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Wednesday, April 30, 2008

My New Neighbor In SPatani !!!

I got a very great news about what really happenned in Sungai Patani during my recent trip home.

My new neighbor, whose birdhouse is just at the back of my BH, have put his birdhouse on operation mode. How very nice of him.

Immediately after finishing my visit in Nibong Tebal, I quickly rushed back to SP and the first thing I did was to stop by at by BH.

Wow there were so many birds flying around my BH and I realised that they were not actually from my BH but the new neighbor at the back. They were there watching the beautifull view of those birds flying in and out of the new BH.

I introduced myself to the owner, a young man operating a fishing shop. I smiled at the him and inside me I feel so wonderfull that I have a new neighbor who seem to have a very acttractive birdcall sound. I can see there were more then 50 birds flying in and out of his BH.

Hmm this is interesting and of course challenging. I slowly sneeked into my BH and I need to take advantage of the whole situations.

I know those birds will not stay in his new BH. The house is very new and those cement smells are too strong for the birds. My BH is in operation for almost 3 years. There is no cement smell as compared to him.

I charted my plan to capitalise on the situation by a few simple steps.

First I need to change external birdsound with a new one. I also need to ensure that the sound level is loud enought to lure to birds into my house.

I also ensure that my internal sound are running well all the time.

Then I need to make sure that those insect powder are working. I deployed three more new insect making trays with those pinapples, banaa, quinin and of course those insect powder.

The next is to flush the house with a new aroma that I recently purchased.

I also applied those aroma onto the walls. Inside my heart I know that I can easily beat my neighbor with a 6 stars treatment as compare to him.(I am dead sure that he do not apply any aroma?)

To be more cunning, I deployed my Bazooka. I wanted to fight to the finish. I want to make sure my BH is far superior then his.

That last decision in deploying the bazooka works well. Those wild birds gone crazy and running from the new house into any other holes in the wall.

I know they are confused and will try to locate those sound from my bazooka. Every single bird that enter the new BH seem to also fly into my more matured BH.

I am very sure there will be a drastic change in my birds population and I am looking forward for the next trip home.

The morale of the story is that, if you have lots of birds from your neighbor, take advantage of it. Don't feel threaten or annoyed. Those birds does not belongs to him or anybody. As long as your know how to get them into your BH, just do it.

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Those Who Learned And Those Who Did Not !!!

Three days away from home and I have to admit that I met so many people that have the same thing in mind about swiftlet farming.

1) Mr.A of BM.

A very nice lawyer who thru my blog attended the GAPH seminar in Alor Star.

He admitted that he took a gamble in letting his so called consultant to convert his shop house into BH. Since he have very little knowledge after spending RM 55,000 and 3 years of waiting the house was handed over to him with only one nest.

He said that that was the most expensive birdnest he ever harvested. One nest worth RM 55,000.

A very bad lesson and he now started to learn from scrach.

2) Mr.I of Kuantan.

He called and insisted to have a word with me. He introduced to me that he was one of the GAPH seminar participant in Ipoh.

I told him that I do charge a small fee just to be with. He say no problem.

It seem that he has a BH in Kuantan, Pahang and the unit was operational about 3 weeks ago. He become very interested to know more about swiftlet farming and do not wish to be the victim of another consultant.

From what he told me he have parted with more then RM 70,000 for two floors and have learned very little from the so called consultant who converted his shop house. (Note normally the cost to convert a floor is about RM18-20 per square foot.)

Another victim of a poor knowledge person who was so eager to have a birdhouse.

He already attended a few prominent seminars and workshops in Penang and Subang but stumbled onto my blogspot. After reading some of those informative articles he told himself to come face to face with me.

After a few hours, I feel that he is no different from so many others who jump into BH and after the house is done, feel that they learn nothing from the "consultant".

Now is a matter of how to reduce the damage. There was no official agreement made between him and the "consultant" for how long the BH will be taken cared, when he can take over, monthly inspection and etc.

The whole episode is actually going towards a disaster.

I told him that the only way to reduce the damage is to quickly arrange to meet his "consultant" and intelligently make some kind of agreement on the followings:

a) The period which the "consultant" is going to take care.

b) When exactly he can take over the running of his BH.

c) He should be given the right to visit his BH on a predetermined time of every month.

d) He should be allowed to inspect and record the signs of how many birds are staying in his BH.

e) He should also take initiative to inspect for any kind of prediators during the monthly inspection activities.

f) He should have a kind of training by the "consultant" on what to do every month on how to run the BH himself.

g) He should push his "consultant" to allow him to apply those proven Aromas solutions on the floor, the walls, and the wooden panel.

h) He have the right to renew those birdshits which were placed in the house on a regular basis.

i) He should consider removing all those walls that were build from the floor up to the ceiling.

j)He should consider changing the external sound if the number of birds circling above his birdhouse are too little.

k) He must make sure the temperature and humidity are within range. If not they have to insist their consultant to install adequate insulators on the walls.

l) He should look into the possiblity to fix a hexagonal sound tower to lure more wild swiftlets to his BH.

I gave him some practical guidelines and I hope he will make the right move.

3) Mr.U of Alor Star.

One of those beautiful character in Alor Star. He is a professional (a doctor) and he seem to be a bit more successfull in the ways he hadle his BHs construction and managing them.

This Mr.U is a bit more organised and he managed to learn a lot from reading and attending a few courses.

The good thing is that he applied what he learned and able to modify his BH to his desire. He is not being control by any consultant. He determined his destiny with little helps from those "Prediators (consultants)".

He took me for a BH watching in Alor Star. The most successful unit, the largest flock of BHs and of course his own units. They looks great and full of potentials.

He took me for dinner and it was on him.

I am happy for him and I see that he is a proud owner of three birdhouses.

He bought one unit of the birdcall gadget.Of course he paid for it.

I can sense that he have many more new BHs in his mind....

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Up To The North This Morning !!!

Planned to start my journey to Alor Star this morning. Will Start around 8.00am and hope to reach Jawi at noon.

At Jawi have a tentative plan of meeting Mr.B for a visit to a BH for sale in Bagan Serai. He have arranged for me to have a look and confirmed the number of nests indicated by the seller.

Once that is done shall meet Mr.A for a short meeting on his venture in China. He claimed to have many contacts in Hong Kong and mainland China.

After these two meetings, will proceed to SP to have a look at those birds coming back to my BH.

There are a few blog readers in SP who have indicated wanting to meet for some discussion on their BH issues. Hope to be able to meet them and advise what they should do in order to arrest their bird population problems.

Monday will dedicate my time to be at my BH and meet my caretaker for some new installations in the house. Need to continue the application of the BH Aroma and install a new Birdcall external sound.

Will leave to Alor Star on Tuesday early morning. By 8.30am should be at Alor Star Holiday Villa hotel. There are more then 6 blog readers who have confirmed their attendance. Need to meet them one by one....

