You Should Read About These Interesting Stories !!!!

If you have done nearly everything and the birds still refuse to enter your BH what else should you do?

Well I will ask the owner to look at selling the BH away and start a new one but this time try to minimise those faults that you did when you started the first unit.

Make sure the place chosen are below the flight path.

Make sure there are closed to successful BHs in the area.

Makes sure the land is flat and not too hilly.

Make sure the trees are not too close shadowing the entrance hole.

Make sure there is a water source where those birds can drink or wet themselves.

Make sure your new BH will have two types of entrances, the top and side entries.

Make sure the entrance are facing the right direction of the flying path.

Make sure you provide a sizable roving areas so that you can get lots of birds staying in your BH.

Make sure the nesting planks are installed as such they are perpendicular to the entrance hole.

Make sure the ceiling planks will give you the optimum number of nests per square foot.

Make sure the corners of those nesting planks are clean without any corners install until those birds have used them twice then you install the corner covers.

Use proper corner covers to minimise those odd shape nests.

Make sure the layout will give you the darkness that is required or favourable to those wild birds.

Make sure the internal temperature and humidity are within the required range.

Make sure your new BH is not too smelly due to those new cement you used to plaster the walls.

Apply enough fresh bird shits on the floor areas.

Install adequate internal sound tweeters and ensure that they are facing the right directions.

Those external sound tweeters must be properly placed so that any birds that entered your new BH will be drag to the back of your BH.

Get a few good external and internal sound so that you can play these sound at the right time and the season.

You also need to ensure that the ventilation holes are not opened during the early stages of your BH to minimise those hot and dry air polluting your internal micro habitats.

and so on ......

Well this friend of mine says that he wanted to give his last shot before selling the old BH.

What he did was to climb up to the roof near the entrance area and shouted at those wild birds.

He yelled and threatened those birds that if they refuse to enter his BH he is going to get a gun and shoot them one by one.

Well it seem that this newest tactic works.

"Harry after doing the yelling I got two new nests. From now on I am going to go up the roof to yell regularly."

Frankly I do not see how this strange technic can work but it did to him.

Well since it works I told him to keep doing as long as his neighbors do not call 911.

Another blog reader was on the phone with me talking about those duck eggs.

It seem that he read about one of my blog reader who put the duck eggs in two baskets and put them on the floor.

He and wife have a better idea.

"Harry we wanted to place those duck eggs into the swiftlet's nests. We nearly did but luckily you wrote about your friend in Nibong Tebal."

Can those duck eggs fit the swiftlet nest?

I am not sure but maybe it can.

Just wanted to share these strange stories so that you will smile and start your day in a good footing.

Special Use Of WD-40 (Fish Oil) !!!

"What else is new Pak Harry"

Well well well well .........

This morning received an email from a blog reader who have this itchy finger and love to send to everybody about his latest findings or jokes or local politics (criticising the government type) and etc.

Among all the emails this one is worth to be share with all my blog readers.

This have something to do with this miracle canned liquid that can help to solve those problems in your house.

It was specifically made to clean those missile parts but I prefer to use it for swiftlet farming.

All in all it's main ingredient is made of fish oil.

Read this email:

Who knew???????Before you read to the end, does anybody know what the main ingredient of WD-40 is? I had a neighbor who had bought a new pickup. I got up very early one Sunday morning and saw that someone had spray painted red all around the sides of this beige truck (for some unknown reason). I went over, woke him up, and told him the bad news. He was very upset and was trying to figure out what to do probably nothing until Monday morning, since nothing was open.

Another neighbor came out and told him to get his WD-40 and clean it off. It removed the unwanted paint beautifully and did not harm his paint job that was on the truck. I'm impressed! WD-40 who knew? 'Water Displacement #40' The product began from a search for rust preventative solvent and degreaser to protect missile parts. WD-40 was created in 1953 by three technicians at the San Diego Rocket Chemical Company. Its name comes from the project that was to find a 'water displacement' compound. They were successful with the fortieth formulation, thus WD-40. The Convair Company bought it in bulk to protect their atlas missile parts.

Ken East (one of the original founders) says there is nothing in WD-40 that would hurt you. When you read the 'shower door' part, try it. It's the first thing that has ever cleaned that spotty shower door. If yours is plastic, it works just as well as glass. It's a miracle! Then try it on your stove top .... Voila! It's now shinier than it's ever been. You'll be amazed. Here are some other uses:

1.. Protects silver from tarnishing.
2. Removes road tar and grime from cars.
3. Cleans and lubricates guitar 20 strings.
4.. Gives floors that 'just-waxed' sheen without making them slippery.
5. Keeps flies off cows.
6. Restores and cleans chalkboards.
7. Removes lipstick stains.
8. Loosens stubborn zippers.
9. Untangles jewelry chains.
10. Removes stains from stainless steel sinks.
11. Removes dirt and grime from the barbecue grill.
12. Keeps ceramic/terra cotta garden pots from oxidizing.
13. Removes tomato stains from clothing.
14. Keeps glass shower doors free of water spots.
15. Camouflages scratches in ceramic and marble floors.
16. Keeps scissors working smoothly..
17. Lubricates noisy door hinges on vehicles and doors in homes.
18. It removes black scuff marks from t he kitchen floor! Use WD-40 for those nasty tar and scuff marks on flooring. It doesn't seem to harm the finish and you won't have to scrub nearly as hard to get them off. Just remember to open some windows if you have a lot of marks.
19. Bug guts will eat away the finish on your car if not removed quickly! Use WD-40!
20. Gives a children's playground gym slide a 20 shine for a super fast slide.
21. Lubricates gear shift and mower deck lever for ease of handling on riding mowers.
22. Rids kids rocking chairs and swings of squeaky noises.
23. Lubricates tracks in sticking home windows and makes them easier to open.
24. Spraying an umbrella stem makes it easier to open and close.
25. Restores and cleans padded leather dashboards in vehicles, as well as vinyl bumpers.
26. Restores and cleans roof racks on vehicles.
27. Lubricates and stops squeaks in electric fans.
28. Lubricates wheel sprocket s on tricycles, wagons, and bicycles for easy handling.
29. Lubricates fan belts on washers and dryers and keeps them running smoothly.
30. Keeps rust from forming on saws and saw blades, and other tools.
31. Removes splattered grease on stove.
32. Keeps bathroom mirror from fogging.
33. Lubricates prosthetic limbs.
34. Keeps pigeons off the balcony (they hate the smell).
35. Removes all traces of duct tape.
36. Folks even spray it on their arms, hands, and knees to relieve arthritis pain.
37. Florida 's favorite use is: 'cleans and removes love bugs from grills and bumpers.
38. The favorite use in the state of New York, WD-40 protects the Statue of Liberty from the elements.
39. WD-40 attracts fish. Spray a little on live bait or lures and you will be catching the big one in no time. Also, it's a lot cheaper than the chemical attractants that are made for just that purpose. Keep in mind though, using some chemical laced baits or lures for fishing are not allowed in some states.
40. Use it for fire ant bites. It takes the sting away immediately and stops the itch.
41. WD-40 is great for removing crayon from walls. Spray on the mark and wipe with a clean rag.
42. Also, if you've discovered that your teenage daughter has washed and dried a tube of lipstick with a load of laundry, saturate the lipstick spots with WD-40 and rewash. Presto! The lipstick is gone!
43. If you sprayed WD-40 on the distributor cap, it would displace the moisture and allow the car to start.

