Today's Itinary Is To Visit A BH With 100 Kilograms a Month !!!

Today my schedule is to visit someone special and he is gunuinely is a BH master.

He is currently operating more then 10 BHs, five more waiting for CF and he planned to develop a piece of land dedicated to BHs. I am looking at working with him closely and hope to be able to promote this special project.

I want the house to be properly designed and the lowest possible cost to help more people to archieve their desire to own a BH.

The idea is to built a few units and later sell those lots that are devided with title.

Will take some photograhs and perhaps visit a few BHs that are already with a few kilos being harvested every month. They is a strong possibility to visit a BH with 100 kilos a month.

A prime area that I hope will be my third home....

Dr Kenneth Khoo Commenting About Swiftlet Farming In George Town, Penang !!!

Found on The Star at : http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/7/31/focus/21941583&sec=focus

Unfair to swiflet farms


I NOTE with great interest the letter by ML “Keep swiftlet farms out of George Town” (The Star, July 16) and other letters printed by your paper over the last two months which have painted a negative picture about the swiftlet farming industry in Malaysia in general as well as in Penang in particular.

These complaints provide very negative and one-sided views that level accusations against the mostly law-abiding and dedicated SME businessmen who are contributing to the swiftlet farming industry in the country.

Swiftlet farming in Malaysia is governed by the Guidelines for the Application of Premise Licences for Swiftlet Farming Businesses (Garis Panduan Permohonan Lesen Premis Purusahaan Sarang Burung Walit) that was issued and published by the Housing and Local Government Ministry in October 2005 to regulate the industry.

Based on these guidelines, the Federal Government actively permits and encourages swiftlet farming to be carried out in any building (except for Heritage Buildings classified as Category 1 buildings) located within any legally gazetted commercial area as stated in the structure plans of each and every state.

At the same time, the guidelines also contain requirements and detailed prohibitions as to the operations of these swiftlet farms that have been so licensed. For example, the decibel levels of the swiftlet mating sounds emitted by outside speakers must be 40 decibels and below measured exactly six meters from the lateral direction of the said speakers and the hours of operations must be between 7am and 7pm only.

The hollowing out of George Town in the state of Penang due to the repeal of the Rent Control Act back in 1998 has resulted in many pre-war buildings becoming abandoned, resulting in decay due to the lack of care and maintenance.

Relying on these guidelines, many SME businessmen in the state have invested a large amount of money to purchase such buildings. They renovated and improved the structures of these buildings and have fortified the security to carry out swiftlet farming.

These SME businessmen have, solely by their own efforts, significantly contributed to the slowing down of the urban decay of abandoned pre-war buildings in the state and at the same time helped protect the surrounding buildings from fires and other fatal nuisances that may be caused by drug addicts and other trespassers.

The three-year grace period for the moving out of swiftlet farms from George Town highlighted in ML’s letter does not exist under the guidelines. Any swiftlet farm that is operating from any gazetted commercial zone and in direct compliance with the many detailed requirements as stated in the guidelines is completely legal.

There is, however, a three-year grace period for swifltet farms that operate in residential zones. The SMI Association of Penang fully supports and encourages the Government to move these farms out of residential areas.

To pressure the state and the local authorities to move out SME businessmen who have established swiftlet farming businesses in George Town that fully comply with the requirements of the guidelines by the end of 2008 not only ignores the economic benefits and its associated multiplier effects that have been contributed by these investments to the state, but is also illegal as such investments were made in those areas that are actively encouraged under the guidelines for the establishment of swiftlet farms.

Under the guidelines, stagnant pools of water are prohibited, the decibel levels of swiftlet mating sounds are already predetermined and cleanliness and hygiene levels properly described for all swiftlet farm operators to follow.

DR KENNETH KHOO,
Secretary-General,
SMI Association of Penang.

AgroWorld Megazine July 2008.2005 !!!

I received a call from Johor Bahru and it was a lady.