Friday, April 25, 2008

A Beautiful Birdhouse Facing A Pond !!!



While in Segamat, Johor me and Mr.O was invited by Mr.S to make a maiden visit to a new birdhouse about to be completed.

This new BH have a very unusual design where there are no ventilation holes being designed for.

I reserved my comment to the owner but inside my heart, I wish I know how those wild birds will get enought oxygen to breath.

Putting the ventilation holes design espect aside, I went into the BH and was given a special tour by the proud owner.

The BH cost him about RM500,000 with four floors and about 20 feet width by 90 feet long.




The roving room was about 20 by 20 feet and about 24 feet height. There were two 3'X4' entrance holes one facing the water pond and one facing 90* away from the pond.

Once the bird enter the roving room they can enter the top most floor via an opening about 5 feet by 10 feet. There were two Lubang Antara Lantai (LAL) about 4 feet by 10 feet which will allow the birds to reach the 3rd and 2nd floor. On the second floor the designer made an opening at the end portion of the floor a LAL about 4 feet by 6 feet.



A very interesting design and new to me. It seem that the designer is an Indonesian with years of experiences and have built more then 50 BHs in Malaysia.

Hmm I wonder why he avoid those ventilation holes.

I love those condominium nesting planks that allows a five tiers nesting areas. Most of this are fixed direct to the walls and not the ceilings. They are designed as such the upper level will not disturb those below especially their shits.



Overall I am happy to be given the opportunity to visit another new BH. I learn some new things and at the same can share with my blog readers.

I left the BH with deep thought on why the designer removed those ventilation holes in his BH ???



Harry Aroma Theraphy (HAT) In Segamat Birdhouse !!!



I have been feeling so good after receiving the good news that the birdhouse in Kuala Selangor that I carried our the "Harry Aroma Theraphy (HAT)" was showing a very interesting improvements.

Mr A, the BH owner, indicated that the birdshits counts went up from 1 to 7 after my HAT.

Today got one more good news that the other adopted unit in Segamat is also showing a positive birdnests counts too. Total improvement is 29% after just 1.5 months.

I am impressed with the increase however I am looking at getting around 10 new nests a month.

Started at about 9.30am from Kuala Lumpur with Mr.O as my driver and we reached Segamat, Johor at about 1.30pm.

On the way we took a serious look at a couple of buildings that have lots of birds circling above them. One of the best is a green building located in a small town called Tangkak, beside the main road, on the left.

This building looks like an abandoned shopping complex. Must be about 7 stories high and painted totally green. Lots of birds and the window were wide open allowing the birds to fly in and out. Marvellous view and interesting to any birdnest enthusiasts.

When we reached Segamat town we took a short rest at a kopitiam shop just beside the tallest birdnest tower in Malaysia. Lots of birds circling above the 20 stories building even at 1.30 pm.

After lunch we rushed to Segamat Baru where Mr L was waiting to receive me and my goodies.

We entered his BH and did some routine checks on the sound, the aroma, the temperature, humidity, the activated insect powder and the number of new birdnests.

During my first visit the number was 17 nests and now there were 5 new nests. Total increase is 29% in just 1.5 months. I am pretty happy with it but I need to prove to him that I can increase his bird count by about 10 new nests a month.

Well this time I brought with me with those new fake nests (home made) plus the Close2U, the faeces powder, the aroma for old house and some poison for those cockcroaches.

We started with those new fake nests. I brought with me about ten pieces and Mr.L installed all based on my choice of locations. They were fixed both as fake nests and corner covers. He need to carefully observed these new home made items to improve the number of new nests.

The next thing that we did was to apply those cockcroach poison powder on the floors and at those potential corners in the house.

The water in those insect powder pails were topped up.

We then applied the Close2You aroma on the nesting planks. Main target were the entrance doors and windows. Then all the fake nests that he have previouly installed.

Finally we did the old house aroma on the rooms walls. Mr.L was very smart in using his technique on how to spray the aroma by sqeezing the aroma liquid directly onto the walls.

Before leaving the BH I explained to Mr.L on how to use the faeces powder. He took the powder into one of the most prominent nesting rooms and laid the whole 5 kilogram bags onto the corner of the room after opening the bag cover.

Felt very satisfied and good after what I have done and gave Mr.L a few new tips about his insect powder utilization expansion. I left his BH with great hope that there will be a least 10 new nest by next month. So far the previous treatments do give a very good result (29% increase).....

Mr S was in Segamat town waiting for me to visit a brand new BH located on an agri land facing a sewage pond .....

See my next article ............................

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Pualau Kapas Swiftlet Farming Seminar !!!



I am pretty sure this news from one of the local daily missed us.
I came across it an I would like to place it on my blog for my personal record.
Well I am at the front row in the middle with Pak Hen and Irman.

A Visitor From The Philliphine Will Be In Town !!!

I am very suprised that these birdnest farming flu is spreading to many other countries in the region.

The newest is The Philliphine. Before this was from Vietnam and Brunei Darulsalam.

Mr.F of Manila will be in Kuala Lumpur this May 4th, 2008 and would like me to play host for a day.

I am sure he have some plans to talk about and maybe wanting to visit some birdhouses in Sekinchan, Batang Berjuntai, Sungai Rambai in Selangor.

Earlier he ordered the Bazooka, the birdcall gadget and those special CDs that are favourite among newbies.

I am looking foward to have the opportunity to meet him and hope to get him be more interested in BH.

Today April 26th, 2008, received his confirmation visiting Kuala Lumpur and have accepted the itinery offered to him.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

A Bit About Aroma In Your Birdhouse !!!


In a birdhouse or cave with lots of swiftlets nesting, there will be a lot of bird shits on the floor.

These bird shits will normally undergo a normal decomposition cycle where bacteria and bird shit insects will turn the shit into Guano or fertilizer.

During this decomposition stage there will be a number of gases emitted in the house. These gases are made of ammonia (NH3), Hydrogen Sulphide (H2S) and carbon dioxide (CO2). Both NH3 and H2S are very smelly and aromatic to the birds. Their smell seem to be an attraction points for any birds to stay in a BH.

This is mainly due to their nature since hatched into the world. Just try to imagine that your are a young bird just hatched from the egg. The moment you are exposed to the atmosphere, you are already breathing in those natural aroma in the house or a cave. You cannot open your eyes yet but your nose sniffed those pungent smell from your mummy's and daddy's shits.



So it is very common that when these young birds would like to feel peace and safe, they prefer to choose a house with strong bird shit decomposing smell.

This is why you need to consider applying adequate aroma materials to your new birdhouse. You can normally used a real bird shit, feace powders, bird nest processing water, specially blend liquids, hormone that are specially ready to use and etc.