P. S. The basic ingredient is FISH OIL.

Hmm maybe if you need those fish oil badly just use WD40 instead?

Or maybe you should always have a can in your BH just in case you wanted to spray some to see if those swiftlets mike find is very arousal?

Well this is just my hot message of the month !!!!

The First Court Case On Swiftlet Farming In Malaysia !!!

(Double click to enlarge the picture)

Something very stressful to read and to digest.

Borneo post have this news on its front page.

"Clampdown on Swiftlet Farmers"

The Sarawak wildlife department is taking five BH operators to court. If they are found Guilty, the maximum penalty was rm500,000 in fine and jail up to 5 years. This was said to be in compliance with the state Wildlife Protection Ordinance.

This is a very sad affair and damaging to the swiftlet industries in Malaysia.

In Malaysia there are so many Government Departments who wanted to show that they are have those so call "Power" to kill a very lucrative and Nilai Tinggi business. They only know how to kill but do not know how to nature this business so that they can bring more monies into their country.

In the first place they did nothing to talk about the appropriate guidelines.

Gives these swiftlet farmer some room to move. Tell them exactly what is the proper guidelines.

Where they should locate their BHs? Is it on agricultural land or Industrial land?

How far should the BH be located from town areas?

What is the maximum height and the maximum size?

The industry can brings in lots on income to the state (Sarawak) and yet only 2 licences being issued so far. Just imagine there are at least 3,000 BHs in the state and only 2 licences were issued.

Why only two? Why can't it be more?

What was the main reasons why they were not issued? Do the farmer needs to have a special qualification or related to somebody important to qualify to be issued with the licence?

Can the rest of BH owners know exactly how the two qualified to be given the licences?

Can these two helps those who were not issued with the licence for any advises? Maybe they should conduct a class for the rest of the farmers.

A very sad state of affairs which I feel should not have happened.

Then again we have this one Malaysia but two rules on nearly everything. Yes one set of rules applied to only Peninsular Malaysia and another set applied only to Sarawak.

We should do away with so many rules and adopt one that is practical and helpful to the industry.

Be Careful When You Use Those Aromas !!!

(This picture have nothing to do with the story)

This is an interesting story about a mishap after using an untested aroma.

"Pak Harry, where are you? Can myself and my partner meet you some where in Rawang?"

Of course, I will be in Rawang in about one hour of so. Meet me there please.

After one hour he called again asking me to meet them at a mamak shop. It was already about 6:30pm.

Yes may I know your problems?

"Pak Harry we owned two BHs in BB and in the beginning the number of birds were quite a lot. The best was when we used your Mersing Sling and The Black Cloud. Then one day we decided to apply those aroma. We got them from a friend and did very little checking about the aroma's effectiveness.

That evening no birds wanted to enter. They keep circling around the entrance hole and refuse to enter.

We don't really know why and until today, almost three months, the situation is almost the same.

Can you give us some advise?"

Can I know the time of application?

"About 3-4 pm."

You did not test them first?

"No not at all"

How many liters you applied?

"1.5 liter."

Okay these can be the reasons:

Aroma do affect those birds liking to your BH. If you choose the wrong aroma they will refuse to enter. This is like today there was a new colony of swiftlets that have entered your BH.

If you look carefully in any successful BHs roving areas you notice that their walls are full of bird shits. Why suddenly on the wall and not on the floor? Can you stop and try to think how a swiftlet maneuver her flight to spit the shit onto those roving room wall? They are not easy but nevertheless they manage to do so.

So why do they bend their back and make a special maneuver just to have their shits on those walls? The answer is a territorial markings.

They mark their territory using their shit inside the roving room and not at other walls.

These bird shits marking gives a special smell that allow them to recognise which house belongs to them. They renew those shits on a regular basis.

When you apply those aromas, the same will happen. The aroma must have masked their own bird shit smell and as such they become confused thus not willing to enter the house.

This will be worse if the aroma was not properly tested in a small quantity prior to applying 1.5 liters in the BH.

You need to apply them in the morning and not just before they arrive home.

Start with a small volume and and if the aroma do show a good effects then you increase the dosage.

"So what can we do now?"

You have two choices. You can either wait until the smell goes away or go and clean those areas which you have applied.

From now on try to be very careful in using those aromas sold in the Market. If you wish to try do in a smaller dosage for testing. If they birds likes them then increase the volume.

For me I still believed you should try using those natural aroma especially fresh bird shits and raw nests water on a continuous basis.

If you find any new aroma in the market you need to think carefully before applying them. Try to get to know the source where the aroma was manufactured, by whom and how many BHs have used it successfully. You also need to know the exact methods how to apply them. Do not assume the procedures.

Remember some aromas should never be applied on those wooden nesting planks and some does. If you should apply those aromas for the floor onto the nesting planks your BH will be empty forever.

I never realised how fast the time flies. I excused myself after three solid hours of talking about their BHs.

Special Events Which I Am Looking Forward!!!

