Applying Love Potion on Revived Farm

Love potions are packed and will be taking them to the North to the 2 revamped farms to be sprayed on the roving & nesting areas to attract birds to come into the farms and stay.

This is the time where new remixed Cd sound is play. The Love Potion Aroma will create an environment that liked by birds especially young birds that seek farm to build their first nest.

The strong Aroma of Love Potion would subdue other smell in the farm especially after some renovations. These included the cement smell, paint smell, etc.

( picture taken from farm that uses Love Potion)

When the appropriate or right Cd sound is played birds would swap down and enter the farm. As they are inside the farm the smell plays an important part. The Aroma of Love Portion would create a smell that similar to old farm that has lots of birds and nests. This makes the birds feel comfortable and making them fly deeper into the farm. From here they would stay and later make nests.

As most of us knew that Aroma is one of the most important factors that we can’t overlooked. Without it, it is would be like adding a negative effect to your farm instead of making it successful.

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Fall from the Roof

I received an email from my reader that one of his friends fell from the roof of a farm after seeing what I did in my blog.

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He stepped on the zinc that has no support at the bottom. The zinc gives way and he went through the zinc and crashed down. He broke his hand and legs. He was lucky to survive.

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"PLEASE DO NOT CLIMB UP THE ROOF IF YOU HAVE NO EXPERIECE or HAVE NOT GONE UP THE ROOF BEFORE" Do Not Copy What I did.

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I had visited countless farms all over Malaysia as well as Thailand and Indonesia. I had gone up different type of structures be it wood , steel or concrete sometimes 5 storey high.

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You have to know the structure well and know where you could stand or put your feet on. At the same time you mind and conscious have be clear when you are on top of the roof.

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This would help in concentration which would prevent you from mistake that could harm you.

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Know what you are doing. If you are unsure don't take the risk.

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Starting Sound on Revamped farms

I will be in the North again this time to start the sound of new revamped farms. Last week I was there to revive two farms of 2 years old.

The major problems of these farms are Temp, sound and flying path. The owner seemed unable to bring down the temperature of the farm that is 33dg. He had spent lots of money yet unable to reduce the temp.

( on top of a zinc roof of a farm)

He had decided to knock down the whole roof and replace it with the concrete slab. Obviously this would cost lots of money. I recommended him some options and assured him that the temp would reduce. He was quite pessimistic about it. I told him, “There are always cheaper solutions. Try this if it doesn’t work then you could always does your concrete slab later".

He called me few days ago and told me “James you are really good. Without major renovation you could bring down the temp. It saved me lots of money. Now the temp is about 27 dg. Fantastic!"

I am bringing with me few CD sounds specially remixed for his farms. Can't wait to see birds swamping down to these totally make over farms.

Bravo!

On Going Cost in farm

As I had mentioned before once you are involved there is no turning back. It is not cheap; firstly you must have a shop lot or a land in the case of if you want to build a stand alone.

The renovation of the farm would be around 20k -100k or more depend on what you want and how you want it to be done. This excludes the cost of the property.

Swiftlet farming is a long term investment. During this time there are hidden costs involved. Most would say that it is a one time investment and there is no other cost involved once the farm started operation. This is true when you strike jack-pot, means that there are no problems in your farm and as the time goes by you see improvement in terms of increasing of bird’s population and nests quantity.

What about if it is the opposite? Then rectification works have to be carried out to revive the farm. This could be a on going process sometimes it may take months or years to get to what you want.

The cost may vary from few hundred to ten of thousand. It depend how bad is the condition. Some may resort to making concrete slab on the roof to reduce the temp. In this case it would be costly. While the minor one would be some partitioning to reduce light, the later one would cost less. And all these depended on the condition of your farm.

Many would sit back and wait but if the initial design or structure that created an unfavorable micro then sitting back and wait would not help at all. So “Do it or loose your investment".

( making additional wall, concrete slab & new position of entrance)

So the most important when you want to get involved or start a Swiftlet farm make sure that the farm that you build is Swiftlet friendly. With this in mind you won't be resorting to many rectification works in future.

Good Luck!

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Sky full of birds

If you were have to build a farm in areas which have lots of birds compared to areas that have few, which would you choose?

Of course the area that has lots of birds. But most who invested into swiftlet farming are more influenced by the shop lots or lands that they had bought prior to this investment.