Some are applied to the floor while there are some applied to the walls and not forgeting those that can be applied onto the nesting planks.

To ensure that these aroma last for at least one month, my advise is to shut all those ventilation holes but open those strategically located holes.



Aroma application have these specific functions:

1) To a brand new house, they can be used to remove or mask all those unusual cement, wood, smoke, oily and welding smells.

2) To an old BH these smell will create the original atmosphere duplicating a house with lots of birds staying in it. As such you make the birds feel save and peaceful.

3) To make the nesting plank smells as if there are many nests being built on them. This will cheat the birds to feel that there are many other birds in the house and he is not alone to start a family.

4) One of the most important function is to let the smell exit the house via the entrance hole(s). Close all the ventilation holes and open only a few strategically located holes allowing the air to sweep the aroma from the rooms to the bird entrance holes. The moment the wild birds smell these fragrances they will be very curious to enter the entrance hole(s) and perhaps make a decision to stay.


You have to be very care full not to apply those aroma made for the walls and the floors onto those nesting planks. They have to be carefully used and not to apply wrongly. Ask your suppliers to explain to you in details.

How and what are Aroma made of?

This is something that you need to find out yourself......

If you do not know where to get the information, please sort out with Harry at 017 755 1318 ...

This Harry knows too much and he just love to share them with you .......

Latest from a new birdhouse owner who started Harry's Aroma Theraphy (HAT):

Quote:

Hi, Harry,


Thanks for your e-mail,

Just to let you know that since the last time we went to my birdhouse to do aroma therapy the are some improvements.

There are now 7 permanent large patch droppings and many scattered ones.

(scattered ones means that they are there but have not fix on one spot yet).

Compared to only one large patch when we last visited.


Thanks for everything.

Mr. A


I am very glad that I made one more person happy.

For more informations about my last trip to this particular BH please click on this: http://swiftletfarming.blogspot.com/2008/02/trade-marks-in-kuala-selangor.html

Hope you enjoy reading and learn as much as you can ....

This Friday Down South While On Sunday Up North !!!


I think I need to employ a driver to shuttle me up and down from one birdhouse to another.

This Friday there is a very strong possibility that I will be going down south to Segamat, Johor.

My plan is to take a closer look at one of my adorpted birdhouse which I quite like its design (tunnel type) and of course the owner.

Mr.L have been very cooperative in allowing me to install a few new gadgets that I have found in the market. These items are said to be a very usefull to bring in those wild swiftlets into a newly build birdhouses.



I have with me the specially made fake nest that I wanted to install. Two will be suitable for corner covers while three will be as fake nests.

I want to install myself and observe their progress.



Beside this new things, Mr.L have followed most of my advise and from what he indicated his birdnests count are increasing steadily. I will be doing my own check on the matter and at the same time need to further improve his nests counts.

On Sunday, will be driving up North to Kedah. Just being invited to be available for the GAPH seminar in Alor Star on Tuesday the 29th April 2008.

Since passing my home town, will make a short visit to my BH and install the same fake nests and corner covers.

Have drawn a sketch of my new insect breeding crib. Will discuss with my carpenter to make the necessary fabrication.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

New Birdhouse Aroma Called "Close2You" !!!

The use of specialised aromas are becoming a norm in birdnest farming.

I used to think that using aroma is the biggest way of wasting my hard earned money. Why should we use them if the moment you splashed in the birdhouse they will be immediately blowned away by those air from the ventilation holes?

The more I used them the more they will be blown away !!!

The point here is that if I can control the air flow I might be able to control the life of the aroma strength in the house.

I believed in these aromas and my BH aromas should be able to sustain for at least 30 days by making sure that the air flowing from those restricted holes push the aroma towards the bird entrance hole(s). Once they smell them, they will have the urge to fly in for a closer investigation.

What I did was to shut all the ventilations holes except for a few and allow the aroma to stay in much longer.

I started with the new house aroma applications for three months. These new house aroma do clean the cement, wood and welding smell and make the house more attractive to my swiftlet.

After three months I switched to the use of the old house aroma. The idea is to create the best environment for the birds to feel "Aman" or peace.

Recently, I was introduced to a new aroma suitable for your nesting planks. I coined a name for it "Close2You".

This special aroma is something I have been looking forward for.

I have plans to spray lightly on a few strategic locations in my BH to make those wild birds love to nest around them.

At the same time it is also very good to apply lightly around the entrance hole(s).

The product is said to give an instant results as long as your BH is with the correct temperature, humidity and darkness. Of course no predators please !!!
The sound you use to lure those birds into yur BH must also be looked into.

It comes in five liters pail but I will be making it smaller to a liter size.

The cost is worth to try. For 5 liters it will be in the RM650 excluding freight.

The 1 liter will cost you about RM150 excluding freight.

If one liter you get just one nest worth RM1000, I think it is worth a try....

Those who would ike to give a try please sent harry an email address to harryswiftlet@yahoo.com with the title: Love2You Aroma.

Well I am just trying to help especially those who have difficulties in populating their BH or their nests monthly counts are declining ....

Going Big With Cross Fostering !!!



Sometime back I wrote an article about cross fostering.

Please refer to : http://swiftletfarming.blogspot.com/2008/02/cross-fostering-of-grass-swiftlets-with.html

It seem that this cross fostering technique is getting very hot in some countries that have many Serintis (Grass Swallows) but no AF.

If your area have the same phenomena, you should look into the technique and I am very sure that the cross fostering can be very usefull especially if you can get the country to support the move.



Very recently, I was informed that a total of 10,000 eggs from Indonesia were exported to a new country who have lots of Serintis. It is hope that out of the 10,000 about 20% will be successful in this cross fostering breeding.

Once 2000 birds of AF are introduced they will quickly multiply thus allowing the locals to participate in this lucarative business.

I know with solid prove that there are many areas having lots of Serintis in Malaysia, Brunei, Philliphine, Vietnam and Thailand. If you have the way to start this propgram I amsure the AF count will multiplied to a level that are suitable to built swiftlet houses.

Please Try Not To Cry If U See This Video Clip ....

I wanted to let you know that there God Is Always there for all of us.

That is what we should always believe.

Please view this video clip and focus of those written words and the beautiful pictures that were used as the backdrop.

http://getinspirednow.com/cgi-bin/refer/see.cgi?0422fbfgpjWX

Just don't feel ashamed if you should cry.

I shed some tears too ....

Maybe we can learned something from this ....

"Duress" BirdCall Sound Is The Most Effective !!!



This is the latest that I wish to share with all my blog readers.


I am very pleased to note that among all the birdcall sound that I have made available to all my blog readers, normally with the birdcall gadget, the DURESS sound is the best.

I remember the called that was made in Kampung China in Kuala Trengganu a few week ago. There were almost 2,000 birds responded and I managed to take a vedio clip of it.

