Swiftlet Farming: Everybody Can Be A Swiftlet Farm Owner !!!

I was recently approached by developers and land owners on how to sell their parcel or package of BHs.

Most of these invidual BHs are pretty steep and expansive for any layman to buy. At the same time the risks are high.

The best method that I asked them to consider is to adopt "Air Asia" way of promotion "Everybody can Fly". The idea is to set up a Company that will issue shares of RM10,000 a unit.

Let say you have a piece of land and the size is big enought to built a row of BH worth in total of 8 million. You can now recruit about 800 share holders each to buy a unit of the RM10,000 each.

You can allow anyone to buy a minimum one unit and say maximum 10 units.

In this way the cost to own a BH is effortable. Any layman might be able to fork out the amount. "Everybody Can Own A BH".

If they are still not taken then you might want to talk to the Bank to fund those who are working and able to borrow.

The value of each share will increase with the number of nests multiplied in the BHs. If we consider one nest is RM800, every share holder will value their nest RM1 increase, once a nest is built in it.

Every four months, the nests shall be harvested and sold to a party who will buy the nests that its highest value. After deducting the cost of maintenance and operation, the net profits shall be equally devided to the 800 share holders.

Remittence to all share holders shall be done on a yearly basis, maybe just before Chinese New Year.

Can you imagine receiving regular SMS messages telling you that the number of nests is such and such and having a password to enter the website where you can view those beautiful farm with lots of birds circling above the BHs? Every month a birdcount figures are made available online to indicate the number of nests increased.

I will surely want to participate in this kind of venture. Of course I must be convinced that the birdcall test do bring in a few thousand birds above my car.

Lastest Amplifiers That Have Two Memory Cards Slots and can Run 400 Tweeters !!!

I was informed about this good news but I am not suprised.

The new came from a very good friend who always wanted to share informations so that we can pass the information to all those who are looking for new technologies for the BHs.

The unit will be able to play different sound at the different time of the day plus their sound volume can be adjusted accordingly.

This is something which Pak Hendry Mulia was talking about during his seminars in Pulau Kapas and Pontianak.

Better still is the ability to supply edequate current to 400 tweeters in one go.

Not many amplifiers are designed to cope with this kind of application.

I will try to get the contact and perhaps visit the appropriate shop and maybe take their photos.

Hope the cost per unit is effortable.........

Harry Thank You For The Test Gadget and Duress Sound !!!

I was about to take a nap when I heard my mobile phone ringging.

"Hei Harry I am very excited to hear your voice. You know something those birdcall gadget and Duress sound have been very very helpful. Been running around conducting the call tests."

So how was those test?

"Well most of the time they work but occasionally not a single bird respond even there were so many of them flying above my head. They look the same but they are not AF. Frankly I learned so much and now I know why you keep telling me to conduct those tests first before deciding to buy a property."

"You know Harry I went to the interior and found that there were so many look alike swiftlets but they never respond to the Duress? They looked the same, fly the same and eat the same food but they are not AF. Crazy man."

"Thank you for letting me owned one of this gadget. They are marvellous and I now become more knowledgable in recognising AF and Serinti. The best is use the gadget and see if they response"

Well that was something special from Mr.D of Kucing Sarawak.

I feel so proud to have assisted him in his endevour to be a successful swiftlet farmer. He now got the right tool to start making the right decisions.

Best of luck to you Mr.D.

Scrap Iron Collector: Look What They Done To My BH??

During my last trip back home I was devastated when I came to know that my BH was burgularised at the outside. Luckily outside. If inside I will feel worse !!!

They took away my iron beams and let the roller shutter to be wide opened.

Luckily the BH wall was intacked.

These night prowlers will steal anything that can make money and steel parts are one of their favorite.

I have ordered a new collapsible door and hopefully it will be ready by this weekend.

God bless me !!!

USED TO BE LIKE THIS

Attack by Those Nesting Planks Mold !!!

