(Forest Burning In Indonesia)The Indonesian forest and plantation burning is a yearly ritual affair since the late eighties. Lack of authority control and poor regulation management, plantation owners’ burn old crops to clear way for replanting. This happened in Sumatera and Jawa.
It created hazes and affected not only the surrounding area but also its neighboring countries. Economy of these countries are affected some flights have to be cancelled due to thick haze, tourist avoid coming to these places, etc. The impact is unimaginable. It is bad news to all neighboring countries. But…..But..
But it is good news to Swiftlet farmers in Malaysia. History always repeats itself. It is the best time to take advantage of this opportunity “The Great Migration of Jawa A.Fuchiphangus”.
Way back in the eighties when the forest burning in Sumatera started it forced the Swiftlets to look for new homes and this created the migration. During that time there were not many Swiftlet farms in Malaysia. There were only few Bhs that were started by those who have been to Indonesia. You could count them it is less than your fingers perhaps there were only one or two Swiftlet farms in the whole town.
During these period Swiftlets were forced to leave their homes ( swiftlet farms) in Indonesia or else they would die. They fly to places like Penang, Setiawan, Taiping Parit Buntar, Klang, Melaka, Muar and so on to seek new shelters and abandoned their Homes in Indonesia.
Those who knew about Swiftlet farming at that time took this opportunity and now they are the pioneers.
I still remember in my home town Taiping thirty over years ago. My neighbors used long polls to remove nests from its corridor. They were grass nests at the outer part of the corridors and the inner side at the stair case there were birds’ nests (EBN). The aunties there claimed the birds dirtied the walk way.
Now these whole rolls of shop lots had turned into Swiftlet farms and most of them are very successful. So the haze is here and now it is up to how well you know how to take advantage of it.
At present not only you need to attract as many migration birds as possible at the same time to prevent your existing swiftlest from leaving your Bhs.
One of the most important things to do during this haze period is to make sure your Bhs Humidity (Rh ) is at its optimum level. Optimum level of Rh would reduce the effect of haze in Bhs. If the Bh is dry then birds especially the babies would suffer and the mortality rate will be high. With such situation adult birds would avoid such Bhs when they want to make nests. This is birds’ natural instinct they seemed to know which Bhs is best for them. That is why some Bhs could attract more birds than others. During this period the Rh has to be at 85% constantly. This is the most crucial period.
Secondly having water sprinkles outside the entrance hole would help. Now you know why Indonesia’s Bhs have water or mist sprinkler at their entrance holes.
Third, if the smog/haze is too thick and continued for weeks/months your Bhs would smell like a smoke house. Birds don’t like such environment. We may not notice it as human nose is not as sensitive as birds. To counter this you need to spray Aroma to reduce the smoke effect. (Recommended Love potion).
Even Bhs that already have plenty of nests (few kgs) and with very thick drooping. This won’t reduce the smoke smell.
So this is a very crucial period, you could attract lots of migration birds to your Bhs if you know what to do. At the same time if you just leave it as it is the existing birds in your Bhs may leave too.
So do something about it today. For smart Swiftlet farmers they are seeking every opportunity every moment to attract migration birds and at the same time steal your swiftlets when your Bhs internal environment deteriorated.
Good Swiftlet farming All