"Harry I saw your handsome picture in the Agroworld magazine."

Wow, I am getting the treatment as a star celeb.

Since I have never subscribe to the magazine, I confessed to her that I would like to have a copy. Yes she sent me a copy and there on page 076 a full article on me and my swiftlets blogging activities.

Now I remember who took my picture and when. It was during the Tanjing Malim GAHP seminar. I was the last speaker for the day and immediately after the talk I remember a guy came forward to have a few pictures taken and he introduced himself as a reporter from Agroworld. "Harry I will be writing about you in the next issue, he said."

How lucky to be featured in such a wonderful magazine.

Credit goes to Dr. Reduan from Jabatan Haiwan who accepted me as an invited guess. My picture will not be in this megazine if not because of him.

What Should You Do When The Birds Keep Running Out At Night !!!

Are you really ready to read this weired phenomena?

Just read and see if you have any comment.

I received a franctic call from a guy who started his BH about a few months back.

" Harry, I need you kind advise. I have this problem where the birds will start to fly out once the external sound stopped. Yes I timed the sound to be off at 8.00pm. Immediately after 8.00pm, the birds will start to fly out. What do you think is the problem?"

Hmm... I scratch my head and have a serious thinking what the hell is actually happening? Very unusual and never came across before.

There are at least three to four possible explainations:

1) There is a prediator in the BH. Most probable is an owl. The second possible prediator is the rats. They start becoming active at around 8pm. There maybe bats who might have occupied the house during the day time. Need to conduct a serious check on any signs of these possible prediators. Owl will swallow the birds whole but will vormit the bones out. Rats love to eat the internal organ but not the head. Bats leave droppings below their sleeping ground.

2) The internal temperature is not suitable. Too hot. Need to check what is the hottest temperature and happened at what time of the day.

3) The internal sound might not be suitable. Too loud or wrong sound. The best option is to change the sound to piyik (baby sound) plus colony sound.

4) They are still hungry and wanted to cari makan at those bright lights. Let them go out for they will still come back later at night. Pak Jeff of Trengganu indicated that when the moon is full, these birds do come out at night (he indicated as late as 4am) and hunt those insects flying around the road and billboard lightings. Do not be suprise !!!

I am sure there are some other reasons that can cause the birds to fly out but the above are possibilities.

Swiftlet Farming Book In Mandarin !!!

I am sorry for not making much effort to display this new book that I found at one of my friend's Toko.

The moment I glanced through the pages I believed there are lots of interesting things that you might learned from it.

The book title is: SWIFTLET BIRDS CULTIVATION 8 ESSENTIAL WAYS.

Written in Mandarin Language, hard cover about 98 pages.

Since I am not fluent in Mandarin, I can only admire the many photos found in the book.

Every page is a lesson to all of us and I am very sure it will be something that you want to add to your swiftlet book's library.

I have taken some pictures for you to vet through and if you wish to zoom in just double click on each picture.

The book is sold at RM 250 and I have only 7 copies left.

Call me (017 755 1318) if you think you want to expand your knowledge on swiftlet farming .....

How To Increase The Value Of Your Raw Bird Nests !!!

I am very sure that everyone knows how raw nests are being graded.

They say its based on the size, the shape, the wetness and the cleanliness. The bigger the size the better it will be. The 1/2 cup shape is preferred as compare to those corner and broken nests.

Nests must not be too wet or too dry.

The nests must also be cleaned, pure white if possible and little dirt and feathers on them.

I was having my lunch today and my guest was from Kuala Krai, Kelantan.

He opened up a new secret which he just wanted to share with my blog readers. Remember this was something that he came to know and I have little to prove that it is true or not.

In Kuala Kerai and Gua Musang, there was this BH owner who have the ability to sell his raw bird nests at RM6,000 a kilo. Until today he has this special buyer direct from China who pays that value with no questions asked.