In other words, this mean that they may had bought the shop lot or land some time ago and have no intention of swiftlet farming until they heard about how lucrative this business is.

From here most would start for the sack of jumping onto the band wagon. Obviously, if someone who is in this business that without principal and just for the sack of making money is invited for consultancy. Then he would surely encourage a farm to be started here and later telling you “the main strategy of successful swiflet farming is being patient and to wait...wait & wait."

( is good to buid a farm around here)

Investment is about time, any investment that has stretched too long is considered lost. If someone tells you that if you invest 100k today the returns is 50 million. What is your response? I am sure you are overwhelming. But you would get it in 100 yrs or 200 yrs, would it be still rational? Of course not, because you won't live to see it because the time is too long.

So time factor is important in swiftlet farming. The faster you could recover your initial investment layout the better it is. The value of Rm1.00 today will not be the same as 5 or 10 yrs from now.

So how can you make sure your investment could result in good returns in the shortest period possible? Of course there are ways, just like any businesses. Know what you are doing, familiar with what you are doing, be observant and make sure you get the right person for advice and to handle the job.

If everything is right and you do it right you may get a good return on invest within 1-2 yrs. If you are unlucky which getting the wrong advice and the wrong people to handle it then it would be a long long wait....or you may not even recover your initial capital investment.

Good Luck!

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Temperateture

This morning I received a call from a farm's owner that I had revamped his farm about 2 months ago.

"Hello Taukey! I am very happy kau kau, 2 yrs my farm only got 15 nests and now after 2 months with your advice and visit my farm got 29 nests. Wow I wait 2 yrs only 15 nests now 2 months later got 14 nests.....Your Love potion very Kau Kau.Thank you, thank you, thank you,..............."

Do you know that all temperature in all floors is not the same? The 1st fl, the 2nd n so one.

Given a 3 storey farm the ground floor temperature are lower than the top floor. How do we know there are differences in temperature? Well get a Hygrometer or a Temperature Sensor Gun.

With these tools it will help you to understand the variation of temp of each floor. The often asked questions were "How come all birds stayed on ground floor?” Why all stayed on 1 floor and not other floor?" There are many factors influencing this and temperature is one of them.

( Temperature Sensor gun)

A farm is not a complete farm if it is without the above tools.

Let’s see below;

I was invited to revive a failed farm by a farmer in Taiping. The location of this farm was good. It stood amongst those that are harvesting more than 10kgs above /month. All his neighbors were doing quite ok except him.

His farm was on the top floor of his office/shop which facing the main road. Every evening you could see thousands of birds circling on top of these farms waiting to go in. Sadly only few choose his farm. His farm was done by a consultant from Kelantan.............It was a 2 yrs farm but sadly in such potential area his farm managed to attract birds to build 15 nests. To me I considered this as totally fails.

The moment I entered the farm I could feel that the micros were totally out.

I asked him "didn't you know that you temp is easily above the acceptable level?" His reply "no!"

I asked him do you have a Hygrometer. He replied "what is that? Oh no' then I explained "something that can read the temp". He smiled and says oh I have.

So I asked where is it. He leaded me to the so called roving and showed me. I was surprised, it was those small thermometer which we can get it from the 2 dollar shop, probably cost about Rm 1.00.

When I looked at the reading it was 28dg. I shake it, it still 28dg. So this thermometer has been reading 28dg all the time. I took out my Sensor gun & Hygrometer which I always bring along with me and checked .It was 35dg, I showed to him. I asked, didn't the consultant provide you with the Hygrometer? As usual "No"!

I really pity him, his farm's renovation cost is more than Rm60K and all he got was this.

There are so many problems besides the temp, there are dozens of things to be rectified. I had advised him on all aspect of reviving his poor farm. At the same time a set of CD sound was given to him to replace his current Cd sound and few bottles of Love Potion too.

So never take micros lightly. Most would say "Ai ya! If birds want to stay even the worst Micro they will stay"

This is a wrong perception.

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To the North for JV

Swiftlet farming has taking up lots of my time. A hobby that has turned up as job “24/7". Initially I thought that this hobby could take up little of my spare time but it seemed that now the commitments & responsibilities had doubled up.

I shall be in the North to JV, few farms. The prime bird zone areas which I had always admired that, how could one not making it in such good areas.

