Where to Find Good Quality Planks.

( Huge variety of Nesting Planks stocks)

( workers packing corner boards )

( Top Grade Nesting Planks 8x1" . 100% no unwanted marking)

Yesterday I was at my supplier’s warehouse to inspect the Meranti Nesting Planks that I had ordered. I used to call the Sawmill owner Ah H…. first before I go there to inspect it myself making sure the Nesting planks I had ordered meets my requirement.

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Often good quality Meranti is scar and expensive. This has transpired many small sawmills mix them will lower grade ones to make higher profit.

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To prevent this make sure you purchase it from reputable sawmills. Big sawmills often have the huge capital for buying raw timbers. With such all good ones are being secured by them.

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The lower grade ones (down stream) are often re-sell to smaller sawmill.

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Ah H…… Sawmill is huge. The storage for Nesting plank itself is 30,000 S/f.

All grades of Meranti planks are available.

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While I was there I saw few stacks of high graded Meranti waiting to be loaded onto a truck for delivery.

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As I understand from Ah H…..It was specially requested by a farm owner of a newly built 50x 150f, 4 storey Stanalone. The planks are of 8x1 inch. All pre-selected. Money was secondary to this owner. He wanted the best.

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For sure one thing the planks will last very long. It is not cheap but then again if you compared the amount of money he had already invested into a four storey, 50x150f standalone, the cost of the nesting planks is peanut.

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Good Luck

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To the North : Visit a Revamped farm and a Successful farm that has been using Love Potion Since Sept 2008

This coming weekend I shall be in the North visiting a farm that I revamped. The construction works is almost completed. I shall be there to fix the sound system and make sure all things completed according to plan.

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At the same time I shall stop over at the North of Perak to meet up with a very good friend of mine. A down to earth person. He is a true swiftlets enthusiast. He owned not less than 10 successful farms .Not many are like him. He likes to do experiment on his farms and find solution to counter all problems. He learned so much from here.

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He is also a regular user of Love Potion. He has been using Love potion since Sept 2008 till today. One of the farms that I will be visiting consists of not less than 4000 nests. This particular farm has been using Love potion every 3 weeks once since Sept 2008. I am very honor to be given a chance to witness how Love potion has pushed up the nests population in this successful farm. I shall take some pictures and post it on my blog to share with all my readers.

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Good Luck.

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Blessed with the Beauty of Nature

( Beautiful scenery)

( Farm along the shore)

( Fish farming with Swiftlets farm in the Middle)

( Breath taking scenery along the shore)

( Dragon fruit farm surrounding BH)

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These pictures were taken last week while I was travelling. It was a beautiful sunny day. We are blessed with such wonderful places. What can we ask more?

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Malaysia is what I call home. I am proud to be a Malaysian. Some of the farms above are located along the shore with breath taking scenery.

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The beauty of my involvement in Swiftlets farming allows me to travel extensively throughout Malaysia and to help those who seek knowledge and information in Swiftlets farming.

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To me it is not so much about the monetary value. It is the enjoyment and the satisfaction I get when I stood between the beautiful untouched shore and a Swiftlet farm, the feeling is fantastic. Money really can't buy this kind of satisfaction.

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I would say the more one seeks for value in monetary the more he may not get it. When we appreciate what nature has given us prosperity will follows.

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Good Luck!

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Standalone Farm on a Pond

While I was visiting farms in the South last week, I came across a very unique Stanalone.

This Stanalone was built above water (pond). In fact there are many farms that are built on top of the water especially at river banks or at jetties.

But to see one that specially builds above water on land is rare. I was made to understand that the reason is to have a better micro and macro. The owner really has some points here.

The set back is the cost involved. The foundation is not cheap which most farm’s owner would avoid.

The bird’s population of this farm is not bad. In the late evening there is hundreds of swiftlets flying in and out of the farm. By looking at the way they fly in and out for sure there are the residents there.

The pond also serves as playing and hunting ground for swiftlets. Every morning and evening hundreds of swiftlets fly to this pond explained the owner.

