How to house a Bird of Prey | Where do Birds of Prey live | Where should i keep my hawk

[@Troy-Echo]

Love this video. I'm handy enough I could easily build these aviaries myself, but I like this video as a basic template when I reach a point of having a sponser, getting my license (in the USA), and trapping my first bird to train and hunt. I understand how I could build an automatic watering system, but how do you do automatic drainage? Do you mean just allowing the fresh water to expel the old water and allowing it to drain, or something more elaborate? Alternate thoughts. You can also do an easy cement floor with a dry pour process. Build this with a 5-7 degree grade to allow drainage to the lawn, and you can fill in the top with your substrate. Once the cement form is made, dump in the bags of cement, then use a 2x4 or something to drag across and level. Sliding the 2x4 side to side a bit will help fill in any low spots. saturate the soil before putting down the cement so water will soak up from below, and use a very light mist setting to spray the top a couple of times over a few hours. Then you can come back and lay down heavier coats of water. It's not a method for holding a LOT of weight, but it is by far more than you need for human foot traffic. This would be less likely to build mold or mildew than putting substrate on other items, and easier to clean if you need to 'deep clean'. You can get some sealant (Lock & Seal is easy and effective) which will cover the pores in cement and block mold/mildew/bacteria from growing in these little pores, and keep it easier to clean. Bleaches and ammonia may be harsh on the birds respiratory systems, so you could maybe look at D/2 as an alternative. It's a biocide with a surfactant built in, and it may be safer than bleaches and ammonia? I've not looked into this for birds, but it's great for tombstone cleaning. As far as wall cleaning, have you considered getting some construction type mud and applying over the OSB to smooth it out, then paint it and apply a wax (maybe a wood wax) to make cleaning the walls easier? Not sure it's worth the effort, but just an idea. I saw you were turning on and off the water manually. You could get an automatic water timer. Melnor works good with garden hoses, but you need teflon tape to make good seals. You can use step down hoses to constrict the flow and reduce the pressure and gallons per minute to a point you can manage. These timers work where you can water in 1-minute increments and set them to run typically 1-4 times a day, and set for every day, specific days of the week, ever X number of days, etc. As far as micro-falcons like the Kestrel, have you considered growing your own bin of roaches as feeder insects? That is what is used for a large number of exotic pets such as bearded dragons Dubia are great because they are from just south of the equator where it is 100+ degrees every day, with high humidity. If they are under 85 degrees, their breeding slows down to almost nothing, so if they do get loose, they won't survive long. There are 4,800+ species of roaches, and only 30 have been classified as pests to humans. If a Dubia roach gets loose inside your house, it will die as most homes are cooler than a Dubia would like, so it will want to get outside as fast as possible. You can get 5 gallon buckets and drill different sized holes to easily separate the breeding adults from the smaller nymphs. Dubia have 6 times the meat to exoskeleton as crickets, and I'd guess similar rates for grass hoppers. Roaches may not be as fast or as much of a hunting challenge, but they are easy to raise for a live protein source. Happy to say I went along with you on your US falconry exam and I likely could pass, or may require a touch of studying. That Assateague question was one I feel you could have skipped for getting wrong. I live on the east coast and I know of this place, even before getting into falconry. That wasn't a lack of falconry knowledge, but geographical knowledge. On question #10 you said there were 21 more question, but you stopped on question #22. Was that due to health reasons from eating chili's hotter than your body could safely tolerate? Ben Woodruff and you are the two main falconry KZbin content creators I watch. I'd love to see more in depth videos on weight management, especially on smaller falcons like the Kestrel and Merlin. If you can successfully manage their weights, larger birds of prey would (I'm assuming) be easier? With te knowledge gained from you two, I was able to pass or come close to passing the tests you posted on your channel.

[@PlayusTheGreat]

Dan are you reading my mind? All the questions or worries I have to do with falconry have been answered by your videos, Awesome videos Also I’m quite surprised, I was under the assumption that birds of prey needed a massive amount of space but the tethered method is quite space efficient, I think it could even fit in a small back garden, thank you

[@MercerFalconry]

I’ll keep making them then! Birds of prey in the wild can spend up to 80% of the day sat on one perch not doing much, even my birds that are free in aviaries have a favourite perch and don’t really move from it, as long as they are out flying regularly they don’t need an enormous enclosure

[@mindfueluk]

nicely done mate , that camerman is getting good lol. very well balanced video , with great information on housing. very important that people get this right and maintain a high standard of up keep and hygene. cant wait to see what you do next.