I was quite shocked and curious how come so high. I was on the impression that raw nests now the most is RM 4,000 to RM4,800 per Kilo. How the hell can this person sells above RM5,000/kilo.

The formula was the quality of water that was used in the BH. Of course your BH must be cleaned from those dusts and mites.

According to him one of the best way to improve the cleanliness of all your bird nests is to use a properly filtered water at the main water entry into the building and one more before it enter the pump.

I hope you are ready for this. The recommended filtration system is DIAMOND energy and filter system.

Use the standard filter at the main entrance while the energies water filter at the inside just before the pump.

Pardon me on this matter. I am not a distributor or agent for Diamond Filtration system. Go to goggle and find where to buy the two filtration units. Please do not call me......

I place this article because this story seem to be very interesting and valuable to all those who wanted to improve their nest quality. If you think this is nonsense please go and find this Kuala Krai guy and kill him.

Please don't be emotional. He he he

Temperature And Humidity Logger !!!

Most birdhouse owner do know that the best humidity and temperature range should be:

Relative Humidity: 85% to 95%.

Temperature: 26*C to 29*C.

Both are critical in ensuring that those nests are well built and they stay moist and not brittle.

How do you monitor the actual temperature and humidity?

Some people uses this gadget call Digital Humidity and Temperature sensor indicator. It have the ability to detect the maximum and minimum temperature and humidity and what time they happened.

Some BHs I visited prefer to use the conventional thermometer that still runs on Mercury.

What will be the best equipment for a more precise temperature and humidity monitoring?

My answer comes from a special friend who happened to attend one of those GAHP seminar conducted in Malacca. His name is Mr.G and he sent to me these special photographs which looks like a pen but it is a Data Logger (DL).

According to Mr.G, once you set the DL, using your computer, it will record every few seconds of both the temperature and humidity for more then one month.

When you are sure of wanting the result you can now remove the DL and hook it to the PC to download the data captured.

The result can be graphically printer showing you the exact movement of the two characteristic of your BH.

Hmmm very interesting and very informative.

I have not purchased one but I think this is the most logical equipment that you should have if you are really keen to know the exact situation of your precious BH. If you know exactly when those temperatures are giving problem, you can now pinpoint the exact time of the day thus allowing you to make the necessary arrangements, like starting your humidifiers, to combat the temperature problem.

Hope you like this new equipment. The cost is around RM 500. I need at least one week to get them sent to your house.....

The product specification is available in PDF format. If you are keen to have a copy kindly email Harry for it and it is Free Of Charge.


DOUBLE CLICK ON ANY PICTURE FOR A CLEARER AND LARGER VIEW.

After 15 Days There Were 13 Visible Birdshit Spots !!!

I am not trying to boast or make you very jealous of my new birdhouse.

Yes, the Bentong BH is showing something that I was not expecting.

Today after 15 days of staying away from the BH, I finally entered the BH.

Once entering the data room, I shut the external sound and played the internal sound a bit louder. The time of entry was about 2:30 PM.

The moment we opened the entrance door we do not need to move very far. The first step nearly destroy those beautiful evidences that they have entered the BH. At first we say one but the next step there were four more. When we checked the rest, there were one more. Total on the lower floor was 6 spots with more then four fresh bird shits.

We now proceeded to the upper floor. There was very little signs in the center part. When we entered the back room there were more then 7 spots.

Total was 6+7 = 13 spots.

Hmm not bad for 15 days. All those bird shit spots were below my Motorola quality tweeters.

We did very little but just refresh the aroma in the humidifier. Once that was done we closed the door tightly and readjust the internal and external to what it was.

We were just too happy to see the results but wanted to see more. So we stayed back until 8pm.

Before that we have a special feat by our host in Bentong. Tested the best Durian in Bentong the "Kunyit".

We came back to town and have the best evening watching those birds flying around the entrance hole and watch many of them flew in. What are beautiful view when those birds keep entering the hole one after the other. The best time to watch them flying it is at 19.00 hours.