So next time when you want to build a standalone you may want consider this.

Good Luck.

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Corner Board in Swiftlets Farms. Should We Use it?

I received a call from one of my regular Blog's readers regarding Corner Board in farms. This has been debated before long time ago. For some it is a must for farms while other may think it is unnecessary and it is a gimmick to make more money from farmers.

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( Both lines at the Corner board are occupied)

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There are many reasons for using corner board. But the reason of using Corner Board shared by most is to prevent 90dg nests. As corner nests fetch lower price compared to nests that are built on straight planks.

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Many agreed that Swiftlets like to build nests at corners. If you are observance enough you will notice that new nests build in new farm are at corners. Reason being building nest at corners saves saliva and time. It is their favorite place. To me it is not the corner or the above reasons but the lines at the corners where the two planks joint to make the 90dg corners created lines that are easy for young Swiftlets to claw.

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So this is where the Corner board comes in. If you install a Corner Board it will create 2 lines instead of 1 line like those without corner boards. The more lines create by the corner board will make it easier for young birds to claw thus making nest faster.

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For new farm, I would definitely prefer quantity first and later talks about quality. If you can not attract large number of Swiftlets to build nests in your farm what is there to talk about quality. So making many places that are easy for them to make nests is priority.

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So if you ask me should I use corner board in farms? My answer is yes.

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Of course there are many successful farms that are with and without corner board.

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So the decision lies on you.
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Good luck.
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High Humidity on planks in Swiftlets Farm

A) Low grade wood infested with mold.

B) Side by side, the upper plank molds free the lower plank with mold. Both under the same high Rh condition.

Many didn't notice it they thought the higher the Humidity the better it is. If the humidity is too high and the planks in farms are of those low graded Meranti the result will be like in the pictures.

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Recommended Rh in farm is range from 70-85%. Its also depends on what type of Meranti wood (grade) you are using. If you are using the commonly low grade one which is Rm 1800-2400 per ton then anything above Rh 75% the risk of having mold on plank is very high.

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.High grade Meranti resist mold. Even at Rh 80% and above they seldom have mold problem. If your farm is using the low grade one make sure your Rh is below 75%. Then again at this range it would not favor Swiftlets to stay.

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Look at picture B, two different grade of Meranti were used. The top one has got no mold while the below one is infested with mold.

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The commonly problem that Swiftlets don't build nest on farm is because the planks are wet and infested with mold. Swiftlet saliva unable to stick well on molded planks. After trying many times swiftlets will eventually look for farms that have dry and good nesting planks.

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No points of having a good micro but the planks prevent Swiftlets from making nests.

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Swiftlets farming is a long term investment. How would you feel after 2-3 years when you see many birds flying and out your farm but none of them stay and make nest.

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Plank is part of micro. Don't take them lightly.

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Good luck.

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Dead Birds in Swiftlets Farm

Last week I met up with a farm's owner from K.L. He had bought a farm in the North recently.

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He's quite new in this Swiftlets Farming business. For sure one thing he had bought the farm for a very high price. For those 100 nests he had paid 3 times the price. He didn't notice it until we spoke about it.

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He was very eager to meet up with me to discuss about his newly bought farm and at the same time to collect Love potion from me.

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After he had bought the farm he noticed there are many dead birds in his farm. Every time when he visits his farm there are sure some dead birds around.

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His questions were why there are so many dead birds the farm? Why the population is not growing? I replied' well there are many reasons for this.

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Over the conversation I asked him about the size of his farm, the partitioning pertaining to the design, the pest, predators, etc. After ruled out the other I suspected that the actual cause was the design of his farm. It seemed that many young birds that just learned to fly couldn't find their way out. Those that can not find their way out eventually die. Those that could find their way out will never return. With many dead birds how can the population grow?

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So every season his farm is producing new generation of birds for other farms. In other words he is doing good thing, contributing to the swiftlet population of his area (not his farm).