Just to make known to all my blog readers that I have finally managed to get myself a proper Hotel for the monthly swiftlet talks.

I choose Crown Crystal Hotel at Jalan Utara, Petaling Jaya because the place is pretty quite and not so many road jam.

Remember this monthly talk, if successful, will be organised every month and it is up to you to ensured that it will be continued.

I would love to see at least 10 - 15 people. If there are more that will be fined.

Main objective is to get to know each other. Once we know each other there will be alot of things that we can do to help those who are new and those who owned sick BHs.

For the first meeting I will introduce to you about myself and what I am doing so far.

I might touch a little bit about swiftlet farming in Malaysia in General.

For future Monthly Talk, I plan to invite speakers to talk about latest things about the guideline and maybe any other interesting topics relevant to swiftlet farming.

To me this Monthly talk is where you can meet and socialise with people who are in the same line or perhaps those that are well known in the industry.

Bring the list of things or problems that you are facing and let us try to find answers.

I would like those who are not able to join this Monthly talk to start organising their own in their little town. If you need me to be there once a while let me know.

I am willing to be there to start the first Talk and perhaps we can share our experiences together. All you need to do is to gather about 10 -15 people and get a place to sit in a group plus some fresh coffee.



Next week I have been invited to Raub to inspect another sick BH. This visit was arranged by an old friend who happened to be the Lion Club Chairperson.

On October 9th, 2009, I was invited to be in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah to meet someone who is currently building a BH. He happened to be the BH association President, if I am not wrong.

Sometime in mid October 2009, I was invited to inspect a BH with more then 400 nests however the birds seem to be reluctant to move to a new room just next door.

A BH With Sauna Outfit !!!

Yesterday after finalising the Swiftlet Talk booking of 15 seats (minimum) at Crystal Crown Hotel, I visited a "Sick BH" in Kepong. (Note the number of seat is subjected to your response. The coffee house area can easily takes 40 people)

This was my second visit and this round I have two "helpers" who wanted to learn what I do when I carry out my sick BH inspection.

These two seem to be very helpful while I did the inspection. I asked them to take various measurements so that I can inform the owners that they are my helpers.

Once everything was cleared, the owner went down, I showed them all the negative points of the house.

First was the heat coming from the back walls that were facing the evening sun. Using my laser pointing thermometer the temperature recorded was above 40*C.

"Pak Harry this is more like a Sauna and not a BH."

Okay you seem to learn very fast and this is not the only big problem.

Now let us switch all the lights see how bright the nesting rooms are.

"Wah Pak there is too much light. I can see you even at 7 feet apart."

Well now you see what I have been saying. Now look at those walls. Do you see those light coming from the walls?

"Yes there are so many holes and those loose closure that allows the outside light to enter the nesting rooms."

The contractor who did the renovation simply wanted to run away fast and make the money without using any knowledge what the birds likes and dislikes.

"What else Pak Harry?"

Now you look at where those birds build their nests.

(After checking the birdshits spots on the floor they did a closed inspection of every nest and you might want to guess what they found out?)

"Pak, it seem that the birds prefer only a selected spots or corner row of those nesting planks. Most of the nests are cracking and there is one with a dead bird whose leg was trapped onto the nest."

So why they choose only those selected areas and why do the nests cracks?



"Must be the coolest place to built their nests. This selected row is in the middle and the coolest. Those cracks must be due to low humidity."

You are doing fined and can say that you learn faster then I thought.

Now let us look at the thermohygrometer which I hang on the wall just after we entered the birdhouse. See the maximum, Temp: 32.5*C and Humd: 63% and the Min was Temp:32*C and Humd: 52%.

What is your comment?

"Pak absolutely unbearable and it is more like a hot spa. With this kind of temperature they will be sweating like hell when they make love. There's no need to sit on those eggs to incubate. The heat is able to incubate those eggs by themselves or perhaps all the eggs might be cooked?"

Now both of you know what is the real truth about failed BHs.

The owner put his trust too much on the contractor or consultant and due to his lack of knowledge have ignored so many points that he himself can diagnose those faults.

"Pak Harry, this is the best experience that you have given us and we learned so much from you. You are the kindness person we have ever met in this industry."

You are welcome and I hope this new knowledge and experiences will make you a better person.

Try to learn as much as you can and if possible try to help others who are in need of helps. Remember more then 70% of them out there failed.

No matter how many we can help there will be many new one which were built not in accordance to the specifications or Good BH practises.

Temperature and Humidity Sensing Gadget In One !!!

I received a visitor from Jambi, Indonesia yesterday.

Prior to landing in KLIA he called to warn me that he needed some help to buy those gadgets for his two new BHs.

I told him please feel welcome to Malaysia and I will do my upmost best to look into his needs. (We Malaysians are not that bad except Nordin Top)

Picked him up at The Times Square and took him to a few electronic shops somewhere in Pudu that sells those items he listed.

Among the many I was introduced to this special gadget that is superior then the normal Hygrostat.

Main function of hygrostat is to more or less to keep the humidity of your BH within the set range of humidity you set on it.

It activate those humidifier(s) when the humidity is at the lower setting RH and stop when the higher setting is met.

But what if your BH have a severe problem due to those nasty high Temperature?

The conventional hygrostat will not be able to do much but you might need to switch to another gadget called The Smart Degree. This gadget will activate those humidifiers or coolers is the set temperature is reached.

Again when you use this smart degree box you will not be able to get the right humidity setting.

Since both are important you need to ensure that both settings must be complied to.

Yes you need to have both the temperature and humidifier sensing device to operate the humidifiers.

The best gadget that can perform this is called: HygroTemp Gadget.

I was given a briefing by the sales guy and very impressed with the way the gadget works.

Yes you can set the temperature and the humidity range and as long as the two setting are met then the humidifier will stops its operation.

Very interesting and as at today I am recommending that this new gadget should be one item that you should consider to replace to those conventional hygrostat.

Price is slightly higher then the hygrostat by about 60 rm.

If you are buying those ultrasonic humidifiers the use of hygrotemp is recommended. By doing so you your BH will have both within the required range.

Remember this is something new and you need to monitor your BH temperature and humidity regularly to ensure that the gadget perform. No guarantees but that was what the gadget can do.

