Alternative Mews Construction - Pet Kennel Transformation

Hello raptor lovers!  I apologize for the lengthy delay since my last post.  I have been working on the new mews and it is coming along nicely.  My original idea was to utilize a stainless chain-link pet kennel as the base for a mews.  I am about 80% finished now!

I have been documenting my progress during the past few months and I would like to share some of these photos with you.  Maybe this inexpensive construction will be just the thing for one of you falconers on a shoestring budget.  I have a barn with attached horse stalls and I chose to utilize one of the exterior barn walls in order to allow my chain-link kennel to have one less wall/side.  This allows my mews to be larger than I originally planned.  I will post more pictures of the project in the days ahead.  Here are some photos of a window I included.  This window provides a secondary way of interacting with the raptor instead of only having the option of entering the main door.  This window will allow me to remove and insert my hawk into the mew without ever stepping foot into the mew.

Additional photos coming soon!

Alternative mews construction

What is a mews?  A mew is the structure you provide for your raptor to live in while it is not out hunting, weathering, or somehow otherwise spending time with you.  Mews come in all different shapes and sizes; through the years I have built four of them.  My past mews were fairly traditional in their structure - I bought small sheds from home improvement stores like Home Depot and Lowes and modified them to meet falconry standards.  Most falconry laws in the U.S. require a mew to have certain height, width, and depth measurements as well as a window or two (usually barred to assure the raptor doesn't injure itself while trying to get through the window).

Mew construction laws vary from state to state though, so always check with your sponsor and/or local authorities.  Falconry regulations are typically enforced at the state level (game & fish departments) and/or the federal level (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service).

Here are some pictures of some varied mews falconers across the United States are utilizing; note the huge variance in construction materials, size, quality, and trims:

If you go on the word wide web and search images for 'mews' you will see dozens of different constructions.  This year I've decided to utilize a different kind of construction for my mew.  I am working with an idea that provides me a portable mew that I can move arround my property if need be or take to a new home with me in the future.  My base frame is a K9 kennel from Lowes warehouse - it is chain link and includes a door.  I purchased the optional weatherproof roof to go over it and now I am attaching some heavy duty sunscreen material to the walls.  This is the first time I have not used wood for the walls but this idea allows continual air circulation, much less of a surface for mold/termites/mosquitoes to hang around on, is water resistant, and quite washable.  It is an experiment for sure!  I believe I will use dirt for flooring (in the past I used pea gravel but that does have the tendency to dull a raptor's talons).

This construction isn't as heavy duty as I have used in the past, but the location this new mew sits is under a horse stall and up against a barn - so it already has more shelter / wind blockage than a standalone mews.  I will post some pictures in the next week or two showing this experimental mews.