[@MercerFalconry]

Yes it’s all about providing the best possible level of welfare we can for our birds

[@OCAVIARY]

I definitely need to get a bird of prey. Spent so much time researching and getting experience over the years, just need to take the plunge now!😁

[@ShannonM-711]

Love the home you have for your birds!!! They have a great owner:)) thank you for the care for them

[@caleblivaudais7573]

Thanks so much for all the Videos! I'm learning a lot from your information.

[@MercerFalconry]

Great, thank you 😊

[@chrisash5079]

Thanks Dan very informative, and alot to consider for when I build mine.

[@MercerFalconry]

Thanks for watching so soon after uploading!

[@armonia9758]

Amazing video. Thank you so much for making it. You answered all my questions for now. You are awesome

[@MercerFalconry]

Thank you very much, I appreciate that and happy it helped 😁

[@trevorgorman4844]

Delighted with the video content as I hav a surprisingly similar setup. One weighting room, 3 aviaries & 4 weatherings 😁 sand substrate with a flying field just over the fence too. I hav two swing perches (different heights & surfaces) and two fixed perches in the aviaries, I used bamboo as bars for front of aviaries tho.... all the rest very similar 😁

[@MercerFalconry]

Sounds great, I purposely left out swing perches because I’m planning to make a video about aviary enrichment at some point and I’m going to include those in that

[@solehhan5283]

Wow is my dream house falconry

[@magneresjuan]

very nice and informative video, thanks !!! keep going !

[@MercerFalconry]

Thank you, I will do!

[@АнтонКостин-б8ч]

это самый лучший канал о ловчьих птицах!

[@lewispaulwiles]

Hi Dan, thanks for posting the video. Thinking about getting into falconry and i have a question of the housing. I have a double garage and i was thinking about building an aviary inside but i notice all the aviaries i see are outside. Is an inside aviary an option? I thought it might be kinder to control the temperature. I would also look to have a weathering and a lawn perch.

[@TheGamelyst]

Is that a Bmw portrait at 8:00 mark? I mean the dark and light blue with red has to be M sport colors? 😁 Also great vid.

[@christophgeorgi6972]

Hey Dan, do you use any special kind of housing during very cold periods? I’ve got 2 Harris hawks (one North American Harris and one Peruvian Harris) and I built some kind of a box in the upper corner with a hole almost 40x30cm big for entry so they can step in there once it gets very cold outside. I hope they’ll step in both at the same time since they’ve been together in the aviary for only 2 weeks now. I think they still have to get used to each other

[@MercerFalconry]

I don’t change the housing when it gets cold, all the feathered birds have a tube heater under their perch that automatically turns on if the temperature drops below 7 degrees but apart from that it’s more to do with diet for me, they require a lot more food to keep at a stable weight and help put on a bit of fat while it’s colder

[@myfalconry76]

You guys got some pretty lax standards compared to us in the USA our weathering yards where the bird is tethered can be fence or mesh and have to be covered by a top, unless birds are being supervised. But our housing has specific regulations on construction. Has to be a minimum of 2.5 meters by 2.5 meter and 2.5 meters high with at least 1 barred window.

[@skuda111]

Standards,what standards,in the uk you can keep an eagle in a canary cage 😂

[@danarust2968]

Thank you for sharing your expertise. I see that you have snow in your area. What do you do in the winter to ensure that their housing stays warm enough? What are the coldest temperatures that are still safe/comfortable for a hawk?

[@MercerFalconry]

They have tube heaters under their perches that are hooked up to a thermostat so they all turn on if it goes below 7 degrees

[@Harpy111able]

Awesome video- can you go into how your auto watering and draining system works?

[@MercerFalconry]

I probably couldn’t make a full video about it so I will post a KZbin short about it soon 😁

[@MrJoshuatree79]

Thanks for the video,what kind of sand you using please?? Does it matter???