One Month To Move Out: Crazy Demands By local Council !!!

Today I stop to buy The New Straight Times newpaper.

I saw this crazy demand from Melaka Local Council.

Move out within one month or you will be slapped with a summon.


Swiftlet hotels get time to go
2009/09/25

By Jason Gerald John

MALACCA: Swiftlet breeders have until the end of the year to move their operations from the conservation zone in the centre of the city.

If the breeders in Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock, Jalan Tengkera, Jalan Hang Jebat, Jalan Kampung Hulu, Jalan Laksamana and Jalan Kee Ann do not move on time, they will receive summonses and compound fines of not less than RM250.

Melaka Historic City Council (MBMB) president Yusof Jantan said there were 24 swiftlet breeders operating within the conservation area.

"We have issued them notice to vacate the buildings.


"In order to assist them, MBMB has identified buildings and sites in Ujong Pasir, in Melaka Tengah district, and in Merlimau, Jasin."

He said the notices were issued last month, giving the breeders ample time to move.

"We hope the relocation will go on smoothly and without any trouble."

Yusof said the decision was made to ban swiftlet breeding in the city centre because the "hotels" are in the conservation area that earned Malacca its status a Unesco World Heritage Site.

Just because it was declared a heritage area the owner must move out? Will UNESCO compensate those who carry out businesses that are not allowed in so call haritage area?

How a BH owner will be able to move out? Do the Veterinar Department offer their expertise to move these wild and proctected species?

How can those affected BH owners contact the appropriate department?

If nobody help can the owner kill all those baby birds and who will be responsible?

So bla bla bla and at the end of the day a no win win situation.

Some Tips On Incubation of Eggs !!!

Got this important tips to those who wanted to incubate those eggs for own BH.

Read this:

What are the most important things to remember when incubating eggs?

Other than temperature, humidity is the most important thing. Keep it between 58 and 62 percent for the first 18 days of incubation. Increase humidity the three days prior to hatching.

Turning of the eggs frequently is also important.

There's no need to turn eggs while they're in storage prior to putting them in the incubator, but store them at 52 to 58 degrees Fahrenheit.

Don't wash eggs if you plan to incubate them.

Keep good records and calendar reminders, too. I move hatching eggs from the incubator to a hatcher unit a few days before they hatch. If you keep eggs in the incubator too long and they hatch while it is still in the rotation mode, you end up with a big mess. I’ve miscalculated days and speak from experience.


Just before a chick hatches, it absorbs the last part of the egg yoke, which allows the chick to survive the first three days without water or food. So, there’s only a small window of time to work with. I tell all of my customers to start the chicks on sugar water as soon as the chicks arrive — and keep them on this for the first two weeks. I have used this method for a long time, and it has proved itself. I also advise customers to get a good chick starter feed or a combination starter/grower.

The above was from an article on chicken eggs incubation but they are essential to be followed if you do your swiftlet eggs incubation.

So You Think That The Mukah Massacre Were Cruel ????

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJ--faib7to&feature=player_embedded


Many months ago we saw those horror pictures posted on the Internet about how a Governmnet Dapartment in Sarawak massacre those young swiftlet chicks in Mukah.

We feel so sad and believed that all animals should be treated with respect especially when they are classified as endangered species.

They should at least be more humane and treat those young babies with respects.

During one of those meetings with Jabatan Perangchangan Bandar dan Desa (JPBD, discussing about guideline for swiftlet industries, I voiced my concern on this matter.

I also proposed that the Veterinary Depart set a division where a team of trained workers to handle closure of any BH.

I told the committee if they wanted to avoid harming those young babies, this department should take over the management of the affected BH and those birds shall be removed in accordance to the best practise and not killing or harming those young chicks.

However today I stumbled into this sad stories about how young chicken chicks are sorted and massacre in an incubation factory in America.

Please view this video clip:



This clips seem to favor only female chicks. Male chicks are usually massacre by dumping them into a screw conveyor.

So sad to be a male chicks in the chicken industry !!!! He he he

Something Funny but Interesting !!!

This have something to do about duck eggs.

Those who followed my blog will remembered about some of those articles about how to lure those swiftlets into your BH using duck eggs.

Well if my memory is not killing me I did mentioned that you need to break those duck eggs, remove those yelow yoke and use only those whites. The "hamis" smell do attract those swiftlet into your BH but some said that this will attract ants, cockroaches and fleas.

There is nothing wrong if you wanted to try. How about get about two eggs, choose those darker colored shell and apply at one of those nesting plank box?

Mix with some mineral water to thin the white down and apply on those nesting planks.

Last week I entered a BH with some problems in distributing those swiftlets.

What I saw was amusing.

There were two baskets with those eggs in them but were on the floor.

I asked the BH owner, what are those eggs doing on the floor?

Well I thought you said that duck eggs can bring in those birds inside.

He he he ... I was laughing to myself.

How the hell those birds will come in if those eggs are still covered with those shell?

This was something that I keep saying that if you are not sure call me so that I can give some explanation.

I shook my head and keep my mouth shut because if I do make any comment I will burst into the laughing mode.... he he he.

Well it was so strange and so amusing......

Interesting Observation In A New BH !!!

This morning I would like to write about something that caught my eyes when I visited another new BH.

This new BH was about to be readied and I was given the honor to visit and make my comments.

The owner built this BH at a remote place away from town areas inside a gated land.

The wall were made of double bricks with a layer of Styrofoam, 2 inches thick, in between.

Very cool in the inside and the ventilation holes were made of those 10 inches PVC pipes.

Overall the house looks okay however I was vary fascinated with this new idea of how to cover those gaps in between the corner covers.

The owner take lots of trouble to use a kind of aluminium plate to cover those four corners.

All corners in the BH were nicely covered.



Main reason being the gap between the corner covers and the corners were just too big and can be a breeding ground for cockroaches.

I am not in favor of using corner covers made of wood. Using wood will not help in reducing the cornered nests but they give double the numbers.

My preference is still the steel or aluminium plates. Using steel/aluminium plates will reduce the number of odd shape nests tremendously.

An important point to look into is that you need to install the plate as such that the nest built on then will result a 180* shape nests.