I rarely JV because I always believed in commitment & commitment always comes with responsibilities. Once committed I have to take care and making sure the farms will succeed.

Even though it is a JV, I considered it as mine as I would inject whatever knowledge I had acquired & whatever secret I had to be utilized in making the JV farms success.

I had always persisted a JV but from the sincerity and trustworthy and the consistent approach from my readers which take many months and finally I accepted it.

These farms are those which needed revamp. I would be happy to turn a failed farms around rather than farms that are average good.

This created challenges to my skills which enable me to come out with new techniques that would solve problems in farms that never had been done or solved before.

Setting up a farm is easy, anyone could do it.

What about making birds stay in the farms in the shortest period of time after the farm turned on its sound?

Then what about making them making nests in the shortest period of time?

What about increasing the bird’s population? Increasing the nests quantity?

What about creating the best possible nest quality? What about preventing them from migration?

What about best harvesting technique that systematically done and planned? What about .....& hundred of them....

I guess it would be a long list. Therefore all these commitments sometimes make you go cracko!

There are so many things to look into. So it is not easy but some how it could be done.

This is what I love about Swiftlet farming because luck rarely is your side.

Seminars?

I received many calls from my readers who are new in Swiftlet farming asking should they attend seminars to enrich their knowledge and after that became a successful farmer or after the seminar they can build successful farm.


Well , my answer is after attended seminar it will not guaranteed u that you would have a successful farm. ( 100% guarantee)




(the above are the house swifts, white rump on the back. )

(swiftlets do not have white rump on its back)

If you don't believe me check it out with those who had attended seminars. You will get the answer. Attending seminars is to learn the basic there are no secret blue print farm's design or secret technique revealed. Even it does , imagine how many people had already attended the same seminar and how many had shared the same secret and even if it is a secret, it has no longer considered a secret as too people had knew it.


Well if you want to know the basic of swiflet farming then it is good to attend seminars or to get some certificates which enable you to apply license from the council but then again it would also no guarantee that you would get the license easily.


Most seminars teach the very basic of Swiftlet farming which are : the temp of 26-30dg , Rh 85%, differences of house swifts & swiftlets ..blar..blar..which most you could get it from books, I mean selected good books, not all books are relevant some are too basic and some contradict with the basic theories. Only few selected books are good that actually could enrich you knowledge.


Therefore seminar is good for those who want to know the very basic but beyond that it is all relied on your intelligent and your eagerness to learn and most of all you need a mentor. If you don't have one, look for one. Make sure you find a good knowledgeable one. If your mentor is a half past six then you would ended up the same. " Blind leading the Blind" which is too common now that is why the failed rate of farms is getting higher.


So if you want to attend seminar go ahead but don't expect it to turn you into a SUPER SIFU just after 1 day or a 2 days courses. But there are few who had attend seminars after that thought that they are the King of Sifus........and undertake the construction, design, renovation,etc and ended up having failed farms.


Good luck!

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Raining & Wet this whole Year!

This whole year of raining almost everyday had contributed to the increase number of birds’ population. Most of us are very happy with such weather.

With such condition most new farms that had just started for couple of months able to attract birds and in a short period nests are built in farms. Even with the poor micros (temp & Rh) it could still make birds stay in farms.

Had we ever thought of what if the weather of next year suddenly changed to hot and dry? Had we ever prepared for this? I guess most didn't. If the weather of next year is hot & dry with less rain most farms would see a drastic fall in number of nests and birds that stay in farms.

( good farm that could attract birds)

Therefore a good farm should withstand or able to maintain or attracts birds in material of the weather. How many farms have the ability to do this? Certainly there are some but not all.

So make sure your farm is built and designed with such criteria in mind.

Good Luck!

Why Birds are Playing Outside the Entrance and not Going into the Farm

Many wonder and cracking their heads to find out the reasons "why birds are playing outside the entrance hole but didn't enter the farm". Some even asked me "few weeks or months ago there were many birds entering the farm and stayed". There are increasing in spot of bird' dropping but suddenly all birds only playing outside.

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These were the questions asked by my readers. Well of course there are reasons behind all situations or problems. There wouldn't be smoke if there is no fire. So we must find out where is the fire.

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Looking for the fire is not easy, so does finding the problems that affecting or preventing birds from entering the farm.Few of the main reasons are predators in farm. There big lizard, rats, etc. All these would frighten the birds thus making fear to go into the farm.

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If your farm facing the same scenario makes sure you get rid of them. But most of the time farm' owners may not know the reason. Some may even tell me that "I had checked it but no sign of predators" but when I visited their farms I could show and pin point all the signs of predators exist.

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Another is the presence of Owls and Bats. After these creatures entered the farms and left .The birds still could sense the odors of these creatures making them fear. Sometimes after the predators left it takes few weeks to get the Swiftlets back into the farms especially for new farms.

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So never allow all these predators into yr farm if you could. Always take preventive measure, have a good pest control before your new farm started the sound of your new farm.

Good luck!

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Good Meranti Planks For Farm

( in farm ready to be installed)

Getting good plank for farm is not easy as I had mentioned on my earlier articles. Wood planks in farm are one of the most important factors that justifying whether your farm would fail or success.

Good quality planks would prevent growth mould and fungus as its texture absorb less moist.

Most planks in the market are of the softer type Meranti Kepong which is light and soft. Swiftlet will not make nest on planks that are easily mould.

Most claimed that the softer wood would be ideal because it is easy for bird’ claws to grip. Then again when it is of soft wood it won't last and very soon you would see mould. But with today’s ready engraved lines on the planks the birds don't need a soft wood to hang on them. That is what the grooved planks are for, unless you intended not to have grooved lines on your planks then it is acceptable that you use soft wood.

In terms of price the Meranti Kepong (light red Meranti) is cheaper compared to the higher grade of Red Meranti and Dark Meranti.

The texture quality of the Dark Red Meranti can be easily seen. Installing them in your farm you don't have to worry about changing them which I came across many farms changing planks after few years due to deterioration of the wood. The cost would be double compared to using the best grade of woods. This not all when changing nesting planks in farm this would make all birds fly away. Some may never returned

I have been looking for good Dark Red Meranti for a while but not easy. I had visited many Sawmill and Wood supplier, most claimed it to be the Dark Red Meranti but when I look at them it is the Meranti Kepong selected and sold as the Dark Red Meranti. In other words choosing the best in M.Kepong and sold as the higher grade Meranti.

(look at the texture & color )

Finally I found a reliable source that supplying good quality Red Meranti. After examining every each pieces I considered it very good and reliable.

Currently I am using them at the farms that I am building for my Readers. They are very happy to see the differences.

For those who are interested in the above Meranti planks please send email for enquiry. StockQuantity is limited.

swifjames@yahoo.com tel: 012-3173811

Calls & SMS from my Reader

I have a Reader who has been using Love Potion regularly. He calls me very often for advise. He has few farms in the Perak. He told me that he wanted to build More farms but hesitated because the results of his farms were not good enough to motivate him to do so.

Lately he called me again and told me that he is in the mid of building 2 more farms. I asked him what transpired you to do so?

He replied "with you Love Potion I am into it". He said after using the Love Potion the nests in his farms had increased beyond expectation and for his other poor farms the number of birds have increased too.

So this gives him all the reasons to set up few more. Otherwise there is no direction for him. I was so pleased to hear that.

He told me that he uses the Love Potion regularly and he can see the dramatic changes.

I am so happy for him.

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This morning I received a SMS from a regular user of Love Potion in East coast. He has few farms too. He had just started another new BH .Below is the SMS I received.

"Really Power! I got the first nest marking "tanda" after 1 month & 22 days on my new BH only applied Love Potion".

Really happy to hear so many good results.

Sorry for not up dating my blog as I was busy with my other businesses.

Good Luck!

Using right Wood "nesting Plank" for your Farm

Have you ever thought of what wood (nesting planks) is installed in your farm? I guess most have no idea except assuming it is Meranti. There is a saying from Tan Sri Tan Chin Nam property magnate “Never assume”

Do you know how a Meranti wood looks like? Ha..ha..! I guess most wouldn't know. This is because most of the decisions of the type of planks were decided by the consultant entrusted by the owner.

As I have mentioned before, there so many type of Meranti woods. Meranti is only the general name for type of woods. It could be further divided into hundred of sub species. Let’s not go too deep into it as we are not going for a diploma in wood study & forestry.

Plank is one of the most important factors determining the growth of birds population and nest.

If the woods used in your farm are of kind that dislike by birds then it would prevent birds from making nests. So choosing the right wood is important.

As basic the wood for nesting planks should be dry, odorless, long lasting, etc. I have seen too many farms using cheap unsuitable wood as nesting plank and being charged for the price of Meranti.

Over the time these unsuitable woods rot and infested with mould and fungus. The worst is that it has to be removed in order to salvage the farm. Often than not this is very costly.

Some may try to salvage it by removing the mould and fungus. I wonder how many times they are going to do this. In no time it will come back again as the planks nature are good for mold and fungus grow. That is why in the mushroom industry certain special woods are chosen that are easily grow mould and fungus were selected to enhance the growth of mushroom.

If such woods are used as nesting planks then it would be disastrous. Not surprisingly I have encountered many farms that are using such woods. This is because the woods are easily available and to make more profit from the contract the person entrusted for the job resorted to using such wood.

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(these are not Meranti wood planks and the owner paid 3 times the price of common Meranti. After 9 months not a single bird stayed)

Pure and good Meranti woods are scare. It is controlled by the forestry dept, most were down streamed for making furniture for export as could fetch higher price.

Of course some may tell you that all woods are the same and all woods can be used as planks and you could not counter this statement because when it is newly installed in your farm for the first few months it looks good. Wait till the monster comes out from the closet when you notice changes of color on the planks.

So be wise, get someone who could identify and have good knowledge in wood to check the planks before installation. Once installed it is too late unless you are expecting the monster in the closet.

Good farming!

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Everyone wants a Swiftlet Farm

Yesterday was a tire and busy day for me. After rushing back from the North where I am building few farms for my readers. I have to meet up with one of my readers Dr.L from Cambodia.

He is a local but doing business there. In fact I do received many emails and calls from Indonesia,Thailand,Cambodia, and Vietnam.

The meeting was to discuss about new set up of farm in Cambodia. He was very keen about this business and wanted to build a farm there. He is sourcing for information that could help him to build a good farm the first time.

Most who are new in Swiftlet farming rarely do it right the first time if without guidance and clear understanding about this business.

Though it is not easy but it can be done. The basic is very important, I had met many farmers to my surprise majority of them know very little about the Macro and micro I mean the basic Macro and micro.

So it is very hard for them to achieve what they wanted if without knowing the above.

To start a Swiftlet farm is not hard. All you need is to have good capital but to have a successful one that could harvest few kgs of nests within a targeted period is not easy provided you know what you are doing.

It takes time to learn all these and there are no short cut. For sure one thing once you get involved there is no turning back.

But for those who know how to do it they really banging hard on it.

(all total 26 shop lots turned into Swiftlet farm "Banging hard on it". All owned by one single owner)

So how much would you dare to invest?

Good Luck!

Jawi - Small Town with Many Farms

I was at Jawi a small town in the North on the invitation of my reader. It was a beautiful small town with many shop lots. Most of these shop lots were converted into Swiftlet farm. For such a small town you would be surprised to see so many swiftlet farms and many more are coming up.

( Beautifully done bungalow. It is a swiftlet farm for those who couldn't notice)

It is a good location as Kuala Kurau and Bagan Serai are not too far from here. These two areas which is muddy mangrove provide good vegetation for birds. If your farm is located here the chances are that within few years having few kgs of nest is very possible. Provided you farm is swiftlet friendly.`

( all are farms "imagine yours is one of them")

Mr. Reader had contacted me a couple of times, finally I was free and decided to visit his farm and revive it. His farm is located in a good area his neighbor across the road is harvesting easily 10 kgs and above every month. Unfortunately for Mr. Reader after almost 2 years he has got only less than 20 nests.

There must be something wrong with his farm. Many wonder why farms nearby or across the road could produce so many nests and yet this one failed?

Most Readers who called me always say “my farm is ok and good, everything I checked is at acceptable level, but when I asked them how many nests? Their replies were after 3 years only 15 nests some no nests at all, most are located in prime area"

So with the numbers of nest it clearly indicated trouble. Mr. Reader was a nice person he explained to me about his experiences in farming. He said he should have started it 10 years ago but hesitated it. Every time when some of his friends tell him about how Swiftlet farming could generated huge income he laughed at them. He said at that time there were not many farms and it is much easier then.

It took him 10 years later to believe and realize that Swiftlet farming is a Multi-Million Rm business. Ha..ha..ha.. Nothing is too late!

Mr. Reader was a creative person, his farm was done solely by him of course the bricks works, etc was by the Indon workers but the whole concept was by him without engaging any consultant. His nesting planks are of the famous SWO-2 imported from Indon.

He had read many books from here he took the task by himself. It was sad too see that his farm failed. I told him to have a successful farm it takes more than just reading books or attending seminars.

When I entered his farm it was clearly observed that the farm's design failed. It is not Swiftlet friendly. This prevented birds to venture farther into other parts of the farm. Even with the Swo-2 planks it won't help.

As I went up to the 2 floor and look around the roving. The positioning of the entrance hole was wrong and it was located at position that is hard for birds to enter. All these prevent birds to fly into the farm. This is totally not swiftlet friendly.

(this is the golf resort I stay ,tranquility with nature)

I noticed many limitations in his farm and explained to him one by one the reason behind it. I told him that he needs to rectify them immediately if he wants to turn around his farm.

No point of waiting, another month, or years the un- revived farm will stay remain the same if nothing is to be done. If revived within a short period it would shows improvement.

Well he understood what I mean. The next day I was taken around the area. It was indeed a good place for farming. He was very happy that I have showed him the problem that he had been long for. If you don’t know the problem then how could you solve it?

Good luck!

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What is the Perfect Entrance Hole Size?

Entrance holes come in many sizes. Many readers had called me about this and asked "What is the perfect size?"

The Entrance holes could be rectangular, square and some even made it round. All depended the on how the design of the farm especially the roving.

(rectangular type)

The sizes obviously related to the size of the roving and farm. Too big the sunlight can easily enter the farm and this is disliked by birds. Too small it is hard for birds to fly in. So you must choose a size that could accommodate both. But for new farm a bigger entrance hole is much better than a small one.

(entrance from 2 sides)

There are no best or standardize entrance holes it all depended on the farm's design as whole.

Other consideration would be the entrance hole position, facing the East, West, etc. All these would affect or justify the appropriate entrance hole sizes.

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How many storeys should your farm be & Money can't justify successful farm.

If you're going to build a stand alone farm, how many storeys should it be? Well it could be said it depends on your budget but budget is not the main criteria.

If your budget is good for a single storey then I would advise that you should put your plan on hold wait till you have enough funds.

Since most stand alone are built on agriculture land with most surrounded by trees a double or a 3 storey would be ideal. Of course you could build one which is 4, 5 or even more storeys if you wish.

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(a very successful 3 storeys farm)

But having a 2 storeys of 20x80ft, total size is 1600sf x 2 = 3200sf. Presuming that on average (low average) of 1 sf would produce 1 nest (there are many farms that could produce more than 1 nest per sf) that would be 3200 nests per harvest. Lets assume that only 2 harvests per year. This scenario is based on a successful farm.

That would be 6400 nests per year. On average 110-130 nests depended on how you manage your internal environment. So it would be 58kg per year. If the market value on average is about Rm 3300.00 per kg (of course high quality nests could fetch up to rm 4-5k per kg).

Then 58kg x Rm 3300.00 would be Rm 191 400.00 income per year.

Isn't that wonderful? Well it looks good on paper! Then why many still want to go and build farm that are 45x120 of 4 to 6 storeys? Human nature! Greedy!

Back to the basic, even if you can afford to build a huge farm if the technical and skill aspect are not in line with what the birds want, no matter how big is your farm it is still useless.

Money can not justify success in swiflet farming. You may have the best building material, best location, best gadget,etc somehow if the magical touch of creative good farm is not there be it your building and investment cost be Rm millions you would ended up fail.

One of the simile would be like cooking. " The world's renown Chef may give you his ingredient and recipe.He may even allocate the spices, cut the vege and choose the best meat himself,etc. Everything being prepared and ready on the kitchen table. All you need to do is just put them into the wok and cook it" What would be the taste of the dishes? Would the dishes you cooked similar or taste better than if the Best Chef cooked himself? I bet you have got the answer".

Swiftlet farming skill is an Art. Be it how how many seminars you attended, who you learned from if you do have that extra thing in you it is hard to have a successful farm. Definitely this is one of the investment that with big capital would not guarantee success!

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To Prevent Thief with Alarm System

To prevent thief from our farms we could add some security gadgets in it. Some of the common ones are alarm system, cctv, etc.

There are two most use alarm system, one is the vibrate sensor type and the other one is the motion sensor type. The Vibrate type alarms will on if it sensed vibration. This happened when someone hacking the walls or the doors. If the thieves enter thru the Entrances hole without causing vibration then the alarm will not on or sound.

Where as for the motion type the alarm will only on if it sensed movement. Normally it uses the infra sensor beam. It could be placed anywhere in the farm especially at the entrance hole. A timer is set on certain hour for the alarm to function. Some good alarm only sense large object that moved so small birds' movement wouldn't trigger the alarm.

The other way is placing steel bars at the entrance hole. Many are doing it. Somehow if the holes between the bars are not big enough it will obstruct the birds when they fly in and out of the farm.

(thieves really not welcome here...ha..ha..look at the steel bars.)

For this purposes the owners need not to install alarm which he could save money and no worries about alarm is triggered on during lightning or false on which could disturb neighbours.

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Birds Fly into Uncompleted Farm

While I was busy hammering nail at the roving area of a new farm few Swiftlets flew into the half completed farm.

Two of my construction workers and I were surprised to see it. I use to bring along my camera with me but this time I didn't as I need to climb up and down the ladder and hold hammer.

It seemed that birds are not afraid of us. They came in thru the entrance hole turn few rounds and headed to the nesting. All of us were shocked to see it. After a couple of minute they flew out.

Few minutes later another 6 birds fly in again this time only 4 of them headed to the nesting.There was no sound, we had just completed the roving area only. I was happy to see how the birds reacted towards the uncompleted farm.

It was a good sign and I am sure they will come back when the farm is completed.

I guess once they liked the farm the will fly in even there are humans in it.

Weather Affecting Farms

Weather is one of the Macro factors that affect farms. These factors are wind, raining season, drought, etc.

As we live in the tropical country which there are seasons of hot days without rain and towards the end of the year rain and storm are common.

( heavy rain & strong wind are common towards the end of the year)

Observation on these helps you to understand how these affect your farms.

Wind is one of the most important factors that one needs to understand. Strong wind makes it hard for birds to fly. That is why in certain area when the monsoon started you would see that number of birds used to appear in hundred or thousand then suddenly reduced.

Understanding of the above helps in placement of entrance hole which is one of the most important criteria of a successful farm.

( look at the cloudy sky behind me, from the top of the roof, I could observe cleary)

If taken likely new farms would take a longer time for birds to stay and make nest.

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Inconsiderate Farmers

The lack of understanding and wrong perception of how a good a swiftlet farm should be had influenced farmers resorted to myth that created nuisance to others.

One of the good examples is sound, some farms are playing their volume too low while others too high. In areas that have many farms sound war is very common. This irritated their neighbors therefore making them complaining to the local council. So in this case who is the one should be blamed?

Besides that some are very inconsiderate in a sense that when they renovate their farms they can't be bordered about the eye sore that they created. Bricks are not plastered and painted, all Pvc pipes are exposed, etc. Can't they be considerate? Perhaps they want to show off or telling the whole town that they are doing Swiftlet farming.

(The whole roles of shops are Swiftlet farms. The ventilation pipes are covered with aluminum windows to camouflage. The aluminum windows are not cheap. The owners willing to spend to create a good looking exterior. How many would do that?)

Well in such cases If the council takes action I will be on the side of the council. Why must we create or make farms that attract attention? Wouldn't it be good if no one knows that there are farms at that area? When there are no complain the then council won't disturb you.

We attract the attention of birds not the council or our neighbors, don't mistaken it. If you can't even differentiate it then harvesting many kgs is going to be a continued dream that never came thru.

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Hidden Agenda in Mukah, Sarawak.

(once sugar added sure settle one)

What happened in Mukah, Sarawak has hidden agenda. Source says there are seemed to be less demand on cave nest lately.

This is due to more oversea buyers looking for house nests. This affected the KOPI money of the related department who are taking care of caves and forest. To retaliate they are now punishing the Bh owners for affecting their side income.

This is a very common revenge strategy of Malaysia Boleh spirit.

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