Those who uses any kind of water sprays in their birdhouse will experience the problem of mold growth on their nesting planks.

This is considered normal and unavoidable.

The growth is due to a specie of fungi that grows easily on those wooden planks when they are moist.

Today received a call from one reader who wanted immediate advise on what to do with his BH. He started his BH a few days ago and due to some error with the digital timer the humidifiers have been running for 24 hours. The whole house were flooded with water and the planks are totally wet.

Well he needed some guidance and I was not very sure what is the best solution since I have never accountered a similar problem before.

The best was to check with a few Sifu who have accountered this kind of issue.

Their answers are as follows:

1) Wash them with water and dry them up using a hot blower.

2) Brush them with suitable brush and after that apply a layer of water soak with broken birdnest.

3) Brush them with wire brush and let it be.

4) Brush it with suitable brush and apply with a layer with a mixture of water plus calcium.

The best is number three. Just wire brush and make sure the wood are dry. Maybe reduce the humidity to perhaps around 80%.

Let the room humidity stabilised and all those water on the floor dry up.

I am sure there are many who experienced the same problem.

They might be able to give their comment on this issue?

Another BH In Kubang Pasu, Kedah !!

After 10 empty months the birds started to occupy this building.

"Apek" is staying at the foot of this 1 years old BH.

Located in a padi field in Kubang Pasu Kedah.

One of the strange thing that happened was the bird never entered the BH until the 10th months. No one knows the real answer but the most probable reason was the cement smell.

Apek indicated that when he took over the house the smeel was still thick and he believed the birds were sensitive to those smell.

After 10 motnhs the smell must have been reduced.

Apek took me around the unit and the most pronounced were the sharp flower casing built onto the wall. I asked him what was so special about those intermitent flower casing. His answer was those flower casing were to stop snakes from climbing up the walls.

He planted lots of banana trees, mango trees and a number of herbs.

The number of birds have climbed significantly and I am not suprised that each month the BH can produce at least 10 kilos a month.

New Birdhouse Visit At Kuala Kedah !!!

While in Alor Star, last weekend, I was given the opportunity to visit a newly built BH in Kuala Kedah.

This particular unit was built at a cost of RM 670,000.

The unit dimension was 30 feet by 110 feet and three stories high.

The building contractor is our "APEK" whom I told us as a genious in operating a 4 feet high ceiling level BH.

The moment I arrived and took my canon camera and keep snapping as many as I could to make sure that I have as many pictures as possible.

Apek was so kind to show me so many features that he incorporated in this specially built BH.

1) All pipings and electrical cables are embeded in the pillar and the side walls.

2) In order to avoid gap between those ceiling and the nesting planks, he install the wooden planks first. Once they are set, he then pour the ceiling concrete. Amazing technique.

3) The BH floors are slunted at an angle to ensure that any trapped water will be easily drained using gravity.

4) On the ground floor he set a room about 10 by 15 feet as his control center. The room height is about 10 feet leaving a gap of about 3 to 4 feet from the room's roof and the BH ceiling. The ceiling were with wooden nesting planks.

5) His staircase from ground to first floor was at the right hand side of the building and was 2 feet wide. He open a LAL about 6 feet wide by 10 feet length. On the first floor a similar design was ready to go but it was at the opposite side. I term it as the Zig-Zaz LAL/staircase design.

During the trip, they were running short to complete the 1st floor. He got one more floor to complete. He hope, if weather permitted, he will get the house ready within the next two months.

I valued his invitation and at 70 he looks very active and chearfull all the way. I think birdhouse projects seem to keep his zest to live.

UPON ARRIVAL THIS WAS WHAT I FIRST SAW.



THE WALLS ARE MADE OF CEMENT BRICKS.



AT THE OTHER ANGLE



IN THE HORIZON THERE WAS THE BEACH.



INTERNAL ON THE GROUND FLOOR.