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I prompted him further, his farm was the pioneer farm in that area but other farms started later around his farm have more nests than his.

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This clearly shown that his neighbours had managed to capture all his young birds. It seems that his neighbours' farm populations are increasing yearly except his.

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He has to do something about it as soon as possible. Otherwise the more farms coming up they will attract all the young birds from his farm. There must be reasons for problems in his farm. If he could find the reason to the problems then solving it would be easy.

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I hope he understands and remembers what I had advised him or else it would be very harm for his farm to have a good growth.

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Good Luck.

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Plastic Corner Board

Yesterday I happened to meet Mr.T who is the producer of the Plastic corner board. The plastic corner board has been is the market for quite a while. Over the years the design has been refined. According to him the is the latest one.

This Corner board is hollow inside. The purpose of this is for aroma. In order to have a successful farm we can no longer deny the usage of Aroma.

The idea of this hollow plastic corner board came about is because he wanted the aroma to stay longer especially on the corners. How to achieve this? Well the corner board has to release fresh Aroma continuously but it also has to be dry at the same time.

This would make the fumes of aroma continuously flow from the corner and attracts young birds to make nests there. We know birds like to make nest on corners and with the advantages of continuous flow of fresh aroma more birds will make nests.

So the hollow plastic corner board is the answer to this concept of fresh aroma continuous flow from corner board.

If you look at the picture above a small piece of wool is use for soaking aroma and shall be placed into the hollow section of the Plastic corner board.

The front part of the corner board is with small holes so that the aroma fumes could flow out from it. Those young birds that perch on the corners will continuously fumes with aroma. With such advantage birds will make nests faster. It has grove on it for easy perching.

This plastic corner board comes in the size of 5”x6”. It is unbreakable (abs material). Any part of it can be easily screwed to the nesting planks.

Those who are interested may contact me at 012-3173811 or send email to swifjames@yahoo.com.

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Dream Farm and Dream House

How about having a successful farm next to your house? This is not a dream. It is reality. I bet most of you wanted this. You don't have to travel many hr to your farm every weekend. You can see your bird coming home everyday.

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Your wife will love you for this because you always come back home for dinner. A beautiful bungalow with a successful standalone farm next to it barely 20ft from it sharing the same compound. Thief is history. Most standalone farms are located in secluded areas but not this farm. Best of all located in the prime birds zone area. It seems too good to be true a dream home and a successful farm side by side. Everything is in one basket. This is what happened in a small town in the North.

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Source says the farm is about 3 years old with many Kgs of nest.

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As I was taking the photo there are many birds going in and out of the farm (look at the picture).

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The numbers of birds flying in and out of the entrance hole really proved it. It is hard to find a good location for farming where you can work and live at the same time. Often good location is not around the place where you live. Some have to travel hundred of miles to visit their farms.

How often can you travel?

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So you see everything is possible in Swiflet farming. Who says Swiftlet farming has to be far away from human populated area?

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Good Luck.

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有沒有想過擁有一個成功的燕屋農場在您的房子的旁邊？ 這不是夢想。 它是現實。 我打賭大多数您想要。 您不必每個週末花几个小时的车乘到您的燕屋農場。 您能 看到您的燕子每天回燕屋。您的妻子將根愛您, 因為您总是每天回家吃晚餐。 有一個 成功的獨立燕屋農場, 在一座美麗的平房旁邊, 幾乎是沒有20尺之差, 分享同一个 范围。 再也没有竊賊。 多数獨立燕屋農場位于偏僻的區域， 但是不是這個 燕屋農場。 最好的是, 它位于多燕子的區域。是一个不能真實的夢想, 家和一個 成功的燕屋農場肩並肩似乎太好。 一切在一個籃子。 這是發生在北部的一個 小镇了。 來源說這個燕屋農場是大约有3年與採取許多公斤的燕窝。 当我拍這照片 时有燕子出入燕屋農場(看看這照片)。 飛行進出入口的燕子的数量證明了它是真 正的。 它是難找到的燕屋農場, 一個好的地點您能同時居住和工作的地方。 經常好 地點不是在您居住的地方附近。 一些必須末乘一百英里的车乘来參觀他們的燕屋 農場。 您能来多少次？ 因此, 在燕屋農場里一切是可能的。 誰說燕屋農場是必須很遠的區域？祝您好运!

