to a weathering area, Hybrid mew / weathering. But it may have been another book I'm thinking of, as I don't have the book on hand anymore.
rwdesmaret -- keep resreaching and I'm sure you'll find some design that will work for you and your budget.
Good Luck
wes

[BlueTiercel]

Hey Wes,
Yeah this is definetely not something to have your bird free lofted in! It is just a buch of 2x4's 10 feet long in a square with the heavy wire all around and some 2 by 10 or something around the base probably going into he ground a bit. Again this is only for weathering the birds while you are home and able to watch the birds. I assume anyway! Otherwise the birds are in their mews which have a big window with aluminum dowels or something similiar. I wouldn't keep my bird anywhere where i think someone or something might see it and come around when I am not home. I have a fence around my backyard,this is advantageous. I know some people keep there k-birds inside often on a box perch under a window or something for some sort of waethering, again I think this is for when people are home though. Again, also, I am just an apprentice and the bird is about a year away..so correct me on anything i get wrong here.

[wes]

BlueT , I don't feel quailfed to recommend a design over another.
I'm was just tring to inform about the danger of an improper designed weathering area and chicken wire, ( when free lofting) and bird coming in contact with C/W, found a site from a Rehaber, that was working with a bird that had been keep in a C/W cage,

eagle-hawk.org.au/Rehabilitation%20Notes.htm
(injuries we see)
If you like a look

Happy Hawking
Wes

[BlueTiercel]

Yeah thats cool, that's what i figured anyway. The stuff i posted was more directed to rwdesmaret. i kept on blabbing on just mentioning soem of the different weathering optios and stuff i have read about or heard about.

[BlueTiercel]

wow, those are some horrible cases.

[wes]

Thats why I felt so strongly against chicken wire.

rwdesmaret, -- Try getting in touch with Minca or Matthew Mullenix, Matt does have a web site, it might be helpful.
Wes

[demarest]

i own mullenix book. very helpful. by the way: i screwwed up.wes is right. the thing in ford's book is a sort of a hybrid thing. I was thinking of the weathering in William Lee Harris's "falconry for beginers". I get the two books confused sometimes.
Thanks for recommending mullenix's site, but i don't think it'll help. He keeps his birds inside his house, so i don't think he would have info about a weathering. i can see why he doesn't freeloft, as this burns calories, valuble in such a small raptor. Still, i'll check his site.
thanks!
-desmaret

[wes]

Desmaret -- I stay confussed
Get in touch with Minca also. She is a good source and has some experince as well.

[BlueTiercel]

So when I was at the sponsors house helping feed birds, handle, hood etc, (yay!) I asked about the weathering situation and she said that these birds were weathered outside in them all day. The only problem they have come across is turkeys which come around..the other birds mostly ignore them now but the big tiercel gyr bates at them as he wants to kill and eat them. Still that is going to happen in any situation where the bird is being weathered. Anyway, the weathering area is secure, and it is turkey wire I believe. Obviously your bird should be on some kind of block or whatever and a good ol' falconers knot done correctly should keep them away from the wire. You probably allready knew that but I say this for anyone who might read this in the future. Peace out.

[demarest]

Wes,
just out of curiosity, do you know mullenix? You being in louisiana and all, i thought it would be worth asking. Anyway thanks for the help. i'll see about contacting minca. by the way, matt's site only had a couple of hawk-box plans.
-desmaret

[wes]

rwdesmaret said:

Wes,
do you know mullenix? -desmaret

No not really, meet him shortly in May at our state LDW&F meeting for New Fed Regs. If I remember right there were about 20 of us at the meeting out of 64 falconers in this state. about 33%. I haven't heard Yet , how he and others faired the storm named Katrina. Most communications are still down in the eastern part of the state. He probably faired well as he is west of Orleans. hope Matt and all are alive and well.
Wes

[kenbro77]

I do not know these people, but thru another forum I copied the following post.

Has anyone heard from Tom or Jennifer Coulson in LA since the hurricane? Did they make it out in time? What about all their Harris hawks? It's not looking good they live just a few miles out side
of New Orleans.
Dave Kanellis

"Tom and Jenn Coulson are safe and in Baton Rouge. Matt Mullenix's wife is
picking them up now"
Eric Edwards

I hope this helps.