Yesterday received more then three calls indicating the power of Duress.

One was from Dr.U in Alor Star, Kedah. He indicated that the moment the sound was played the birds within the vacinity will be "vacuumed" to his car where the gadget is located.

I like the word "VACUUM" to his car !!! This I assumed, that the moment the sound was played all the birds within a certain radius range will flocked to the source of the sound.

The second was from Mr.T of Melaka. When I pick up his called he was frantic. "Hey Harry, I am currently conducting the Birdcall test using your DURESS. Hey you should be here. There were so many responded and unbelievable man."

I don't know why they need to call me but deep inside me I feel so glad that I gave them a tool for them to make the right decision.

All these while they need a SIFU to do the test, now they do it themself. By having the gadget, they can carry out the test over and over again until they are very sure of the number of birds available before they make the decision to acquire the land or the shop house.

I am also very glad that not one have called to return the gadget that they have purchased.

My only worry now is wether I can assymble any more.

My supplier have given me the hint that there will be a big delivery problem once those amplifier used in the box goes out of stock.

I am keeping my finger crossed that they will not.

To those who have purhased they are the lucky one. To those who have not, I hope to be still available for them after the next delivery.

I have ordered another ten sets for standby......

Next delivery is on the coming Monday ...

Monday, April 21, 2008

Learn From These Nice Stories About Life !!!

Story No 1:

A man is getting into the shower just as his wife is finishing up her
shower, when the doorbell rings.
The wife quickly wraps herself in a towel and runs downstairs.
When she opens the door, there stands Bob, the next-door neighbour.
Before she says a word, Bob says, 'I'll give you $800 to drop that
towel.'
After thinking for a moment, the woman drops her towel and stands naked
in front of Bob, after a few seconds, Bob hands her $800 and leaves.
The woman wraps back up in the towel and goes back upstairs.
When she gets to the bathroom, her husband asks, 'Who was that?'
'It was Bob the next door neighbour,' she replies.
'Great,' the husband says, 'did he say anything about the $800 he owes
me?'

Moral of the story:

If you share critical information pertaining to credit and risk with
your shareholders in time, you may be in a position to prevent avoidable exposure.



Story No 2:

A priest offered a Nun a lift.
She got in and crossed her legs, forcing her gown to reveal a leg.
The priest nearly had an accident.
After controlling the car, he stealthily slid his hand up her leg.
The nun said, 'Father, remember Psalm 129?'
The priest removed his hand. But, changing gears, he let his hand slide
up her leg again.
The nun once again said, 'Father, remember Psalm 129?'
The priest apologized 'Sorry sister but the flesh is weak.'
Arriving at the convent, the nun sighed heavily and went on her way.
On his arrival at the church, the priest rushed to look up Psalm 129. It
said, 'Go forth and seek, further up, you will find glory.'

Moral of the story:
If you are not well informed in your job, you might miss a great
opportunity.

Story No 3:

A sales rep, an administration clerk, and the manager are walking to
lunch when they find an antique oil lamp.
They rub it and a Genie comes out.
The Genie says, 'I'll give each of you just one wish.'
'Me first! Me first!' says the admin clerk. 'I want to be in the Bahamas
, driving a speedboat, without a care in the world.'
Puff! She's gone.
'Me next! Me next!' says the sales rep. 'I want to be in Hawaii ,
relaxing on the beach with my personal masseuse, an endless supply of
Pina Coladas and the love of my life.'
Puff! He's gone.
'OK, you're up,' the Genie says to the manager.
The manager says, 'I want those two back in the office after lunch.'

Moral of the story:
Always let your boss have the first say.


Story No 4:

An eagle was sitting on a tree resting, doing nothing.
A small rabbit saw the eagle and asked him, 'Can I also sit like you and
do nothing?'
The eagle answered: 'Sure, why not.'
So, the rabbit sat on the ground below the eagle and rested. All of a
sudden, a fox appeared, jumped on the rabbit and ate it.

Moral of the story:
To be sitting and doing nothing, you must be sitting very, very high up.


Story No 5:

A turkey was chatting with a bull.
'I would love to be able to get to the top of that tree' sighed the
turkey, 'but I haven't got the energy.'
'Well, why don't you nibble on some of my droppings?' replied the bull.
They're packed with nutrients.'
The turkey pecked at a lump of dung, and found it actually gave him
enough strength to reach the lowest branch of the tree.
The next day, after eating some more dung, he reached the second branch.

Finally after a fourth night, the turkey was proudly perched at the top
of the tree.
He was promptly spotted by a farmer, who shot him out of the tree.


Moral of the story:
Bull Sh*t might get you to the top, but it won't keep you there..

Story No 6:

A little bird was flying south for the winter. It was so cold the bird
froze and fell to the ground into a large field.
While he was lying there, a cow came by and dropped some dung on him.
As the frozen bird lay there in the pile of cow dung, he began to
realize how warm he was.
The dung was actually thawing him out!
He lay there all warm and happy, and soon began to sing for joy.
A passing cat heard the bird singing and came to investigate.
Following the sound, the cat discovered the bird under the pile of cow
dung, and promptly dug him out and ate him.

Morals of the story:
(1) Not everyone who sh*ts on you is your enemy.
(2) Not everyone who gets you out of sh*t is your friend.
(3) And when you're in deep sh*t, it's best to keep your mouth shut!

I hope you have make up your mind about what you have learned today !!!

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Some Weird Things That You Should Not Try !!!

I just wanted to share something that I heard during the Pulau Kapas Seminar.

This have something to do with not disturbing your birds too often.

One of the participants asked Pak Hen about this weired thing that happenned in KT.

A birdhouse owner have this idea that he must try to be very closed with his swiftlets.

He believed in God and all these wild animals are a gift from God.

So every night he will drop by at his birdhouse and give "Salam" to every bird in his house.

Just imagine if he has 100, he will give 100 "salam" to his birds. If 1000 he will give "salam" 1000 times.

The question posted to Pah Hen was, is this alright?

Pah Hen indicated that, if you want to populate your birdhouse, you must try to minimise your entry into yourBH especially in the nesting areas.

If you need to enter your BH for some reasons, try to enter during the hours when most of those birds are out finding food. This is around 9.00 am to 3.00pm. All works should stop after three pm.

Even if you enter the BH you should minimise making noises. No smoking when you are in the house.

Giving "Salam" to every single bird is not a very good idea.

Shape Of Birdnest Do Effect Its Quality !!!



This article is related to one of my previous write up found at: http://swiftletfarming.blogspot.com/2008/04/factors-that-will-govern-quality-of.html

How do the shape of Birdnests govern the quality of each nest?

Birdnest shapes are dependent on three factors:

a) The location of nest build by the swiftlets.

Normally those nests that are built in the center of the nesting planks with a shape of women's bra is the standard shape. Some use the word half cup but for me I prefer the half bra.