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Stand Alone Farm Revamp

( measurement precisely taken and marked)


( All areas needed to be hacked are mraked)

( The entrace hole is to be hacked )

It has been a hectic weekend as I have to be in A.Setar to revamp a farm. Start my journey at 6am. It takes about 4-5 hr to reach there. Since it was Saturday I have to reach A.Setar before noon so that I could buy all building materials before the hardware shop closed.

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As I had promised the farm's owner that the revamp would complete in 2 weeks time. I am making sure all building materials are available so that the workers won't be running out of materials while there are working.

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All measurements are precisely taken and marked so that the workers know which areas needed to be hacked or to be removed.

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As you could see in the pictures above the inter hole is to be enlarged. This is to create an easy access for Swiftlets to the floor below.

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The size of the Inter hole has to be pre-calculated making sure the enlarged inter hole is not too big. If it is too big it would be a problem as it would affect the micro. So a precise Inter hole size is needed.

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The original Entrance hole size is too small. It is going to be hacked to make way for a bigger one.

It is not an easy task. As I have to take consideration of the building structure before I plan the design. The structure of this farm is not very strong. Therefore any removal of walls or hacking has to be substituted with a new beam or a pillar so that it will not weaken the building.

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Nowadays most stand alone farms were built on the criteria of cost saving. Whether the birds will stay or make nests were secondary. Whether it will last 5 0r 10 years is also secondary.

After visited so many failed farms I noticed these were the trend. Isn't Swiftlets farming is a long term investment? Or for our next generation?

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These questions have been in my mind for quite sometime.

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I believe what can be saved should be saved. What can't be saved should be spent. But it seemed like what can't be saved most out there still trying to save.

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So for those intended to build a stand alone farm make sure your building is built to last.

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(精確地被採取和被測量的標記)
(所有必要被拆下的區域被標記)
(入口洞將被拆下)
它是一個忙碌的週末，我必須在A.Setar修補燕屋農場。在6am開始我的旅途。 它大约4-5 小时到達那裡。 因為它是星期六, 我必須在中午之前到達A.Setar， 以便我能買到所有建筑材料，在五金店关门之前。 我答音了屋主修補在2個星期 將完成的。 我必須保證所有建筑材料是可利用的，以免工作者运作时用盡材料。 所有精確地測量被採取並且被標記，以便工作者知道需要拆下或去掉哪一部份。 因為您在以上的圖片可看到相互孔之將被擴大。 這是為了創造一個容易被燕子進入 到下面层。 相互孔的大小必須是預先計算好的保證擴大的相互孔不是太大的。 如果 它是太大, 它是問題，因為它將影響屋内环境。 因此精確的相互孔大小是需要的。 原始的入口孔是太小。拆下它做一更大一個的方式。 它不是一項容易的任務。 我必 須採取建筑结构的考慮，在我計劃設計之前。 這個燕屋農場的結構不是非常強的。 所以, 所有撤除牆壁或拆下必須替代一條新的柱子，以便它不會減弱大廈。 現今多数 立場單獨農場在节省成本標準建造。燕子是否將停留或做窝是次要的。 它是否將持續 5 或 10年 也是次要的。 在參觀許多不合格的燕屋農場之後, 我注意這些是趨向。 燕屋 農場不是長期投资？ 或者為我們的下一代？ 這些問題是依我所見為相當某時。 我相 信什麼可以被节省應該节省。 什麼不被节省應該花費。 但是它似乎像什麼是不 被节省的那裡仍然设法节省。 因此, 為意欲的那些修建單獨立燕屋農場确定 您的大廈 是被修建到永远.

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