If you use those straight corners you will create lots of nest with 130* shapes. Remember those buyers will cut your price by about 600 - 1000 RM per kilo.



If you use those steel/aluminium plates, all your so called cornered nests will looked like 180* shape. Your selling price will remains the same as those nests built in the middle of the planks.

My advise is to avoid using those wooden corner covers but go for steel/aluminium plate.

I might be wrong but if this idea brings you an additional income of RM 1000 a kilo, it must be the right option.

Do you know why those BH contractor opt for wooden corner covers?

Ask them and they will give you stupid answers which are not logical. They simply wanted to finish fast and get out of the BH as soon as they can.

The final outcome is no longer their problem but it will be yours.

Every harvest you will loose enough money from those odd shape nests to buy you a new MYVI.

Styrofoam Fake Nests Inside A New BH !!!

Some prefer to use plastic while many are finding Styrofoam fakes nests are useful in luring those wild birds.

During my BH visit in Alma,Seberang Prai, I was very attracted to the way how this BH owner place his Styrofoam fake nests.

Firstly he told me of how he came to the conclusion that fake nests do works.

It seem that during his recent visit to a BH owned by his close friend he saw the usefulness of those fake nests.

After looking at how effective they are he swear that he will use them in all his new BHs.

What I was very attracted about was where he placed them.

His method of application is to concentrate at the nesting planks located on the room walls. Yes the perimeter of the rooms.

Every few feet he placed one. (Look at the pictures attached)






According to him most of the time these birds when they enter the BH they will end up to the end of the room. If they like the sound played they will cling to any protruded items on the wall.

The fake nests plays an important role in increasing you BH birds population.

I agreed with his comment but remember once the ideal number (300 nests) is achieved you need to remove them in total.

To those who are new in swiftlet farming try to copy this styrofoam installation.

You have nothing to loose by using this simple technique that my friend is doing.

Each styrofoam cutting (4"X1.5"X0.5") is only about 5 sen.

Try To Move Some Of Those Nesting Planks With Lots Of Nest Markings !!!

Today is the 2nd day of Hari Raya.

While many Malaysians do their visiting, I was in Nibong Tebal, Seberang Prai, visiting a new blog reader of mine who need some BH opinion.

I drove down to Nibong Tebal at about 10am and arrived at about 11.00 am from Sungai Patani, Kedah.

Upon reaching Mr.L was waiting with his beloved wife at Maybank, Nibong Tebal.

"Pak Harry why don't you leave your Camry and hop into my car. We can go together and have some lunch but before that please drop by at my new BH."

I parked my black car and hopped into his. He quickly took me to his BH about 500 meters away from where I met him.

"Pak Harry, I just renovated this new BH and after 10 months I got only one nest. You see I have one successful BH just beside this new unit. They are side by side. Since the old BH is nearly full I have decided to expand their nesting areas."

"Why aren't the young birds move to my new BH after more then 10 months?"

Hmm.....this is something very similar to the unit which I recently visited in Alma, Seberang Prai.

The unit in Alma was undergoing renovation but this unit was in operational mode for more then 10 months.

Well I took about 30 minutes to view both the new unit and the old unit.

Yes they are side by side and the connecting wall were partially opened via two holes. One about 4 feet by 4 feet, at the back of the house, and a lager one, 8 feet by 5 feet at the front.

Two chicken coop humidifiers were running almost 10 hours a day and the room humidity surpassed 99%.

Most of the room floors were wet.

The nesting planks looks good but with some signs of fungus.

The number of tweeters were okay but no external sound tweeters anywhere.

Why those birds refuse to enter this side of the building?

With 10 months in operation, those cement smell are cleared?

My conclusion was that the new BH was not properly prepared prior to wall breaking.

The owner have very little knowledge on what to be done and he was not aware that those birds are very sensitive to their surroundings and smell.

My first recommendation was to install a few external sound tweeters especially at the new opening on the wall plus a few more at the far ends.

The next was to play the internal sound only on the new building and shut the sound on the old wing.

What about those humidifiers? I told Mr.L to perhap change to those soundless humidifiers. If he still wanted to use the old unit he need to cut down the operation time.

"Mr.L you need to run the chicken coop humidifier from say 10am till perhap 5pm. You cannot run them when those birds are flying home i.e. from 5.oopm til 8.oopm. The noise generated are not condusive. However if you use those soundless unit you can continue running them up till 10 pm."


Mr.L, what happen to those birdshits? I do not see much of them? I want you to move those birdshit from the old wing to the new wing. Please get those bostik drums, about 10 or so, and use them to store those birdshits. Try not to remove them unless necessary.

Can you try this special method that will make those birds immediately move over? I want you to swab or move a few of those old planks with lots of nest marking from the old wing to the new one. Take them down and cut them to fit the size of those planks in your new wing. I assure you that those birds will easily move over.

The final thing that I wanted him to do was to increase the size of the opening at the front area to the maximum. Those birds are shy to move over. If these opening does very little to affect the darkness open them as big as you can.

Also try to install more of those styrofoam fake nests on the outer ring of the nesting planks.

You might want to consider changing those old sounds with my Tongkat Ali and Black Cloud.

After a good sea food lunch I drove home happy to have be useful to a new friend.

Should You Remove All Those Bird Shit Droppings ???

I was recently asked to inspect a BH that has about 400 nests in the state of Selangor.

"Pak Harry, the nest population seem to stop for almost one year and we cannot understand why. Can you give us some clue?"

I will never decline if some one invite me to inspect their BHs.

There are so many things that you can observed and learned from each visit.

Every BH have things that are peculiar and it is up to you to be very observant to get them into your book.

This BH was at about 500 meters from the main road and have been in operation for almost three to four years.

Not bad that within 3-4 years the number of nests is 400.

Why suddenly the nest population stop growing?

If there are 400 nests, every cycle there will be at least 800 young birds. Every year there should be a minimum of 800 young birds X 3 cycles = 2400 young birds.

Where have they gone to and why they refuse to stay?

My biggest challenge is to find the possible reasons.

Among all the findings, I informed the owner that his BH floors were too clean.

It seem that his employee clean the floor regularly and removed all those birdshits away from the BH. Some were fermented for aroma preparation while the rest were used as, I believed, as fertilizer.