[@MercerFalconry]

It has different names depending on where you buy it, soft sand or builders sand I think

[@Rio_744]

Could you make a video all about owls and like food, housing, flying tips, flying equipment

[@MercerFalconry]

Im currently working on a video that goes through every step of training

[@schugfamily4972]

Where did you get your water bowls from?🦉

[@JamiesRaptors]

Hi Dan is it best for a hawk in a weathering mews or aviary ? I can see yours is in a weathering mews and perched out during the day, is that best ? I'm torn between what to build in the space I have, I've got 8x6 area to play with

[@PlayusTheGreat]

Also could I ask if you could make a video like this on food and the different types to give your bird? As well as storage and preparation

[@MercerFalconry]

I have got a video like that on my channel called ‘what to feed a bird of prey’ it has blood in it so KZbin put an age restriction on it

[@johnwilkes7190]

Great video Dan , may I ask what are your weathering dimensions?

[@MercerFalconry]

Thanks, I think they are 1.5m wide and deep and 1.2m tall. I had to build them smaller than I would have liked because when I built all of it I had to make sure there was room because we where having a garage built. I have since built 5 more aviaries so the weatherings in this video aren’t really used any more

[@johnwilkes7190]

@@MercerFalconry Thank you for taking time to reply I am in Tasmania and do rehab so occasionally have to use falconry techniques to allow birds to regain fitness and am upgrading my facility so always good to get info Cheers John

[@MercerFalconry]

Great, keep up the good work and good luck 😁

[@The-Large-Mouth-Bass]

How big should free lofted aviary's be I have been hunting for the awnser but nothing firm

[@MercerFalconry]

I don’t think there really is a solid answer for that, it all depends on the size and species of the bird and what kind of housing is used

[@warframeop633]

Hi Dan I'm wondering why you choose to use wood for the housing as does this not rot increasing the chances of aspergyrlosis? thanks really big fan XD

[@MercerFalconry]

I use wood because it’s what I am most experienced building with and it’s what all of my tools are set up for working with. I use timber and sheet that is all rated for outdoor use and I also paint and felt it so it’s perfectly safe to use outside. Hope that helps!

[@danc5734]

Probably getting a male saker falcon in spring. What is the smallest mews I could get?

[@MercerFalconry]

It’s not really the right way to do it, instead of looking at what the smallest you could make it you should be looking at what’s the biggest you can make with the space you have

[@danc5734]

@@MercerFalconry I did that with my current bird (free lofted) and it takes up a lot of space in our garden. Got a really nice spot in mind for a mews but it’s pretty small. Just wondering the minimum size it could be to see if it could fit there. Probably will make a bigger one than that though. But I understand what you’re saying.

[@MercerFalconry]

Ok, as long as there is enough space for the bird to flap it’s wings around without hitting them and damaging the tips, I’m reluctant to say actual dimensions because every bird is unique with what they need

[@danc5734]

@@MercerFalconry it should definitely be big enough just have to clear a bit more space. My last aviary is 10x7x7 feet. I’m just trying to figure out how big it should be without wasting to much space that I could use for another aviary or mews in the future

[@MercerFalconry]

You could just build something way bigger than you need and then if you do get another it can just have a wall put up in the middle to make 2

[@hangtrinh7486]

uhh I'm planning on buying a falcon and let me know if a 1.10 m x 1.5 m x 1m tethered is enough for a hybrid made of an American kestrel mixed with a peregrine

[@MercerFalconry]

Possibly but I would try to go a little bigger if possible

[@Slamdunc]

Dan how did you plumb up the drainage system for the baths?

[@MercerFalconry]

It was actually done by the guys who built our garage as just an extra job, they dug a meter square and a meter down out of the lawn and put in this big plastic block thing full of holes that’s supposed to drain the water into the ground or something (I didn’t really understand what it was for) then they dug trenches from there to all of the Aviary’s and put in pipes that then stick out the ground. After doing all of that they came and told me it would have worked just as well to dig a hole under where the baths where and put a small piece of pipe going straight down with a bit of gravel in the bottom. So if that apparently works just as well it left me wondering why they did it the big complicated way they did but it’s done now

[@Slamdunc]

@@MercerFalconry the drainage bit makes sense, but what mechanism did they put on the bath itself to allow it to drain? Just a normal sink fitting?

[@MercerFalconry]

I did that but myself, I’ll bring one to the next BFC meeting to show you, I didn’t go with a normal sink plug because the birds could pull that out, I’ve basically added the same thing that large eagle baths have

[@Slamdunc]

@@MercerFalconry that would be great thanks Dan

[@m7.alsharaf747]

Hey Dan, I don’t know if you’ll respond but what do you expect of a house for a gyr peregrine and a peregrine? Since I live in the UAE, Dubai specifically, and the temperatures could get really hot during the summer so we put air conditioners, but what do think the dimensions should be for a room?