My gut feeling is that they will be more bird shit spots in the next couple of weeks.

I am happy, glad and most of all enjoy the evening with those kunyit durians and watching more birds entering the house.

Three Days After BirdCall Test, What Do You Think Happens to Those Birds???

Another important feedback that I wanted to share with my blog readers.

I received this call from one of my bog reader who happened to purchase one of the birdcall gadget and tested the sound at his brothers house.

When he conducted the test he call me at that particular instance. And my conversation with him was something like this:

Mr.N: Hei Harry, this is Mr.N of Kota Baru Kelantan.

Me: Yes Mr.N I remembered you purchased one of the test gadget, so have you tested.

Mr.N: This is why I am calling you I am doing it right now.

Me: So what happen?

Mr.N: It is damn crazy man, those birds were all over the place and all my neighbors are joining the fun. They could not believed their eyes. They think we become a BOMOH (Witchman) who can bring those birds on the top of our car.

Mr.N: Thank you Harry. You are so kind to find this fantastic gadget and allowed me to own one. I really owed you one. I want you to come to Kota Bahru and I want to treat you with with the best food in Kelantan.

Me: Well Mr.N some day I will come but don't forget the special food you offer.


Three days after the test operation he called me and this was what happened:

Me: Mr.N how are you? Have you been using the gadget during the weekend?

Mr.N: Harry, harry, harry harry ?

Me: Wah you mentioned my name so many times, why?

Mr.N: I am shaking my head while talking to you now. Do you know what happened after the test the other day?

Me: Ya ya what happened?

Mr.N: Those birds are still coming to the same site even after three days. My brother was at home and he saw a lot of these birds at the same place where we conducted the duress call and there still many of them.

At first he thought I was somewhere around doing the call again. But he could not find me so he called my phone. I told him no I am 10 kilometers away and I am sure the gadget is with me in my car and I am not playing it.

You know Harry those birds still visit the place everyday at the same time that we conducted the bird call test everyday. What do you think is happening?

Me: Mr.N I need to confess to you that I do not have the exact answers. I might be wrong but I think they still wanted to search where the duress sound came from.

Mr.N: They also hit onto my brother's car?

Me: Ha ha ha ha , I cannot stop laughing. This is weired and funny....

I wish I do have some logical explanation.

So dear blog readers, please beware of the effect of that bird call sound call DURESS. They are just unbelievable and turned those wild birds to be super inquisitive .....

If you think that I am joking or lying please call Mr.N at this number: 0179367xxx His Name is Mr Nik. Please ask him if it is true that those birds are still visiting the spot where he conducted the Duress bird call test.


(Special Note: He received so many calls so much so he complained to me that he is now under distress. I have decided to cover his phone number. If U need to talk to him please call me for me to release the number.)

Solar Energy For Birdhouses In Remote Places !!!

What would an investor do if his piece of land is not closed to any electrical poles to pull those power?

The only way out is to use solar power.

The biggest setback in using solar powered system is the initial cost.

A few months back I went to Kuantan to conduct some investigation where I visited a BH equipment supplier who posted on his website that he supplies solar power.

The moment he opened his mouth on the total cost, I nearly fainted. It was about RM18,000 and again subjected to the size of the panel chosen. Ma ma mia.....

I was stunned like being slapped by my dead mother......

I did not give up and did some checking with Uncle Ben Chai of Miri, Sarawak. He indicated that in Sarawak there is an organization who assembled Solar power system for schools and housing areas that are located in those remote areas. His only problem is to know the capacity that you required to run a BH say 30 feet X 70 feet and three stories high.

Hmm ..... I am not very sure how to get the correct answer. I would welcome any of my blog reader who can give me some indication or exact power required.

Yesterday while reading the Sunday Times newspaper, I saw this small cutting about a huge solar panel assembly plant to be located in Malacca. The text was as follows:

Title: Rembia Is Solar Valley.