Again these half bra sizes can again be classified base on how big the bra is. Some use their fingure as the method of mesuarement. A small shape we call them as two fingures, the medium size is three fingures while the larger one are those four fingures.

Those nests that are harvested from 90* corners are usually in an odd shape. They look like the bra cup being cut into half but in the middle. They are thick and heavy. In Malay they are being called "sarang sudut". The only set back is that they fetch much lower value as compared to those well formed nests.

What about those nests that are harvested at corners with corner covers? The deformation are dependant on the thickness of the corner covers that you use. Those who uses very thin corner covers will give less deformities while those with thick corner covers will have a more severe deformation. They do effect the sale's value dependent on the buyer.

These birds have a very uncontrolled habits of nesting at odd places. I have seen those nest on the cement walls, the top of the tweeters, on any electrical wires, on fake nests and etc. These nests will have some kind of deformities and some are dirty due to the surface where it come into contact with. They will normally fetch lesser value compared to the well formed nests.

The most unusual shape that I have come acrossed are those that the Indonesian called " Lidah Naga". The nests are said to be in the shape of a cup or two bras cups in one. The hug from the ceiling or the wooden planks and the birds built the nest using a much more quantity of their salivas. This Lidah Niaga, is the most expensive as compared to all the above.

b) Overall shape of the nests.

This have something to do with the overall shape of the nest. There are nests that are long in its length. If the standard length is 5 inches, tip to tip, there are those that are more then 6 inches or more.

Some nests are well formed and smooth all around the outer surface while there are those that are wavy.

I have seen nests that are with cracks it between.

Those nests that were not harvested tend to have an odd shape and colors. Everytime the nest are being recycled, the parent tend to rebuilt the upper part of the nests. So you have two seasons nests. What happenned if you do not harvest after the two seasons nests are formed? Well you might get a three seasons nests and so on ....

All odd shape nests will fetch lower value when you sell them ....

c) The way you harvest and keep them..

You may have read about the three types of harvesting that I wrote before. They are the harvest before the birds lay their eggs, The harvest just after they laid the two eggs and The harvest when the baby birds flew out of the nests.

The cleanest and the best nests shall be those before the eggs were laid.

The second best will be after the birds laid their two eggs but have not hatched yet.

The worste or the dirties shall be after the baby birds have used the nests and while using their do dirty them due to their food, their feathers, their shitting and so on.

You need to master the technique on how to harvest these nest from your BH. They are very hard to harvest and you do need to have a technique to make them soft just before you harvest. If you harvest them wrongly the nests tend to break or cracks. This will affect the value of the nests harvested.

In proper keeping of nests after you harvest can cause the nest to deteriorate. They might change color due to fungus or mold. You need to keep them in an air tight containers and keep them in a dry and cool places. Once they are attacked by those fungus the value will be affected.

So I hope you enjoy reading and learning from this blog ....

There are more to come .....

Just be patience and do not rush while reading ....

Saturday, April 19, 2008

If You Feel Really Down Read This !!!!

I would like to share this stories to cheer you up if you are really down:

1) Died At Eleven ....

In a hospital's Intensive Care Unit, patients always died
In the same bed, on Sunday morning, at about 11:00 am ,
Regardless of their medical condition.

This puzzled the doctors and some even thought it had
Something to do with the supernatural. No one could solve
The mystery as to why the deaths occurred around 11:00 am
Sunday, so a worldwide team of experts was assembled to
Investigate the cause of the incidents.

The next Sunday morning, a few minutes before 11:00 am . ,
All of the doctors and nurses nervously waited outside
The ward to see for themselves what the terrible phenomenon
Was all about. Some were holding wooden crosses, prayer
Books, and other holy objects to ward off the evil spirits.

Just when the clock struck 11:00 , Pookie Johnson, the part-
Time Sunday sweeper, entered the ward and unplugged the life
Support system so he could use the vacuum cleaner.


2) Save The Seal !!!


The average cost of rehabilitating a seal after the
Exxon Valdez Oil spill in Alaska was $80,000.00.
At a special ceremony, two of the most expensively
Saved animals were being released back into the wild
Amid cheers and applause from onlookers.

A minute later, in full view, a killer whale ate them both.


3) My Husband in the Kitchen ...

A woman came home to find her husband in the kitchen
Shaking frantically, almost in a dancing frenzy,
With some kind of wire running from his waist towards
The electric kettle. Intending to jolt him away from
The deadly current, she whacked him with a handy
Plank of wood, breaking his arm in two places.

Up to that moment, he had been happily listening
To his Walkman.

4) Animal Rights ........

Two animal rights defenders were protesting
The cruelty of sending pigs to a slaughterhouse
In Bonn , Germany . Suddenly, all two thousand pigs
Broke loose and escaped through a broken fence,
Stampeding madly.

The two helpless protesters were trampled to death.




5) Terrorist: Serve Him Right !!!


Iraqi terrorist Khay Rahnajet didn't pay enough postage
On a letter bomb. It came back with 'Return to Sender'
Stamped on it.

Forgetting it was the bomb, he opened it and was
Blown to bits. God is Good!

There now, I bet you are feeling Better already. He he he ....???

Two Floors BH in Kelantan With Negative Birdnests Count !!!


It is very important for all birdhouse owners to have a proper log book.

Every time you visit your BH, you need to log in. Your log in must consist of the date you visited, with whom, the purpose, time that you enter, the list of things that you carried out and of course the most important your asset audit (how many nests and birdshit spots were there?).

If you are the objective orientated, you will have a white board on the wall of your data room with this note, in big letters: " My Objective Is To Increase The Number Of Nests from 25 To 250 By End of 2008" (example).

Just read this special story that I happened to came across.

" Harry I am so and so and would like to purchase those insect powder from you".

" Two pails please".

From the few words that I heard, I sense some problem with his BH.

"Okay I will sent them to you and please let me know a bit more about your BH".

We met and started a friendly conversation.

"Harry, I am so glad to meet you and your blog have been an inspiration to me."

"Thank you and thank you."

"Well Harry, the BH belongs to my blood brother and he invested into it without having any knowledge on Swiftlet Farming".

Hmm ... sound very familiar .....

How is the house doing? I asked..

"The BH have been in operation almost 1 year plus. At one time the birdnest count was 100 and now down to only 25".

Can you see what I mean? The number of nests were not going up but downward. Yes from 100 down to 25.

This tells you that, if you do not make any or proper efforts to look after the house properly, the nests number will declined. There is no guarantee that the number will always move upward....

Interesting and I feel my ghost bumps stand as if I saw some ghost.

Oh my god, this is what will happened if you leave things to God and take no effort to look after the BH.

After jotting down all the things that he can tell, I told him that the BH is not well (sick) and he need to quickly look into a kind of rehabilitation program especially on its microhabitat.