THE 2 FEET STAIRCASE AND LAL GROUND TO 1ST FLOOR



WOODEN FRAME SUPPORTING THE NESTING PLANKS.



ONE MORE PICTURE OF THE SAME.



THE ZIZ-ZAG LOCATION OF 2 FEET STAIRCASE AND LAL FROM FIRST TO 2ND FLOOR.



NESTING PLANK FIRST THEN ROOF SLAB.



ONE MORE VIEW



ONE MORE VIEW



GROUND FLOOR WITH CEILING PLANKS AND SLAB.



JUST LOOK AT A FINISHED CEILING.

What Happened If Your Neighbor Is So Uncoorperative To Your New Birdhouse???

I was watching a TV program last night and my mobile phone rang.

It was from someone new since his name was not registered on my mobile list of friends.

I tried to be very nice and managed to have some good talk about his problem.

"Harry, what should I do if my neighbors are all against my BH? This couple stays in a shoplot about 2 lots away. They seem to be harrassing me and make complains to the local council. I have not yet complete the house and no sound being played. I also heard that they are holding a press release on the matter."

I was stunned and could not even think properly.

Hmm.... Banyak susah ....

Well Mr.K, I am not sure what to advise you. The best is to stop the operation for a while and let the couple cool down. Maybe you should try to talk some sense to the couple. How about your arrange to meet the Birdhouse Owner Association Presiden and bring up the matter?

"I did. I met the president and told him about my problem. It seem that the president knows the said couple and they are very difficult to talk to."

Hmm... So what can I do to help?

"Can you talk to the couple's relative?"

Who are you referring to?

"Your Birdhouse partner?"

What, you mean my partner is related to the couple? Oh blind me, why must it be that way? Oh shit why why why !!!

"Yes Harry please help. My boss will be very piss off if I cannot manage this project."

Aye ye ye ye .... This is not an easy things to do. I do not want my partner to be involved. He might be very pissed if I bring out this matter to him.

Okay I will try and there is no promise that he will take up the matter with his so call relative.....

"Yes Harry, thank you very much. Just give at least a shot. What ever the outcome I am willing to hear from you."

I was a bit upset but for the sake of a BH owner I will try my best.

Called my partner and talk about it and he explained that he is not very close with that relative and he know very well that these two are a very stubborn lot who will not listen to reasons.

Aye ye ye ye. I am very confused and beginning to feel the stress.

Well I have done what I promised to do. So I just need to give Mr.K a call and tell him the exact conversation. Talked to him and he took it very well.

"Well Harry you have done your best and I appreciate your help. You are a man of your words. Thank you again. Let me figure out what will be my next options."

Well this is something that will happen if you are not that lucky.

I talked to the Secretary of the BH association and he told me something that all BH owners should do:

1) If you decide to turn a shophouse to BH please be a bit discreet with the renovation. Do the work quitely and ensure that all the materials arrived be kept in the BH. Don't display along the corridor and invite trouble.

2) Try to have a proper plan to ensure that the BH will not be blasting those noise to the neighbors. Make sure you use the open roof entrance so that the sound will be deflected upward.

3) You need to ensure that the BH is always clean. No Birdshits on the floor or in the shop's drain. Have a proper plan on how and when to remove those bird shits. Use faeces powder to create the amonia smell.

4) Your BH sound, both external and internal must be played at the right time of the day. The best is not to play the sound in the morning but only in the evening from 3 pm till 7 pm. Th volume shall not be too loud and causing your neighbors to loose their sleep. Use digital timers to control those amplifiers.

5) You BH should be properly insulated so that the internal sound will not leak out. Some selfish BH owners never use their head. They make the walls with metal plates with lots of ventilation holes. The design is not sound proof and those internal sound can be heard a few 10 meters away.

6) Join the local BH owner's association where your BH is in operation. Get closed with the commitee members expecialy the President. Make sure you attend their regular meeting to know what and how to handle difficult situations.