Content:

Malacca: Rembia is set to become the next Solar Valley of Malaysia where some 4,000 engineers will be employed by 2010. One of the largest investors in Sunpower Manufacturing Sdn Bhd a Silicon Valley based manufacturer of solar cells, panels and system.

A RM 2.3 billion agreement has been signed between Sunpower Manufacturing Sdn Bhd and the Malacca State Development Corporation. The firm will be building a solar cell fabrication plant on the site.

I just hope that the project will start soon and perhaps all BH owners building theirs in remote locations will benefit from this mega project.....

The next Time If You Happened To Conduct A Birdcall Test Try This !!!

More interesting things that I discovered or should I say reported by one of my blog reader.

His Name is Mr.C of Bukit Damansara.

He bought a set of the birdcall unit and the next day straight to some place to test the gadget.

This was his findings:

"Harry you need to know this. I managed to plug the gadget to the my computer. It gives the same power as playing with my car CD player.

Since you provided me with one additional CD of different sound I played both at the same time. I accidently forgot to switch off my car air condition. It was blasting at top speed.

The birds went crazy. Some of them event enter the car.

My conclusion is that the aircond must be one of the other factor that causes the birds to go down and enter my car. I think they like the aircond. What is you opinion?"

Hmm... This is another new finding and something that I myself do not understand this new behaviour but maybe those aircond do have some effects on the birds.

I might be wrong but you might want to try this. First you need to buy the gadget and of course a laptop....

So fellows please learn something from this new findings .......

Just To Share A Message From Pontianak !!!

I received this email this after noon and would like to share the message with all my blog readers. The message came from Elvin from Pontianak, Indonesia. Hope there is some truth when I said that I am not a consultant but an avid and passionate blog writer:

Hi Harry,

Thanks a lot for your prompt response and especially with details report to improve our BH.

Again, we feel really lucky to have your invaluable advice without any fee.

Next time if you or your relatives happen to be in Pontianak or Sydney (I am an Australian permanent resident), you know who to look for.

I am not surprised that you will come out with long list but I am quite surprised how our house can do reasonably well especially with not properly monitored temperature and humidity.

I have been asking my dad to install one of those digital one (I don't really trust the old type) but he doesn't seem to bother much. I am sure we are just lucky that the temperature in the house always stays within the acceptable limit so far. But when the dry season comes, we should be prepared for that.

I do have few questions over your suggestions, just reply me when you are free. Cheers

Elvin

NST Local News July 26th, 2008

KUALA TERENGGANU: A prime business district in the centre of town is going to the birds, and shop owners, patrons and residents in the area are up in arms.

Jalan Tok Lam, a 1km stretch of shophouses, home to many families and service and retail businesses, is being invaded by operators of unlicensed "swiftlet motels".

Such premises house hundreds of birds whose saliva is harvested to make bird's nest soup.

Beginning five years ago, operators of the bird establishment built illegal extensions to their two-storey premises to accommodate their wild 'guests'.

To attract them, they set up loudspeakers through which blared recordings of swiftlets chirping away.

As a result, the once-clean district is today heavily polluted with smelly bird droppings and noise from the loudspeakers.

Further contributing to the health hazard has been the demolition of the area's central concrete septic tank.

The tank had been situated on land purchased by an operator of a swiftlet motel, who replaced the tank with another illegal structure to house more birds.

As a result, backed-up raw sewage from the tank has overflowed onto sidewalks and back alley drains and has even clogged up toilets in the area.

Residents and business tenants say the situation is having a terrible effect on their living and working conditions.

They say that they have been pleading with the relevant authorities for years to shut down the swiftlet motels and rebuild the septic tank, but to no avail.

Recently, the occupants of 19 shophouses staged a protest with banners to voice dissatisfaction with the local authorities over their inaction on the matter.

Spokesperson for the group, Ong Pok Kok, 55, said various complaints had been lodged over the years with almost every government agency, including the Kuala Terengganu City Council, Health Department, and Environment Department.