It might be the temperature or the sound system or the competitors around him or the disturbances by those predators (cockroach or etc) and etc.

I can only guess and I listed a few things that he can do, inclusive of the aroma therapy, plus the activation of those insect powder. My first thought is the sound. His brother have never make any attemp to change the sound for all these years.

If they did not work, after three months, I might need to go up and have a closer look.

In the mean time I told him to quickly finish reading my blog and learn as much as he can.

There is still hope and I told him to contact me for any further advises if he needed one.

The morale of this true story are:

1) Birdnests count in your BH can decrease. Beware of this trap and the best thing you can do is to monitor their numbers on every trip that you enter the house. Have a proper log book. If the number goes down, you can guess that something is not right and you need to prepare your action plans....

2) You need to acquire as much knowledge about Swiftlet Farming before going into it. If you enter this business "Blindly", I am very sure your will knock lots of bolders and you will get yourself injured.

3) Try to look at the use of all the new Technologies available. You must upgrade your system to be better then your neighbors. You should raise your BH systems to a level that the birds will prefer to stay with you and not your neighbors. You must feel like: " I am not scared of those neighbors but they are scared of me."


So make the right decision and learn from this true story that I have just encountered .........

I am always available to listen to your BH problems and provide some guidelines which you may opt. The final decision is you and you....

Factors That Will Govern The Quality of Your Birdnests!!!



Basically there are three crucial factors that will govern your birdnest qualities.

They are:

1) The Color

2) The Shape and

3) The Size.

Birdnest Color:

Red colored birdnest will normally fetch the highest price in the market. Some people claimed that they are more then twice the value of those white colored.



The reason why these nests turned to red is mainly the exposure to the right temperature, humidity and the content of the ammonia in the room. It is said that with the right temperature, humidity and those ammonia (bi product of birdshit oxidation) ,a kind of oxidation will turn those nests on the nesting planks to red.

White colored are said to be the base price. The price will be governed by the impurities left in the nest. The dirtier the nest, especially from feathers and dirts made by the young babies, the value of these nests will slide downward.



You can get a better valued white nests if they are harvested before the eggs are being laid. Since the nests are not at all being used by the bird to lay any eggs and no babybirds using it, the impurities in the nest are minimal.

Those that are harvested after the two eggs are being laid are the medium in price. It will be better quality as compared to those nests harvested after the baby birds flew away.

Yellow colored nests are not that pricy as compared to those white colored. People tend to think that yellow colored nests are not very good quality. In actual fact, those nests that changed from white to red will normally change color to yellow before becoming red.



Yellow colored nests are also due to the temperature, humidity and the oxidation process taken place in the house. However due to lower content of ammonia in the room, the process to become red are halted.

There are also blue colored nests. These nests fetch a much lower price then yellow colored. I am not pretty sure what cause them to turn to blue but my sifu indicated that they might be due to different type of environment ...

My favourite is the chocolate colored nests. This will be those that were not properly kept after harvesting and they fetch a terrible value. It is better to throw them away. Normally they smell bad too. Well maybe the chocolate might have some anti cancer properties, who knows ......

The most unsual is the black colored nests. I have not seen one but a friend of mine saw it in Surabaya. According to nest owner, when those nests turned into red, you need to slow down the oxidation process. If they are allowed to continue, the red color will transform into black.

They are as black as those charcoal and value wise is pretty ugly.

I will continue my next article about the other two factors tommorrow......


Friday, April 18, 2008

The Insect Powder Usage Progress !!!


Been receiving a number of calls about the use of the insect powder.

Some are doing very well while some still do not have much progress. Since I do used them I wanted to share with those who are about to use or those who do not have any idea how it works.

The insect powder is just an accessories that you put into your birdhouse to make them to stay. If your birdhouse microhabitats are perfect, there is no reason why they will not choose yours as compare to the neighbors.

Once activate, by adding normal water, the eggs in the powder will start to release those maggots into the sludge. These maggots will eat the sludge and grow in size. Once they reach the required size they will start to crawl on to the pail's wall and find the right spot for their next mode of transformation. They will actually turn into pupa. After the pupa stage the pupa sack will break and out come the fruit fly.

The fruit fly will, in general, mate and will immediately lay eggs inside the wet sludge. The breeding cycle will continue until the sludge have no food value to the insect. Normally this will be about 4 to 6 months. Note: You need to top the water up on every visit to your BH.

Last week, I went back to visit my birdhouse. I am happy to note that those pails were with lots of insect pupa and insects around the mouth of the two pails. I tapped on it and most of them will fly and hide on the wall.

For your reference please see these pictures:








They looks okay to me but the water in the pails were a little too low. I Added about half a liter and stirred them well.

I have entered into a new mode of operation. Right now I an not only using the insect powder but I also will be adding more insect by using various fruits like pineapples, jack fruits, banana, tapioca, coconut, ciku, jambu and etc (glucose based materials).

During my last trip I bought a few pieces of large plastic trays that shall be used as the holder of all those glucose generating materials.



I have instructed my BH caretaker to get hold of plastic pipes, about 4 inches in diameter and one foot long, to be placed in the middle of the tray and around it I want those materials to be laid. The pipes will be where those maggots will climb to pupate and metamorphose into fruit flies.

Every week there will be a new materials added to the current materials. Every week water shall be sprayed on each tray. After five weeks the first tray shall be removed.

Note: You need to sprinkle some bakery yeast (RAGI) on the materials in the tray..

I will try to capture some photos to place onto this blog.....

My next plan is to built an insect breeding hut in my birdhouse ...

If the design works I will let my blog reader to have them at a minimum price .....

Please be advise if you need to try using those insect powders please call Harry at 017 755 1318 for a trial pail. Each pail comes in a 2 kilogram bag plus a 5 liter container. Cost is just RM 120 per pail.

Thursday, April 17, 2008

The Elderado Birdhouse Design !!!



I was reading this article about the Elderado child abused case in the state of Texas, USA.

Found at: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080417/ap_on_re_us/polygamist_retreat

Click on this: http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Polygamist-Compound-Raid/ss/events/us/022708warrenjeffs/s:/ap/20080417/ap_on_re_us/polygamist_retreat;_ylt=Ar5WbbutYW9ALWhlxvYUcTtH2ocA

Among all the pictures seen in the article, I am very attracted to the Church design.

The shape plus its compound and the other building beside the main church looks very attactive to me.

If I have a nice piece of agricultural land, this church design will be superb for my birdhouse design.

Just imagine having the four circular roving areas at the edge of the building and the center rectengular area acting as the nesting area.

They are superb for you to think and perhap incorperate the building design at your next birdhouse design in Malaysia.


Content of My Talk At GAPH Ipoh !!!

(The only Indian Participant in GAPH Seminar for year 2008)

First of all I wud like to thank Dr Reduan of Jabatan Haiwan, Putrajaya for giving me the opportunity to present my paper.