My advise to the owner is try not to remove these birdshit away from the house. These birdshits produces those special smell, mainly ammonia, that makes those birds feel at home.

The best thing to do, I told him, was to put them into those containers. The blue bostik containers will be good enough.

Collect them and place them into those containers and never take them out of the house. If these containers are full then you might want to empty those that are already full and start refilling them.

Fresh birdshit are better as compared to those old one.

Good BH, I mean birds love to stay, are those that have a very pungent smell that comes from those birdshit decaying.

I have entered so many BHs and my observations conclude this finding.

"Do not trow away those birdshits but keep them inside proper containers for easy handling. Let the decaying aroma makes those birds feel peaceful and quickly multiply."

If you need any further explanations please feel free to call 017 755 1318.

Talk Of The Town On In House Breeding Of Swiftlet !!!

I received a couple of calls from a few blog readers who wanted to share something that is becoming the talk of the town among swiftlet farmers.

The talk was about a company located in Kedah that have started a swiftlet farm based on breeding in house.

It seem that about eight months ago an official visit was made to a neighboring country and the idea was brought home with it. (I was invited but at the last moment could not join the group).

The most important was to identify the type of insects that are suitable to those young birds and how to breed them.

Once that is solved, the farmer need to import those loose eggs, incubate them and once hatch feed them by hand. Need to employ many workers to do this manual task.

That will not be a big problem.

The biggest problem will be how to feed them. When they are unable to fly we can employ a few dedicated labourers. You need to hand feed the young babies at least three to four times a day.

If one person can feed say 50 birds you need to get enought people to feed all at one time.

What about antibodies? How will the birds have enought resistance to combat those bacteria in the air? A cold or a flu will easily wipe them off in one week.

In the case of human being we encourage the mother to breast feed their babies. Only after a few week they can switch to those tin milk. The mother's milk provide the young babies with anti bodies.

In the case of these birds, I believed those enzyme from the mother's saliva mixed with the insect that the mother collected, are where the antibodies comes from.

Each trip the mother spend about 20 -30 minutes collecting as many insects as possible and when swallowed they are being mixed with the saliva and fermented in the mother's gullet (7 gullets per bird). These enzyme in the saliva will soften the insect and create the right antibodies for these young babies.

When they have grown and able to fly, the birds needs to be trained to catch their fod on the fly.

Currently the owner used a kind of blower that will push those insect, dead insects, into the air and those birds were supposed to catch them on the fly.

Any "insect" that were not eaten will be recycle using a stainless steel funnel that trap the fallen "insect" and re blow.



How to keep those birds in an enclosed area?

This is something that the owner is trying. From the picture shown they are using only a kind of netting on the roof of the cement birdhouse.

A very risky things to do however if it works then it will be a break through in Malaysia.

What do you think the percentage that survived from hatching until they start making those nests? Is fifty percent okay? Can we get 50%?

Will these birds one day be allowed to fly free into the air?

Will they come back?

When will be the best time to release these birds?

What happen to their next generation?

I was made to understand that a Vietnam company tried the same method about three to four years ago and they failed. Those birds got caught in the netting and mostly died. The 5 million project was abandoned after a very short period of time.

One more comment from an avid reader was the exposure to the sun. It would be better to place those birds in an enclosed area with suitable lighting that mimic the sun. In this way the birds have less tendency to fly and got themselves trap onto the netting.

At the moment my wise advise is to wait and see the progress of the project. If it works then it will be something special to all of us.

If this experiment works then we will no longer be harassed by those Perhilitan Department. Yes we are now breeding them and not dependent on those wild birds in the air. Something like breeding those chicken.

The key point will be to total cost to built one. I was informed that the cost to have the building fit with all the necessary fixture will run above 1 million ringgit.

The next biggest problem is the insect breeding. The current experimenter is not willing to share the source of these insects and how to breed them yet.

Maybe one day the top secret formula will be available for all. For this moment we need to find ways and means to get them.

Selamat Hari Raya Aidil FitriTo All My Muslim Blog Readers !!!

On this special occassion I would like to wish all my Muslim blog readers a Happy Hari Raya Aidil Fitri.

May the new Syawal brings more birds to your BHs.

Just don't forget to do your donation to the poor, single mothers, handicaps and those who need helps.

I do hope my blog have been helpful and gives you all the answers about swiftlet farming.

May god bless all of you.

"Maaf zahir batin dari saya, Pak Harry."

Something About Hormone !!!

I was doing my google about hormone and came across this special articles that might be of special interest to men BH owners.

This have something to do about your female partner. Just read this article:

When a Woman Smells Best

By Sara Goudarzi, Special to LiveScience

posted: 18 January 2006 ET

Found at: http://www.livescience.com/health/060118_armpit_odor.html

The scent of a woman is more attractive at certain times of the month, suggests a new study that had men sniffing women's armpit odor.

"We were interested whether armpit odor changes across menstrual cycle," said study author Jan Havlieek of the Department of Anthropology at Charles University, Prague. "To test this, we asked a group of women to wear cotton pads in their armpits for 24 hours."

The women didn't wear perfumes, use deodorants, eat spicy or smelly foods, smoke, drink alcohol or use hormonal contraceptives such as the pill. Body odor was collected during three phases: menstrual (at the beginning); follicular (between the first day of menstruation and the onset of ovulation); and luteal (the fertile stage).

"The fresh pads were subsequently rated for their attractiveness and intensity by a group of 42 men," Havlieek told LiveScience.

The most attractive smells, men said, were from the time between the first day of menstruation and ovulation.

The cycle

The typically 28-day menstrual cycle involves the physiological changes that occur in a woman to prepare for a possibility of pregnancy. It is controlled by the reproductive hormone system.

A cycle is divided into four parts and starts on the first day of menstruation, which is the shedding of tissue and blood from the womb. In the follicular phase, a dominant ovarian follicle—which is a sack that contains the ova, or egg—grows, becoming ready to ovulate. The mature egg is then released in the phase known as ovulation around day 12. The cycle ends with the fertile phase.

Although many men would tell you they're always in the mood, Havlieek and colleagues discovered that men find odors during the follicular phase the most attractive and least intense. On the other hand, the highest intensity smells, corresponding to the lowest attractiveness for men, were found during the time of menstrual bleeding.

