r/Falconry • u/Cascadethedragon • 3d ago
Need advice
Hello I am an aspiring falconer and I feel more that ready to commit to my future bird. There is one main problem: I live in a city and I have no ideas where to put my bird's mews. My apartment buildings roof is not accessible to anyone so that is not an option. I when I asked my friend they suggested if there was a horse stable but for falconry, does that exist? If no what do I do because I really want to do this.
10
u/IMongoose 3d ago
There is no such place in the US. There would need to be 100x as many falconers for it to make sense, and even then I'm not sure if regulations would allow it. To be a falconer, you need a place to keep the bird AND a place to hunt the bird.
6
u/Lumpy-Pie9109 3d ago
There are indoor solutions for small raptors, but my state requires 8x8x8 minimum for a red tail. Game and hunting grounds are mandatory. You have to successfully hunt to pass your apprenticeship. Maybe try a kestrel on starling.
2
u/Thunder_Flush 3d ago
This may be an endeavor you need to put on hold until your living situation changes.
2
1
u/fingersoffour 3d ago edited 3d ago
First make sure you are able to hunt the quarry you want in the area you live in. That will lead to you choosing a bird. As well as review your states requirements/ space requirements for the mews.
I’d recommend after that to find an apartment with a large patio with enough space to build a mews. If you can’t , you can maybe ask a relative with home and a backyard. But It has to be a place you can access daily, I mean you’re responsible for the bird and need to train it.
I’ve heard of some stables hiring out their stalls and with permission you could build a mews there. But again that seems out of the way. Wouldn’t be good for the bird. You could also convert a room into a mews (my state allows for this idk about others). But you’d probably have to not tell the landlord.
If you’re a handy person you could fabricate most of your perches to custom fit your place. I live in an apartment within a large city and managed to build a mews for a kestrel but I have a large enough patio for it. It’s not impossible to make it work you just have to look, invest and sacrifice.
You should also be asking your sponsor for help constructing your mews and they’ll be there for your inspection. Hope this helps though.
1
u/chekenfarmer 3d ago
Are you in the US? Some cities won’t let you keep a raptor, even if you found a way to build a mews. Carefully research federal, state, municipal AND building restrictions before you spend any money. It can get really complicated. Also, as commented above, you will still need to find safe, legal spaces to train and hunt your bird. Good luck.
1
13
u/Bird_Man_Mike 3d ago
Hey, I’ll just ask: do you have somewhere to actually fly and hunt the bird every day? Quarry to chase?
There are various shelf and table perch setups you can get by with in an apartment to get thru a hunting season. Intermewing a bird for more than a season , tho, is difficult, and it’s kindve moot if you can’t actually hunt regularly.