"We even lodged a report with the police but, thus far, that has only resulted in a few visits by government officials and Indah Water personnel, who seem to only be inspecting things around here.

"All that we have been told by our Bandar assemblyman Toh Chin Yaw is that the local authorities have yet to come up with a guideline for rearing swiftlets (and, therefore, no action can be taken).

"As far as the septic tank was concerned, he said the state government was still studying the matter," said the coffeshop owner after putting up protest banners at his shophouse yesterday.

Ong said his family had resided and been doing business at the shophouse since 1967 and stated that life was good until the invasion of swiftlets some five years ago.

"It was not too bad in the beginning when my next door neighbour converted one floor of his building into a bird motel. But over time, not only did he begin to add more floors, but others had come with similar ventures to the area."

Ong's mother, Foo See Guan, 76, said she could no longer remember the last time she was able to open all the doors and windows of their shophouse without having to hold her breath, or being rained on by swiftlet droppings.

"Also, the chirping of the real birds is bad enough. Yet, we have to continuously listen to the recordings of bird sounds played over speakers.

"I have become unwell over the past five years due to this unhealthy environment."

Restaurant owner M. Chandran, 58, said he feared his business might suffer further setbacks should the problem of overflowing sewage continue.

"It is unhygienic to have waste water flowing down into the regular drain and I have to be very careful when preparing food as contamination is just a splash away.

"I understand that former menteri besar Idris Jusoh promised to look into this matter some time ago. I hope now Menteri Besar Datuk Ahmad Said will eliminate this health risk as soon as possible."

Meanwhile, city mayor Datuk Razali Kassim said guidelines for swiftlet operators would be presented to the state government next month. However, he claimed that the septic tank problem did not come under the council's jurisdiction.

Found at: http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Saturday/National/2303508/Article/index_html

Swiftlet Farming At A Cross Road !!!

There have been a few incidents these days that make you feel a kind of chill in your stomach.

For myself everytime the phone rings I pray hard that the person on the other side of the phone line is not someone from the local authority waiting to tell me that he have served a summon on my BH.

Today at 1.30pm channel one, it seem that there was a new coverage about complains about swiftlet farming in Kuala Trengganu. People around the building are complaining that they are scared of this and that.

In Seremban, nearly all BH owners are being summon to shut down their swiftlet farming operations in town areas and move out of town. I was approach on the matter and I am very sure I told the caller to organise a meeting and collect rm50 each to pay for the cost of makan and drink say at a hotel meeting room.

A few days back, received an SMS asking for advise on what to do when he receive a massive $25,000 summon from a local council in the state of Trengganu.

In another town in Trangganu the local council issued summon to all BH owners to stop their operations and move to agri land.

Penang island and Melaka town have recently make an announcement on Haritage status of many buildings where BH are operating. I was told that about 200 BHs were affected.

This evening received a call from one of my blog reader saying that Chinese Chamber of Commerce will be arranging to meet all BH owners to seek a concensus on what they wanted to ask the Government to assit in their activities.

I was also made to understand that a Government Department will conduct a special meeting to discuss on those guidelines to be given to all Jabatan Perumahan.

Well what I wish to remind to those new comers in the swiftlet industry, please be aware of the situation and before you decide to buy any building for BH conversion, try to be very careful not to step on the wrong foot. Perhap you should consider at buying Agri Land for the purpose.

I know for sure that Tanjung Malim KP of the local council is very supportive on this swiftlet venture. Again it might be on agriland and not in the center of the town.

Just be careful and make sure you are aware of the potential of being ask to shut down.....

Interesting: Jungkat Beach DIY Birdhouse !!!

(Special Note: I have ask Mr Elwin Chandra for the permission to publish this short report)

I have visited many BHs before and many have their own stories to tell. Some are doing well and other are not so good.

During my recent trip to Pontianak, Indonesia, I was invited by the Chandra family to squeez my time to have a look at their DIY BH.