"Traditionally it's believed that ovulation in human female is concealed and there are no changes in attractiveness across the cycle," Havlieek said.

The study is detailed in the January issue of the journal Ethology.

Further sniffing

Two other studies by different research teams came to similar conclusions. But those investigations used T-shirts for odor sampling, "making it difficult to pinpoint the source of the smell," said Havlieek, whose team restricted sampling to armpits only.

Finally, the attractiveness of women's faces also changes during the month.

Havlieek's team found that facial images of women in the follicular phase—when the dominant ovarian follicle is getting ready to ovulate—are considered more attractive as compared to images taken in the luteal or fertile phase of the cycle.

The researchers hope to find out which chemical compounds are responsible for the odor changes across a woman's menstrual cycle.

When To Discharge Those Swiftlet's Fregrance/Aroma In Your BH ???

When do you think the best time to discharge those liquid aroma in your BH?

How frequent do you need to activate the diaphragm pump?

How much aroma do you need to apply per application?

How many nozzles should I used?

Where should I install those nozzles?

These are some questions posted to me recently and they need some logical answers.

1) When to apply those aroma.

The best is to apply between 9.00 am till 10.00am.

Main reason being, at this time of the day most of your tenant have gone out hunting for food. The spraying will do little harm to them but will draw those young birds from your neighbours to start coming over for a visit.

Second reason is that most aroma need a couple of hours to react with the surrounding air to be more attractive to the birds scene. Once they have reacted their smell will be more stronger and attractive to both the young and old birds.

Third is to allow enough time for the scene to penetrate the whole house. They need to be well distributed in the nesting and roving areas.

2)How frequent should your spray the aroma?

The answer is dependent on how long the aroma smell will last after spraying. The lenght is again subjected to how you control the air flow in your BH.

If you open all the ventilation holes, then it will take less then 3 days and the smell will be back to normal.

So if you want to keep the aroma smell stays longer, you need to perhaps shut as many holes as you can during the aroma treatment.

Assuming that the holes are shut tight and you now have created less air movement in your BH how many times should you spray?

I suggest that you set the put to spray every three to four days.

3) How long must the spraying be?

This will greatly dependent on the pumping capacity of your diaphragm pump and the aroma storage tank.

If the capacity is 300 milliliters a minute, twice a week, you need to ensure that the used aroma tank is at least 300 X 2 X 4 X 1.5(50% extra) = 3.6 liters.

Using any digital timer you can only adjust the minimum timing to one minute per setting. If you set for two minutes then you need to multiply the storage capacity by 2 equals to 7.2 liters.

One problem that you need to be very careful is the digital timer operation. Most digital timer have a kind of battery to activate those digital readings. The battery will be automatically self charging when current flows through it. If you operates only twice a week for one minutes per cycle, these internal battery will not have enough power to operate the readings or the system. Please try to have a spare digital timers for the possible exchange.

4) How many nozzle to use?

The number of nozzles shall be dependent on the a few important factors.

Most important is the pump capacity. When the pump operates it actually suck in the aroma from the aroma storage tank and push it into the high pressure hose. The function of those nozzles is to actually release the build up pressure. If you place to many nozzles then the spraying effect will be minimum. It will be like a young boy pissing and not mists sprays that you expected.

The second factor is how big is your BH. If your BH is 20'X70' three nozzles will be good enough. One at the roving areas and two in the nesting room areas.

The best method is to perhaps do some test, trial run, before you decide the number of nozzles. Fix the system and put together all the nozzles that you have in mind. The switch the pump using water as your test aroma. If the shape of the spray is good then use that number.

5) Where to install those nozzles.

Make sure you place the nozzles high enough but not to the extend of hitting the nesting planks. Wet nesting planks will encourage fungus to grow.

The best is to have the nozzles placed about three feet below the nesting planks. Make sure they are not facing upward but horizontal.


My sincere advise is to place the pump and the aroma tank in your data room. By this you will be able to refill the aroma plus checking the digital timer without intruding into your BH. Minimise your movement that will disturb those birds.

One more advise is to perhaps place a filter at the tip of you hose that you dip into the aroma tank. This can eliminate any possible dirt from being suck in and block th0se aroma nozzles.

Data Logger For Humidity and Temperature Readings With 16,000 Points Ability !!!

For any new BH or perhaps BHs with population growth problem your main focal point is to determine the exact room temperature and humidity.

You would like to know the time when the room touches its maximum temperature and humidity.

You also wanted to know when usually the temperature & humidity starts to climb.

In order to do this you need to use some gadget that once set can pick up those data and download into your PC.

There are a few type in the market and the best would be those that can collect enough data for you to make a good conclusion on your BH.

When in Alma BH I saw this gadget being used by the BH owner.

I asked him on where he got them and what was so special about the gadget.

His response was marvellous.

"Harry this gadget can collect 16,000 points in one setting. If you set for every 2 minutes you can allow the unit to last for 22 days."

"The gadget comes with a software which you need to download on your laptop."

"Once done you can generates those graphs which allows you to pinpoint the exact time when those humidity and temperature reaches their minimum and maximum."

"If you install those cooler or perhaps your soundless humidifiers you can easily compare the graphs before and after. In this was you can see the benefits of your new humidifier in operation."

Hmm ..... can I know where to get and how much?

"Well I got them from my laboratory equipment suppliers and the cost around RM 1,200."

Well to those who are keen to have one for their BHs activities please call 017 755 1318.

Strange but Sure Way of Populating Your New BH !!!

I came back to my home town in Sungai Patani, Kedah.

While on my way I was invited to visit a new BH somewhere along the road to Alma Bukit Mertajam.

Well as usual I stop by and have a good look at the so call new BH.

The strangest thing was that he do not have any entrance hole of the top of the house but on the wall connecting to next door BH in the same row.

He opens two holes on the lower floor and one on the upper floor.



I was curious and ask: How the hell did you manage to do this?

Well the owner of the other BH is my relative and he gave me the permission.

This was something strange but I am sure he know what he was doing.

It seem that the next door unit started its operation about two years ago and already enjoying with about 600 birds population.

What this blog reader was doing was to pull those birds, young batch, to stay in his house.