[@panam747]

Do any of the birds mind sharing a living space? Just wondered if they get a bit lonely?

[@FRamirez1A]

Can you still rinse the sand with water and disinfectant? Thanks

[@MercerFalconry]

I wouldn’t rinse it with water, wet sand gets very difficult to work with and would make quite a mess if they bird then went on the floor while it was drying

[@MeMarios]

What would you keep a kestrel in mate?

[@MercerFalconry]

A free loft aviary

[@rajeenacp5163]

Hey dan do you have any experience working on with black kites or brahminy kites? If yes let me know what you think of them. Please reply!

[@MercerFalconry]

Yes I do and they are one of my favourite species to work with

[@Charlottelucy1692]

I recently took in a badly neglected kestrel. She is doing wonderful but want to build her something now she is a bit stronger. She is my first bird of prey. Do you recommend building and aviary aswell as a weathering or would she be better in just one or the other? :)

[@MercerFalconry]

I recommend building a full aviary, there’s no reason she can’t be tethered on a block perch in the aviary while training and then free lofted once she is confident with you

[@juniordiaz2508]

Be better if you release it where it first came from

[@noahhurst5606]

For a Harris hawk what size dimensions should be used

[@LilianBennion]

What is there every-day breakfast? Is it like mice or pellets or chicks?

[@Valhalla_Vlogs]

Hey great video I'm looking into doing something similar and would love some advice if possible

[@575Hayden]

I have roosters around that crow alot will that be a problem because of the noise

[@arditzajmi340]

How m is that small aviary green ?

[@ever-fit]

It function's but can I make it look good

[@jasonmiles2660]

Hi where do you buy your mesh thanks

[@MercerFalconry]

It’s called clearmesh from Knitwire clearmesh.co.uk If you speak to them make sure to tell them you saw their product on my video!!!! Thank you 😁

[@mattconyard6071]

Looking at getting a bird been reading some books always thought u had to have big housing for the a bird but I guess not

[@MercerFalconry]

The size needs of every bird is different, as long as the bird is flown regularly, mine are flown at least 6 days a week usually 7, they don’t need an enormous aviary

[@shereesmazik5030]

I read the cold tolerance is between 32 F and 85 F. Do you agree ?

[@MercerFalconry]

I wouldn’t really agree, I don’t think you could just say there is a set of temperatures that all birds are ok with, the size of the bird affects how they deal with heat, but also birds from different places around the world will deal with temperatures in different ways, a Gyr Falcon will withstand colder temperatures than a Harris hawk for example

[@dhurjatidas5350]

Hey Dan this is Dhurjati from India please help me how to take care of baby eagle 🦅 yesterday I found out side my house

[@darrenhorvath5702]

Just a thought on aviaries sizes there is a formula its 3.5 x 2.5 of the birds wing span. There is also a mews to house your birds in training at night can also house weigh room bit like yours. great videos. I take it you don't do any breeding

[@MercerFalconry]

No I don’t do any breeding at the moment, I would love to in the future when I have a bigger set up but not for money, for conservation!

[@davemyers7507]

🦅👍

[@what2watchyt]

Bro come to Florida.

[@MercerFalconry]

I’m not sure, from what I’ve herd Florida is a bit crazy 😂

[@what2watchyt]

@@MercerFalconry Nah bro its beautifl out here just the whole world wanna be here thanks to Mickey.

[@tarquin0005]

The mystery is, why anyone who loves birds would want to imprison them in tiny hovels like this? Not a single one of these birds would choose to live in captivity. Free as a bird - these are wild species and you are depriving them of everything they would naturally have in the wild. (And just being 'captive bred' - if any were - does not make them 'domesticated'. They are still a wild species). Get a hobby which doesn't involve animal abuse and lifelong cruelty.

[@equinn2204]

The birds are flown free every single day. If they chose not to come back , they can any time they like. they are not confined to these aviaries. Thats the point of falconry-free flying and hunting with the birds.

[@invadertech141]

the birds could just literally fly away if they were unhappy LMFAOO

[@GooberGunkThe3rd-ik2tl]

Dude you realize these birds have it made right and can leave when they are flown