The house was a rectangular in shape and was about 8 meters by 25 meters and three stories high. Located on their precious piece of land facing a Muara (river entering the sea) and currently used as a resort.

This birdhouse was only 6 months old and with such a minimal internal features it attracted about 60 nests (according to the Chandra family head). Since there was no breakdown of full cup, half cup or markings only, I presume they count everything as a nest. (Note: If you want to declare that your BH have say 100 nests, they must be more then half cup size and above).

I wonder what will happen if their birhouse was designd like a 5 stars BH like those found in Malaysia???

I took some beautiful pictures over there plus those special lunch dishes served as the token of appreciation. Note: No fee were being lavied.

I have make some comments and sent to one of the Chandra sibling and I hope those comments are useful and informative. They are confidential but interesting if you can get hold of it.

CLOSE UP VIEW OF THE DIY BH


YUMMY LUNCH DISHES SERVED FOR FOUR OF US








VIEW OF THE ROVING AREAS AND THE ENTRANCE HOLE FROM INSIDE




NO NESTING PLANK ON THE CEMENT WALL (SOME)


MARKING DUE TO CEMENT WATER DRIPPING DOWN (NEED TO CLEAN)


A NEW NEST IN THE MAKING


MORE NEW NEST MARKINGS




A NEST ON THE SOUND CABLE


A FULLY FORMED NEST. THEY ARE BEAUTIFUL


BUCKETS OF BIRDSHIT ON THE FLOOR USED AS NATURAL AROMA


THE CHANDRA INNOVATIVE WAY OF COOLING THE BH WALLS FROM THE OUTSIDE: USE WATER SPRAY


NO AMPLIFIERS EXCEPT THIS SERVER

How To Keep Your Birdhouse Clean From Birdshits !!!

How do keep your BH free of those birdshits?

If you wish to maintain a fairly clean floor in your BH just trap those birdshit on a washable plastic mat and clean them on a regular basis.

This idea was given to me by a new blog reader from Klang, Mr.G.

His main aim is to contribute some of the things that he learned and wanted to share with my blog readers.

He always keep thanking me for a great job for blogging regularly and found that the amount of things that he learned is unbelievable. If he can learn so much he too wanted to return by supporting me with some tips that he accountered.

Hmm ..... very good and thank you very much for sharing.

What he was referring to is that you can actually get these mat that are sold in any grocery shops. I remember using them at my own house when I was growing up. They are durable, washable and cool to sleep on.

You can cut them into suitable strips like 3 feet by 2 feet and place them under those nests found in you BH. When those babies and parent shit they will fall down on the mat.

Once a month you can actually remove the mat with a new one while you clean and dry the dirtied piece. If you wish to collect the BH you can pour them into a pail and place them in the nesting areas. Please use rubber gloves when cleaning them.

A wonderful idea and see how to apply in your BH.

Thank you Mr.G for the tip.

Picture taken from nest tech website just for clarification purposes:

Interesting Emails That I wish To Share

I have been receiving many emails everyday and these are some that I wanted my blog readers to read and learn something:

From Mr K dated: July 18th, 2008:

Dear Harry,

During my previous trip to Medan I hv searched for at least 5 major bookstores and bought almost 20 books on Swiftlet farming. I would say Strategi Jitu Memikat Walet is one of the best. It has become my main reference book now and I strongly recommend this book to other.

I do not think 20 books is enough. May be you should at least double the qty.

Cheers and hv a nice trip.

K

From Mr L of Trengganu dated: July 24th, 2008:

Harry,
Congratulation, my friend is happy with the Aroma (Close2U). He may buy another. Any discount for me as I am the middleman and I even have to tell that your product is very good and the birds practical stick to the tweeters so to say ( Did you tell that or do I just make up the story). Next time, I may insist on my courier’s account as it is cheaper.