7) Be nice with the Local Council People and be cooperative with them. Ask them for help on how not to disturb their neighbor. Allow them to brief you all the guidelines required and follow them to the dot....

Well I hope you have learn something from this article.....

When Can I Earn From My Birdnest Farming ?

Sometime newbies tend to be very pushy and their questions seem to be like asking for my commitment.

In swiftlet farming the answer lies on so many factors and it is very stressful to provide all the right answers. The chances is that I might be wrong !!!

Today received a call from a newbie from Johor.

"Harry, may I ask you one question? How many nests can my BH have after one year?"

Mr.P, it is all subjected to your BH location and the house microhabitats, If you BH is done properly and located around a flight path or near to a successfull BHs, you should expect about 20 to 30 nests. I might be wrong but that is considered good enought to a Malaysian Standard.

"Harry, another question. When can I start doing the harvesting?"

Well, it is up to you. If you think that you wanted to harvest after they have 20 nests go ahead and harvest a few but please allow the baby birds to be matured and flew away. The best is to monitor the usage of each bird nest carefully. You should place a sticker below the nest to indicate the cycle of usage. Once they used twice, harvest them and keep them in an air tight container. Don't worry they will come back and built their nest again.

"Harry, one last question. Should I convert my ground floor shop?"

Hmm... It is up to you. But you must know that local council will make your life difficult if you do that. If I were U, do half while the other half you rent it to be a handphone sales shop. Rent to them at a cheap cheap price. Ask them to look after the BH for you.

"Okay Harry. Thank you very much. If I need more question I will call you again. Oh ya one more, this will be the last. Do you think the birds like the sound to be very loud?"

Mr.P again it is up to you. If you BH is far away from any residential areas then you might like to blast them to a high volume but if close to residential or school please be reasonable. You have to be reasonable to those people around your BH. Anyway please be carefull with the volume. If you use piezo tweeters, if you put on full blast mode the tweeters will melt and thus the sound will be distorted too.

The volume of the sound is significant to the range that it will travel. The louder the more coverage areas. So use you common sense in choosing the right volume.

"What about the Internal sound?"

Normally if the volume is from 0 to 10, I will use about 1.5 to 2 only. These will be the baby sound, colony sound and mating sound.

Sometime I ask myself why am I doing all these? The trouble is that I cannot let my blog readers be lost without someone to ask about what is best for their BH.

So what to do? Have to help and do my best. I hope one day they will appreciate all the contributions from me in turning themself into a Millionaire.

Harry, I Want To Buy And Install Corner Covers !!!

Last night before going to bed I received a call from a newbie who have her BH in operation for about 22 days ago.

"Harry, this is so and so. I need your help. Can you source for me some corner covers?"

Sorry medam, you wanted me to get you those corner covers for your new BH?

"Yes".

Can I know why you want to install those corner covers?

"Well I saw many others who installed so I also wanted to install".

Hmm..... Medam, you are saying that you wanted to install just because others do the installation? That is not a very good reasons to do the installation. Let me give you some points before you decide to go ahead or not.

You see, if you enter any new BH, you will see that most of the time those young birds prefer to built their nest at corners. This is due to the fact that they feel safer and may be an easier to built their nests. So why must you cover them and prevent them from enjoying the nest building?

You will only need those corner covers once your BH have say 100 or 200 nests in place. Let the birds enjoy using those corners for the first few years. After that you cover all of them or one by one. I advise you for every nest allow the birds to breed for two cycles and once that is achieved to harvest and cover them with corner covers.

Just think about this? You know pretty well that those wild birds love to built their nest at corners. Let say you new neighbors, next door BH owners, installed those corner covers and you do not, which house do you think the wild birds will prefer to nest? The answer is yours. So you have the advantage and why must you cover them?

