When it comes to Swiftlet farming we have to be very
careful. There are lots of things or I call it “the Pantang things” we
should avoid from doing.. There is no turning back once it had been done. Some
are so severe that it killed the whole farm.Birds totally abandon the farm.
Some take years for only a few birds to
return to nest. Some never recuperated and the farm eventually becomes a ghost
house of birds.
I believe many farmers are actually doing these “Pantang
things “ without even realizing that they are killing their own farms.
This is the result of poor knowledge in Swiftlet farming. Can’t blame them I
guess if they know what they are doing they wouldn’t have done it.
I customer of mine complained about the poor performance of
his Swiftlet farm which located in Pahang. A 3 storey stand alone located in a
plantation with plenty of vegetation. It has operated for more than a year now
but only has 40 nests. His friend’s standalone built later not far away has more than 200 nests.
He told me, “James maybe I have no luck..maybe luck has
not come yet”.
I told him there is no magic in Swiflet farming. All the
things we do will eventually show results either good or bad.
I told him there must be something you have done that might
have affected the growth. He disagrees with me, he said the standalone was
built by a well known consultant.
It seems all the birds stayed on the 2nd floor
and none even dare to fly to the ground floor. I haven’t visited his Swiftlet
farm so I couldn’t comment much because it would be biased if I did so.
But I know something is not right. I asked him, did he put something
in his farm, any predators? Also ….How are the temperature and humidity?…etc…blah..blah..
As usual all Swiftlet farmers would reply “all
are fine” no exception to this
owner .He gave the same reply.To me, if all are fine his farm would have few
hundred nests like his friend’s farm.
How is the ventilation control I asked? He replied,there are
2 huge exhaust fans on every floor . Do
you know what is that for? He replied to cool down the farm. I said if the farm
is built properly with good insulation and had anticipated all these heat kinda
things….. does ones still needs those huge exhaust fans? I guess by now he should
have known what I mean.
He showed me some pictures of his farm…I wouldn’t want to comment much. I
told him to wait until I had visited the farm and I will comment. While
scrolling the pictures on his phone I ask him to stop…”hey wait could you backspace
that picture?”
I saw a picture of a fire being lighted up in the farm. It
is not a small fire like a cigarette
lighter. Even a cigarette lighter would
cause disaster to a farm.
Someone had set up a fire on the ground floor to burn
something. I asked the owner what were they burning. Lastly he told me they use
fire to burn small bee, ants, spiders ,etc. They did it on a regular basis as
long they see pests.
Oh no my god..how could they do this. Didn’t they know fire
and smoke is the # 1 enemy of Swiftlet. Forest fire and haze in Indonesia in
1997 caused the big migration of Swiftlet to Malaysia.
Animals are very sensitive to fire even a small fire from a
lighter would scare them away. What more burning it this way. The smell from
the smoke will be in the farm for a long time. Imagine fire and smell, it is a
real disaster and the owner said everything is fine.
There are many things we should avoid doing, using or putting
in our farms. To name a few… never used mosquito spray in farms as its contain proletarian
& d-phenothrin which attack the nerves of those contacted. Never
burn or smoke in farm…there are many cases where people sabotaged other farms
by throwing the “kemenyen” incense into
the roving during night.
Swiftlets are very sensitive to smell therefore new erected Swiftlet
farms take time to attract them to stay as they have a strong cement smell.
In the above case the owner set fire in his own farm…so what
else could he expect? I told him he was damn lucky to have 40 nests. I expected
the birds would migrate soon if he is not going to do something to rectify it.
Throughout my many years of experience I knew very well, once
the owner says “everything is fine” this is where the problem starts.
I hope you guys out there don’t do the same. Burning is one thing…there are hundreds
of things that you could never imagine those owners would do to their farm until
they tell you.
So this is truly a case of No fire No Smoke.
Good Swiftlet farming All!