With 600 birds or 300 nests, the neighbor will be generating at least 600X3=1,800 young birds a year. If 50 % stays he can easily have his BH full within less then six to eight years.



Well I believed this is a very strange way of populating a BH but how to get such a good neighbor?

Some people are very lucky while some don't.

A New Sample Of Birdnest From Same BH Before and After !!!

Yesterday I hurried to Setiawan to deliver some items plus wanted to have a look at a real proof on the effect of those soundless humidifiers.

"Pak Harry, I just harvested a batch of nests from my BH after I installed those soundless humidifiers. Why don't you drop by and collect some samples. Please bring along those diaphram pump."







This special invitation was from a very good friend who happened to be the first person that I know off who uses those soundless humidifiers.

He started using them about three months ago.

The nests look so white and cleaned. He showed me a dozen of them. All looks nearly the same. Just whitish and clean.



He showed me a similar nests that he plucked prior to the installation.

"Harry, look at the different and it is something that we cannot deny. The nests produced after the installation are much cleaner and white."



I took a sample of the white and the old brownish/yellowish in color for my own purposes.

I would like to share the photo that I took using my new iphone.

Please have a good look and tell me which one belongs to the new batch?

The Sunken Bird House In Sarikei !!!!

Pak Harry, would you like to see a BH that was build very low as if it was sunk into the ground?"

Wow, this must be very interesting. I have never seen or heard about such a unique design before. Sink your BH into the ground !!!!

Inside my mind, this must be something interesting.

The moment I saw the BH, I tried to figure out what my driver was telling me.

Hmmm.... yes it looks as if the BH is lowered into the ground.

This BH owner must have the idea to reduce the heat by putting half (5 feet) of the ground floor into the ground.

Weired but something that I think might work (temperature wise).

Since I was not able to enter to view the inside I can safely say that gaining of heat does not mean that you gain the attention of the birds.

If you sink your BH, you in actual fact reduce the building height.

If you surroundings are filled with tall trees or other tall BHs you will be in the disadvantage.

What if your BH areas flooded? I would think that the whole floor with be filled with water when those ventilation holes reaches the water depth???

Just be very careful on what you are trying to do. Better avoid things that might happened.

Anyway enjoy the various pictures taken.

Nano Technology Can Generate Cheaper Electricity Using Solar Panel !!!

In many countries, especially Europe, you are allowed to tap the natural resources (Solar & Wind) and turn them into electricity.

The electricity produce can be directly use by yourself and any extra you may want to sell it to the electricity board by connecting to the available grid line.

This is very common and hope one day it can be a common way in selling natural energy to TNB.

Just imagine you have a BH about 30 feet by 100 feet somewhere in an agricultural land.

You can easily convert your BH roof top as a power generating plant to harvest those solar energy and convert them into electricity.

If by then the Malaysian Government allows you to put the excess power onto the grid line then you can earn money from both the Birdnest and also the power generating.

This is something that we the BH owners should consider and if allowed we can help in reducing the use of petroleum products and coal to generate our everyday electricity for our home that are hazardous to our planet earth.

Just imagine a total of 50,000 BHs with solar panels on the top of their rooftop.

Before doing that we might need to do some research to check if these panels will cause any disturbances to those wild birds.



For more interesting write up on nano solar panel please visit: http://www.nanosolar.com/technology

Somewhere In Sarikei, Sarawak !!!

While in Sarikei I was taken to view a newly constructed BH located on a agricultural land deep inside.

The land owner been planting those maize and potatoes. However he suddenly got interested in swiftlet farming.

The total building size was estimated to be in the region of 30 feet by 100 feet and two stories.




It was a huge unit and it seem that he covered the ceiling top with a roof.

When I was at site those workers were busy painting the external walls.

Inside, the views were nice and cooling.

There were a many partitioning and mostly are half of the floor width (15 feet) ziz zaz manner.

The entrance was towards the east and the shaft opening was almost 15 feet by 15 feet.

My only concerns were:

1) The path designed for the birds to enter the lower floor and the upper floor were a bit confusing. The entry from the entrance shaft should be direct and simpler as compared to ziz zag methods.





2) The placement of those staircase in the entrance hole's shaft area. This will normally disturb those birds especially when the BH is still in its early stages. These birds are quite sensitive to predators. Human to them is one of those predators. Crossing the flying path is not advisable. My suggestion was to place the staircase at an area that will not disturb those birds.




3) I am still a firm believer that BHs of this size should adopt the "Dual Entry" System. If the owner chooses only one then he might miss those young birds that were familiar with the other type of entrance hole.




4) The ceiling nesting planks were without any crossings. This might not be attractive to those birds but you never knows. My idea is to place those crossing to create more corners. Birds prefer to start their nest at corners. For some reasons they seem to choose corners. So since they like corners why don't were give more to them.



5) What I really love to see was the way the staircase was designed. It was made of wood. It was more like those stairs to a wooden house in the Sarawak interior. Well since it works then why can we use this design (except for the termites)?

6) Predators Protection need to be carefully looked into. The biggest culprit will be those owls. Having a BH in remote places surrounded by thick palm oil plantations and forest will draw lots of owls for easy meal. These owl can cause lots of havoc inside the house. The number of nests or birds population will easilyd drop to 1/3 of its original number with less then two months.



7) The owner seem to install very little number of ventilation holes on the side walls. There were more on the far back and front but not on those side walls. I think he is a new breed of BH owners who realised that those air outside, during daytime, are actually too hot and too dry for the BH.

8) I love those roof covers. You can see that the height of the roof cover is almost 4-5 feet. In between the roof and the ceiling, those air will help to trap the heat from directly hitting the ceiling roof of the top most floor. But what about the side walls? The total square areas of those wall were almost 20' X 100 X 2 plus 20' X 30 X 2 equals 5,200 square feet. Once those hot sun start hitting the walls, the heat will start to creep to the internal surface. A proper insulation will prevent the heat movement but it will be better to instal a layer of heat shield on those walls that will be facing the evening sun.

Anyway those are my sincere comments.

Base on the size this BH can easily accommodate a total of 30 X 100 X 2 X 6= 54,000 nests. This will be equivalent to 108,000 birds.

I wonder how long it takes to get it totally full.