Does painting the internal walls of Swiftlet farms with dark colors make a different? What do you think? Is it a myth or it is a must do kind of thing in Bh?
Or just follow what other people do………...
Like I’d always said know what you are doing don’t simple follow blindly. Before we decided whether to paint the internal walls or otherwise we must understand the reason behind it.
Is there a need to paint it? How does it help the farm? Have you ever asked yourself these questions before you paint all the walls?
I have visited many Bhs and it is sad to see many Bhs’ walls are painted. When I ask the owner why you painted it the reply was “Bird like it dark”. When I ask how you knew it? Most replies were “I don’t know, I just follow because many people painted it..I guess birds like it dark.” These are their common replies.
So it is clearly seen that most owners and consultants did what they have done practically by following others without having own judgment.
So is it necessary to paint the internal walls? “It could be No, and it could be Yes, all depended on how the Bh is being designed. Obviously the DK type design wouldn’t need so much of painting compared to an OR type of Bh.
Walls are painted to reduce the light density in the Bh. As we know a good Bh should have the correct light density. Too dark is bad and too bright birds won’t stay.
Painting the internal walls is more of a remedy works to correct mistakes. If the Bh is designed correctly and the Designer has taken into consideration of the light density while designing the Bh then painting the walls of Bh issue wouldn’t exist at all. If there is a need to paint, it would be done only to small sections of the Bh (Not the entire Bh).
Obviously most would use Black color to do the job. But it doesn’t mean other colors can’t be used. Some swear by only a type of color while others don’t really follow as long it would darken the Bh.
Does different colors matter? Black, Green, Brown…..etc.
To be frank most animals are color blind.( source: Natgeo) They differentiate colors by tone and contrast so whether it is Black, Green, Brown, etc it is all in tone, brighther on darker.
That is why when the Bh is in total darkness Birds won’t stay and won’t venture deep into the nesting area because there are no contrast and tone it makes flying difficult.. It is most important for newly build Bhs to have the contrast and tone effect in it. Without the contrast effects it will be the end of the newly built Bh.
Have you thought of that? Did you think of that when you engaged a consultant to build your Bh? I bet you never.
Have you thought of that when you DIY your own Bh……?
Well there are so much more to learn. To build a successful Swiftlet farm is more than just opening a hole and install some tweeters. It takes more than that.
Good Swiftlet Farming