Another thing, another guy just started a BH nearly three months and still not a bird at sight. Location quite good as near some successful BHs and my recommendation is that he needs a good external Bird music to draw in the birds. Any good CD that you can offer but make sure that it’s good because my reputation is also at stake. They basically take my works as I am successful in BHs but I used old methods which is not suitable for new BH. I don’t use special Aroma just homemade mixture. Then, the town has only few BHs but now, there are over hundreds BHs. And also, I am not in the consultation or BH supply Buz as I am really too busy for anything else.

Best Regards

Mr L

From Mr E of Pontianak dated July 23rd 2008:

Dear Harry,
Thanks for making a visit to our place despite your tight schedule. I hope you enjoy your time in Pontianak and Sungai Pinyu.
I saw some nice photos of the local birdhouse (including ours) in your blog. It seems that you are also quite surprise with the simplicity of our birdhouse. We call it a 'minimal' style as in architectural term yet the birds in our place do not seem to have high demand of living quality (maybe due to no other houses nearby).
I heard from my dad that you advised us on the tweeter placement to attact those birds to stay on the lower level. We seem to always have a problem with the sound system where it broke few times (We used to have a crappy CPU) and I recalled the lightning did damage the external tweeters few times which makes me wonder if the anti-lightning is working properly.
We are open to any suggestions for improvement in our BH. We also look forward to hearing from you guys in regards to the attention for joint venture in developing Jungkat Beach for swiftlet farming.
On behalf of our family, let me thank you again for your time and keep up your good (blogging) work!!!!!
Cheers
MrE

From Mr Y dated July 19th, 2008:

Hi Harry,
Hope you are having a great time in Pontianak.
Lately I am confused over the flying pattern of swiftlets as described in Hendri Mulia 's book in which he mentioned that once they decided to fly anti clockwise they will forever fly in that manner.Or if clockwise, forever will be clockwise.During the Duress birdcall tests, I discovered that the swiftlets in my area mostly fly anticlockwise, but my BH was designed in such a way that the birds enter at a inclined fly path from the roof top to the 2nd floor at the left hand side of the BH and make a U turn to the nesting area.
Which means the bird is forced to fly clockwise.Which according to Hendri Mulia's theory will not be acceptable to most birds that fly anticlockwise.That is my dilemma.
But a friend told me not to worry because my BH will be attracting young birds whose habits are not set in yet, they can fly both clockwise and anticlockwise, unlike the older birds whose habits are fixed and cant change.Would apprciciate your opinion on this subject.
Thanks. Regards,

MrY

My answer to him:

MrY,

The flying pattern is something that is common with the birds. It is good to look at the pattern before you design the room and the location of the entrance hole.

It is sad that you read the book much later and your sifu never tells U about it.

You can either be innovative with it or use it as a criterias in your next BH design.

As you mention, it is just Pak Hen's theory and not proven. Pah Hen always says that in swiftlet farming when you add one plus one it is never become two. More often the birds are weired and behave very different from what the theory looks like. So you still have a chance to get those birds in.

Your friends might be right. Just be patience and get them to enter your house. Put in the aroma and let them in.

Harry

Sungai Pinyu "Walet Central" Off Pontianak, Indonesia

I have this special opportunity to visit a place which was labelled at "Walet Central".

This was a part of the activities included in the recent Seminar on "Advance Swiftlet Farming" held in Pontianak, Indonesia.

Walet Central is a term that must be fully understood by all swiftlet farming enthusisast. This is due to the fact that once a place is categories as "Walet Central" you know that there will be a lot of birds moving towards it especially in the evening.

If your BH happened to be along the flying path, your sucess rate is high. Some people said that it might be as high as 90%.

In Sungai Pinyu, this particular place, beside the main road from Pontianak to Kucing, there were at least 30 birdhouses in one sigle spot. The distance from each other is about a few meters. Most of them are four to five stories and with width of about 8 meters upward and wide almost 30 meters.

Some of the units were old, about 6 years, but many are under constructions.

Please enjoy yourself with these pictures: