(you can observe how the birds fly)
Why birds are not flying in? Why they hardly want to come near the entrance hole? Why they play at the tweeters but reluctant to fly into the farm. These are the commonly asked questions and many.
There are many reasons for this but let’s look at one of the most important factors “ the Design of the Roving area which includes the entrance hole , its sizes, the height and so on.
Let’s take Dog Kennel (DK) as an example. The size height and shape influence the flying path of the birds. If it is not properly planned to accommodate the flying path of the birds then birds wouldn’t fly in.
Swiftlets need certain space to maneuver. If the angle is too narrow they would avoid it. This is Swiftlet’s natural instinct because if they make mistake and hit the wall they would fall and that is the end of the swiftlets. Once they fall on the ground it is hard for them to fly as they have weak legs to push or jump to create the force to take off. Unlike other birds which the legs are use to push them of the ground before they flap the wings.
So you see it is very important to understand how Swiftlet fly. By understanding this it would help you to build a good farm. Nevertheless there are other factors which influence this. I wonder how many books or is there any books ever talked about this? “NONE”.
Though generally most books advised that the DK size should be around 12x12ft and the Roving as well. This is a general guidelines ( 1+1 =2). It doesn’t mean you follow by the toe you would have a successful farm.
Some of the DK I designed are smaller than 12x12ft and there are plenty of birds flying in. It is all about the flying angle. Though the size helps, the size would reduce narrow angle but at the same time it defeated the DK purposes eventually birds play at the Roving and reluctant to venture to the nesting.
The height of the DK shouldn’t be too high. The higher the DK the narrower the angle for the birds to dive in and fly out. Young birds that just learned to fly couldn’t take such narrow angle would ended up dying therefore it is uncommon to see dead birds in farm.
Swiftlets have very good instinct (God created) furthermore coupled with their echolocation system they could somehow know the fly difficulty in the farm from outside. Once they sensed the difficulty they won’t want to fly in.
By understanding this I always use my imagination and instinct “of cause human instinct” to observe and contemplating on it and come out with the best possible design.
To add a like to this Swiftlet is a very unique bird (God created). Be kind hearted, generous, nice, no envy, definitely no bad mouth other and so on eventually your farm will have many nests.
Good Swiftlet Farming All! Best is to Teach And Share.
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