This paper was prepared mainly to cover topics on "How to Own A Successful Birdhouse".

They are mainly from my own ideas and experiences. In the beginning, I tried to highlight some historical background on how Budidaya or Birdnest farming started in Indonesia and how it then cross the straight of Malacca to Peninsular Malaysia.

My main point was in trying to make each participant to aknowledge the fact that their birdhouse success/failure is in their own hand and not their SIFUs.

The only way to own a successful BH is by accummulate as much knowledge as possible and they need to use new and apply new technologies.

These are some of the slide presentations materials that I make available to those who have been asking for a copy:

Slide No 1:

How To Owned and Operate A Successful Birdhouse !!!
Harry Swiftlet Farming & Swiftlet Equipment Technology …..


Slide No 2:

Agenda

History of Swiftlet Farming Industries.
Introduction Into Malaysia.
Challenges In Malaysia.
How To Own A Successful Birdhouse.
Critical Stages.
Summary
Conclusion

Slide No 3:
History Of Swiftlet Farming Industries

Originally they are cave dwellers.
In 1880, an Indonesian, Tohir Sukarama, who came back from Mecca found that his house was occupied by Swiftlet. (Sedayu, Gresik)
Since he knows the Birdnest value he decided to move out and let the bird occupy his house.
This was the Beginning of Swiftlet Farming.
The breeding was kept confidential for almost 100 years by Tohir’s Family.

Slide No 4:
Continuation

Only in 1980’s the farming of Birdnest came out in the open.
Many books were published and distributed.
In 1989, the first seminar was organized to popularize the farming technique.
More people were exposed to the techniques and it become so popular that the number of birdhouses in Indonesia is now over 100,000.

Slide No 5:
Introduction Into Malaysia

Swiftlet Farming Started In Malaysia By Accident.
Started during 1990’s Economic Slowdown.
The Indonesian Chinese Take Refuge in Peninsular Malaysia.
They observed that the surrounding were perfect.
There were so many abandoned shop houses that are cheap and building raw materials were reasonable.

Slide No 6:
The Malaysian Perspective

We are very new in this industry. Started around Middle of 1990s.
We are just about 11-12 years old.
We already have 36,000 birdhouses in operations.
The most is in Perak, Selangor and Kedah.
Now more are coming up in Kelantan, Trengganu, Pahang, Sarawak, Sabah and Johore.
In Peninsular Malaysia there are only about 3400 applied for licenses.


Slide No 7:
CHALLENGES IN MALAYSIA
What are our biggest Challenges:
The rate of BH failures are still very high.
Our knowledge in selecting the right location are poor.
The Industry is too much dependent on Consultants that are
not qualified.
The use of modern technologies are still poorly received.
There are no proper technology centers that are dedicated to
this Multi Billion Industry.
The seminars that we have in the market are just introduction
We need more advance level of swiftlet farming.

Slide No 8:
How To Own A Successful Birdhouse.

Get Yourself As Much Knowledge as Possible.
Read As Much As You Can.
Search the Web and Take note on those selected sites.
Attend at least the GAPH seminar and get certified.
Try to attend advance seminars.
Set up grouping in your own town.

Slide No 9:
How To Own A Successful Birdhouse (Continue).

Select the right location for your BH.
Before your purchase a property make sure there are birds in the area.
Check the bird count using birdcall tester.
In the evening, observe their flight path.
Use the 50:30:20 rule.
If there are already a few successful birdhouses around.


Slide No 10:
How To Own A Successful Birdhouse (Continue).

Get an experience birdhouse advisor.
Once U have selected the location, get an advisor that can guide you.
Design the birdhouse together with him.
Put in as much input as possible.
Visit a few birdhouses with him too.
Make sure he is a technology savvy guy.
He must be willing to share and transfer his knowledge to you.

Slide No 11:
How To Own A Successful Birdhouse (Continue).

Once your BH Design is in place choose an experience builder.
You need him to comply with the local rules and regulations.
You need him to comply to your BH design.
You much get him to inform you of the milestones that requires inspection by you and your advisor.
All materials used shall be selected by you and not the contractor.

Slide No 12:
How To Own A Successful Birdhouse (Continue).

Get the Right Sound System.
Your birdhouse is greatly dependent on a good sound system.
Your choice will determine the clarity of the birdcall sound and how long they will last.
You must take into considerations of the sound distribution techniques for both external and internal.
Using of latest technologies is a must.
Poor sound system means no birds …..


Slide No 13:
How To Own A Successful Birdhouse (Continue).

Starting of Your New BH.

When you design a BH make sure they are ready three to four weeks before the rainy season.
Good example if rainy season starts in April, the house must be ready by March.
You must carry out microhabitat checks and ensure that they are perfect before you operate the birdcall sound.
If the microhabitat is not perfect, correct them first.

Slide No 14:
How To Own A Successful Birdhouse (Continue).

What About the Use Of Aroma?.
Basically a good BH is a house that mimic a cave or another successful BH in your vicinity.
You actually cheat the birds to believe that your BH is ideal to start a family.
You already cheat them by installing those tweeters on the nesting planks.
Using Aroma is more or less similar to tweeters but this time you wanted them to feel that your house smell the same as their previous house.

Slide No 15:
How To Own A Successful Birdhouse (Continue).

How About Using Fake Nests and Misc..?
Once your house location is right, the temperature and humidity is within range and the sound system is perfect, what else can be done?
What about fake nests?
How about those insect generating powder?
Use of long range Bazookas?
Use of ultrasonic sound converter?
The hexagonal Tweeters on your roof?
The flood light around the entrance holes?
The color of your house roof or entrance holes?

Slide No 16:
Critical Stages.

The most challenging period:
The first 6 months…..
The first 3 years …..
The 5th year you need to get what you aimed for …
You need to set an OBJECTIVE.
“ I Want 500 nests by Year 3”
You list down your plans and actions.
You cannot adopt the “ Leave it to GOD” attitude.

Slide No 17:
Summary

Your Birdhouse Success/Failure is Dependent On You.
To Be Successful You Need To Follow the Right Path
To Be Successful You need to Get As Much Knowledge as You Can.
To Be Successful You Need to Use New and Proven Technologies.

Slide No 18:
Conclusion

Welcome to the Millionaires Club.
You are here because you deserve to be a successful swiftlet rancher.
Follow the Guideline Provided.
Use The Latest Technologies and Tools if you want to be successful.


Slide No 19:
Presentation Materials.

This presentation material was prepared by Harry Kok for GAPH Seminar in Syuen Hotel Ipoh Dated April 16th 2008.

For more information on swiftlet farming go to:
http://swiftletfarming.blogspot.com

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Speaker At GAPH Seminar In Ipoh !!!



