Birds attracted by the Gs-9 Ext sound.
Spraying Love Potion to repel cement smell and other odors.
The Planking system and Tweeters arrangement.
Simple set up of sound system.
After couple of months of construction finally an old bungalow was converted to a Swiftlet farm and started its sound. It was a rainy day the road to this Bh is muddy luckily I was driving a 4x4.
For the past few weeks before, the weather was hot and dry. It wasn’t the right time to switch on the sound. I asked the owner does he have a particular date to switch on the sound. As many believe switching on the sound has to be on a good date because it is like opening a new business. For those who believe in Feng Shui the time and the date to switch on the sound is very important.
Before this the birds have been visiting this Bh even though the sound system was not ready. I told the owner this is a good sign. Often if birds fly into Bh that is under construction or almost completed it shows that they are not afraid and they like the Bh.
On the day of preparation to switch on the sound I checked all equipments especially the sound systems making sure it is running well and the tuning is right. The tuning of the sound system of New Bh and Old Bh are different. The internal environment of new Bh and old Bh is totally different by understand this we could adjust the sound system accordingly to what we wanted to maximize the effect of attracting birds.
This is an old bungalow, I have chosen to convert it into a Bh rather than building a new standalone at the same area. Obviously by converting it would be better than building a new Bh because structurally the bungalow is already existed for long time and birds that come foray for food have got used to its existent.
So indirectly it is just like opening a new hole for the birds to come in. By doing such it has reduced the adaptation time significantly. If a new standalone were to be built then it would take a longer time for the birds to adapt to it. Therefore when we first visited this area I advise the owner to convert the old bungalow to a Bh instead of building a new 3 storey one. Furthermore it also saves in cost of construction. When building a Bh we have to take consideration and have to look into all angles from cost saving to good farm design.
After the sound system has been set-up and tuned Love Potion was sprayed on all walls below the nesting planks and entrance hole. This is to repel all unfavorable smells in the Bh. There are many unfavorable odors that have been accumulated in the Bh during months of construction. To name few, cement smell, workers’ body odors, Pvc piping and adhesive smells, machineries carbons emission etc. All these would affect the Bh. The longer these smells remain in the Bh the longer it takes for birds to stay and make nests. Thru our experiences we have been using Love Potion to repel all these odors and it works very well therefore we seldom use birds shit like many do.
While spraying the Love Potion few birds fly into the Bh. I ask the worker “better spray fast we have to get out the birds are flying in”. The birds seem to like the smell of Love potion.
After all have done we locked the door and we observe from outside there were birds circling at the Hexagonal tweeter and few without much effort glided into the Bh. It was so smooth like without fear and obstacles going thru the Entrance hole. The birds were not stopping at the entrance hole they just dived in.
I am satisfied to see the birds behaved and their responses towards the new Bh. So the conclusion “The Birds had entered the Bh “. That was the first objective and most important to all new Bhs.
Yet it is sad to see and hear that there are many newly built Bhs after switching on its sound for weeks or months and yet there is not a single bird flying into the Bh. ‘ How could this be?”
Those Bhs have this problem may call me or email me. I might give you some tips!
I spent few hours there after the sound started and observe further. There were groups of birds that come and go. For such location which is not a Prime Birds Zone I won’t expect much. As long the birds come and play and entered the Bh I am satisfied. As I have seen many failed Bhs, birds hardly want to get near the entrance hole or the bh at all. This is common and many Bhs are facing such problem and the owners can’t figure it out what were the reasons behind it.
There are many reason for this..it could be related to sound, aroma, design of the Bh, size and placement of entrance hole,etc........
So if you have got all these right then you shouldn't be worry about the the Bh.
Good Swiftlet farming All!
*The above Bh is using GS-9 (External sound) and Hypnotic (Internal Sound)*