My advise to you is to keep those corners and let those birds multiply as fast as they can for the first few years. During that period allow the birds to use the corner nests for two cycles. After two cycles of breeding you harvest the nests and cover the area with corner covers.

You should set a target at what nest numbers in your BH that you will install those corner covers in total. I suggest 500 nests as a very good number to choose.

So I suggest that you think about my advise and if you still want me to get you those corner covers you are welcome. The cost I think is about RM 1.20 to RM 1.50. If you use steel or alumminium plates they might be a bit more expensive.

Are you okay with the logical explainations that I gave you?

A bit more to add. Main reason why people cover those corners is due to cost of those nest harvested from corners. You see the raw nests will be in a triagular shape and they fetch a lower value as compared to those full half cup shape. But for the first few years you should think about to multiply the nests numbers. The shape of nests is not important yet.

You should spent those extra money to make the house cooler or perfect humidity wise.

Perhaps last night she must have given a special thought and am waiting for her decision today.

Birdhouse Self Designed And Is Less Then 4 Feet High!!!

What is the recommended floor height of a good BH?

I am stuck with a minimum of 7 feet. The reason being a young bird (never fly before) need the necessary drop height to take her maiden flight.

What happened if the height is less then four feet?

Frankly I could not imagine how the birds can fly out of the house.

To my dismay, I visited a birdhouse with less then 4 feet ceiling !!!

You need to crawl or do your duck walk just to inspect those birdnests. I just could not believed that the birds will like it.

According to the BH owner, the first nest was in that 4 feet height areas. I could not believed this special phenomena and it works.....

The owner is a DIY genious, 70 years old and they called him "APEK".

He showed me many more special designed features that you will never ever think of. The followings cought my attention:

a) His birdhouse was about 30 feet by 80 feet and three stories hight.

b) Each floor he designed the ceiling height of about 7 feet, running from front to the back, about 10 feet from both walls.

c) In the middle he created a rectangular hole which he termed as the super highway. Main purpose is to allow the birds to use as their roving, the LAL and for speed control. He claimed that the birds like to speed up to exercise their wings.

d) At the back portion he constructed the ceiling floor of 4 feet height. His main aim was to test whether those birds will used them to nest of not. If it is so then he will get them ready for his future BHs.

e) All piping and wiring are embeded in the building. They are installed in the structure of the building. As such they won't have the chance to accumulate bird shits on them.

f) On the top of his BH roof he has a large pond and with one pipe protruded out and water oozing out. I saw a few birds came to drink water from the flowing water. Unbelievable.

g) He installed this bizzare railing system to help the owner to carry our their nest harvesting without the need of using a ladder.

h) All his corner covers are home made and they are made of cement. My close observation indicated that they tend to chip very often.

I have the following pictures to share and this APEK is genious. I could not believed what I saw and everytime I think about him it tikle my brain.

Strange thing was that he could not speak a word of English and never understand a word of Indonesian Malay but he was with me during the recent Pontianak Seminar.

Please enjoy looking at these pictures:

BIRDHOUSE FRONT



GROUND FLOOR VIEW



SEVEN FEET CEILING



FOUR FEET CEILING NEED TO DUCK WALK?



FIRST NEST AT THE FOUR FEET CEILING.



CLOSE UP OF THE BABY SWIFTLET IN THE FIRST NEST.



SELF DESIGN HARVESTING RAILING SYSTEM


MONKEY HOUSE ENTRANCE HOLE



WATER POND ON THE ROOF TOP



CORNER COVER MADE OF CEMENT



CLOSE UP OF NEST MARKINGS

Shop BH selling at RM 5 Million In Kg Choh !!!

This particular BH is about 20 meters away from the most successful BH in Kg Choh facing the main road.

Three stories with 5,000 nests.

Looking for buyers.

If you have so much money and don't have a BH, why don't U consider this unit?

For any inspection, seller is asking from local bank indicating that the buyer have fund in his bank.

For more details please call Harry at 017 755 1318.