Received an unofficial invitation to deliver a speech at Ipoh GAPH seminar on Sunday last week.

After some thought I confirmed acceptence of the invitation and prepared the powerpoint slides for the purpose. I took about two hours to get it ready.

Once ready passed the document to the Organiser for vetting.

I was so pleased that the presentation material was cleared with very little corrections.

Yesterday morning, at 5.30am, started the journey to Ipoh with two blog readers who was keen enought to join me for the two hours drive.

We reached Ipoh at around 7.30am and managed to taste Ipoh kopitiam breakfast.

At 8.30am reported to the seminar and got the two guys checked in to participate as participants.

I did not mentioned to them that I will be one of the speaker for the day. I waited until being announced by the Organiser. (Frankly I was still not sure that I am one of the speaker. If not, MALU only ???)

The seminar started sharp at about 9.00am and the room was fulled with about 40 swiftlet farmers attended.

Since I have attended two similar talks before, there were nothing much to learn but the announcement about Bank Pertanian Malaysia being privetised was some news. They now called themself as Agro Bank as from April 1st 2008.

I waited for turn and since I was the last speaker, I find the day was very slow to reach my turn.

At about 4.00pm, the announcement was made and I pushed myself onto the center stage. Keep praying that this maiden talk will be well received and will not put those tired participants to sleep.

I took exactly one hour to cover all the topics and wow it was beautiful. Dr.R was the first to congratulate me on the topics covered and the way I delivered. According to him that it was very impressived and lots of important points both for the newbies and those who are planning to expand their BH farms.

Well there were many more participants who walked up to say thank you for the informations covered and they have asked me to post the topics covered onto my Swiftlet Farming blog.

The two guys who came together with me was suprised with my topics and they love the way I could remember the things that I covered without looking at the slides presentation.

I know, deep in my heart, I can be a good speaker and this opening talk might be the beginning of my involvement in more GAPH Seminars. Hope to receive more invitation from Dr.R.







Monday, April 14, 2008

A War Zone In Miri !!!



One of the best way to announce to the wild swiftlets that your new BH is ready for new tenants is to use a long range Bazooka located just above the entrance hole.

Just have a look at the picture and how the Bazookas are orientated.

There are many pros and cons in placing these long range tweeters in your BHs. The whole idea is to ensure that those birds that always flew high above will be able to listern to your chirping and hopefully will at least pay your BH a visit.

It looks very practical but just imagine if every one in your neighborhood copy the same idea.

I predict that the local council will shortly ask the owner to pull them down.

I think the best method to use the Bazooka is to hide the unit in the BH, close to the entrance hole. You can aim the nozzle towards the direction of the birds path but there is no need to show off that you are the King of the town.....

Just look at another angle of the picture taken ...



With the two flags. it will surely look like the headquaters of an army camp....

The above pictures were from Mr. B of Miri .....

My Heart Stop Beating For A Few Seconds !!!


Sorry for not writing for the last few days.

I was back in my hometown and doing the things that I love to do.....

While back home took the opportunity to visit a few birdhouses belonging to a blog reader.

He has two units and each was nothing less then 4 stories high and about 60 X 80 feet. They were hughe and unbelievable in size.

While doing the visit I took the trouble to view the BHs and keep thinking how to bring those birds into the house.

If you stand in front you can see so many of them flying high up in the sky. At any time there were at least 50 to a 100. But they seem to be happy up there and would prefer not to come down.

That makes my task very tough. The owner has this perception that there is a miracle that can be done to bring all of them down and enter his new house.

I told him the houses are not pretty ready since they were completed just a few short months ago (last month).

Well to make him happy I brought along with me a few bottles of those Aroma but the BH was so big. I think he needed something like 20 bottles to clear up those cement, wood and welding smell for at least three consecutive.

He never hesitated and quickly allows me to try the Aroma. To make the work easier he got one of his staff to apply the Aroma using a high pressured spray bottle.

During the application I was following his worker. It seem that he enjoy spraying the aroma and I could not catch up with him. Suddenly he went missing and I heard a thud sound.

He fell down to the second floor and unconscious. My heart stops for a few seconds and quickly get the other working working outside to take him to the hospital.

I was so scared to death seeing something like that to happen.

Luckily he is okay, Doctor's report, but getting lots of rest.

I was very disturbed and I have to advise all by beloved blog readers, please be careful when you are in your BH or any other people's BH.

For any official visit make sure you are being brief on the dangers, traps, holes, slippery floors and etc.

It is better to have all the installed light on all the time during the whole visit.

Bring proper torchlight with new batteries, please.....

I am still shocked and I hope I will be okay within the next few days.....

I am not going to visit any BH for the next few days .....

Awful and I cannot imagine falling down myself ......

Friday, April 11, 2008

Weekend Trip To Kedah !!!

Today, Sartuday 12th, 2008, decided to be in Kedah for the weekend.

There are a few exciting things that I am looking forward for.

First, of course, is the monthly inspection of my own BH.

There are a few additional things to be added and discussed with the caretaker. Will ensure that those aroma are in place and new one to be applied.

Second is a meeting scheduled with Mr.C who is the process of converting his warehouse into a sizable birdhouse. He ordered the birdcall gadget and I need to deliver the item to him.

Third is to meet Mr.L of Kulim. Was invited to drop by to view his BHs and provide some advise on how to improve the birds population.

I planned to visit Kulim on Sunday morning and if everything goes well will be back in my hometown SP by 3pm.

Mr.L have at least two BHs build on agricultural land and are of 4 stories high.

I am pretty sure there are lots of things to observe and perhaps makes the best to help him with the current conditions.

New Fake Nests Testing !!!

One of the best way to increase the number of birds population in your birdhouse is by installing fake nests.

There many available in the market. Some are made of plastics, some are plastics covers with cloth, styrofoam, paper, lasi lemak cover, coconut shell and so forth.

Recently I was asked to try a new type using wood pieces laced with swiftlet hormone.

In view of making it a worth while venture, I am looking at having a few volunteers to place the wooden pieces in their birdhouses.

Each will be given three pieces and I can only spare for five volunteers.

The units, upon received, shall be installed in an area where there are still no birds nesting.

They must be placed about one meter away of each other.

The volunteer must report the progress on a monthly basis.

If this new type of fake nest works then it will be something that need to be recommended to all by blog readers who happenned to have their own birdhouses.

This is going to be on a first come first served basis ....

Sent me your email and contact number and I will look into allocating the fake nest by next week ....

Use my email address: harryswiftlet@yahoo.com with the title: Volunteer to Try Harry's Fake nest.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Chinese Painting With Life Fish !!!

You want to play some trick with your mouse just click on the http address:


http://zqbbs.netsh.com/usr/12/12_191_17.swf

This is really cool! Just move your cursor and see what happens!!

Enjoy yourself and take a break from those swiftlets