Last week I was invited to visit this Swiftlet farm located
not far from K. Kinabalu. The owner couldn't figure it out why Swiftlets
reluctant to stay and build nests in it. It looks good from the outside.
Occasionally there are birds playing around the entrance. They fly in and left
without staying. You wouldn't believe, there is not a single nest in this
Swiftlet farm.
Started almost 2 years ago. A single storey 20x80 Swiftlet
farm built in a good location but failed to attract Swiftlets to stay and build
nests. What has gone wrong?
The owner has few Swiftlet farms. The first one he built a
few years earlier was doing quite good. This has transpired him to build a few
more. With that confidence, he built
this one two years ago. It shared (almost) the same design except this is a
single storey farm.
He knew there was something wrong somewhere but he couldn't
figure it out. You need to know where the problems lie or else you can't
diagnose it. Finding the problem is twice the difficulty than solving it. That
is why many Swiftlet farms failed to attract birds after it has been revamped.
They had not discovered the underlying causes.
When I walked into the farm, there were a few things that
attracted my attention . The Ventilation control was not properly managed. There were too many
Ventilation holes........... Almost every 2 feet one Ventilation hole making
the internal micro very unstable.
The hot air from outside could easily flow into the farm it
jeopardizes the whole effort of stabilizing the Humidity at a constant of 80%
RH (average). For this 20x80 ft farm,
there are about 100 Vent holes, in other words for every column there is
a window if this were a house.
It means the outside environment and the inside environment
are of almost the same. In such case why would the birds want to build nests in
this Swiftlet farm?
All Ventilation holes are fixed with elbows only, the glare
from the elbows confuse the birds it also makes the Farm brighter. Recommended
a 3ft PVC pipe with the inner painted matt black to be jointed to all elbows to
reduce glare.
The owner has been influenced by some so called very
creative persons. He used the Car-Tweeters
believing that it would attract more birds to stay but the outcome was
disastrous. He didn't know that Car-Tweeters were made for a small enclosed
environment merely 5x8ft in size ( create for compact environment). Therefore,
the sound it produces is not suitable for Siwftlet farm which is more of a hall
type. Futhermore the manufacturing setting of frequency for Car-Tweeters are
more toward high kHz which is not suitable for Internal use.
The second Entrance Hole is 4x6ft which is too big for such
design. The light from the 1st Entrance Hole could easily penetrate into the
farm reaching the last wall of the farm. It was definitely too bright. I could
play mahjong inside. A partition is needed here to block the light from
reaching the back of the farm. Also reducing the size of the second entrance
hole would help a lot.
There were only 2 tweeters on the second entrance hole. It
is not enough, I recommend at least 6, to fill up both sides and the top of the entrance hole.
Currently there are all playing the External Sound. I would recommend it to
play some Internal sounds. Remember External sound is to attract Birds to come
and play but Internal sound is the one that attracts them to make nests. Don't
underestimate the power and the ability of Internal Sound. ( Recommended to use
HAVOC P-9 Internal sound)
This Swiftlet farm has adopted a design similar to those
that I have seen in Indonesia. Every 8 ft it has a partition. The partitions
are only about 8 ft wide leaving a walkway in between. The only way I could
describe it is......."Horse Stable".
The owner seemed to pay more attention to the External
sound. External sound is dominating in this farm. The volume is loud, it
reduces the effectiveness of the Internal sound. That is why most birds would
fly in and leave and never built nests.
The Tweeters were
wrongly fixed on the Entrance Hole. It should be fixed on both sides and
the top of the Entrace hole at the wall...not outside. In the picture above,
the Tweeters position wouldn't attract or encourage birds to fly inside the
farm. Furthermore the two bars that hold the tweeters would attract Owls and
Eagles to perch there.
The Entrance hole is too big in ratio to the size of this
farm. Bear in mind the design and the size of the farm justify the size of the
Entrance hole. It is all subjected to the design of a particular farm. Things
that we have to take into consideration are : Number of storey (floor), Height
of Dg, Width of Dg, Pre-planned partitioning, etc. As far as this farm is
concerned the Entrance hole is too big.
There are two options here, 1) to reduce the size of the 1st
entrance hole. 2) To reduce the size 2nd Entrance hole. Both are interrelated
and have their consequences. What would you do????
For me, I would not
touch the 1st Entrance hole as many birds have adapted to that size. Any
changes would spook them and prevent them from flying into the farm.
It is much safer to alter the size of the 2nd Entrance hole.
Bear in mind we are revamping a farm not building a new one. In farm
revamping, we try not to scare the
birds. Once the size of the 2nd Entrance hole is reduced, this would reduce the
glare by 20%. A partition is erected at
least 10ft away from the 2nd Entrance hole. This would further reduce the glare
by another 30%.
Sometimes it is good to listen to new and crazy ideas and
try it out in your Swiftlet farm, but if that idea is not going to work your
Swiftlet farm will suffer. The above farm is a good example of trying new
ideas. At the end, the biggest loser
is farm owner not the person who came
out with the idea.
Remember your Swiftlet farm is your life investment, not
other people guineapig or experimental playground.
After this visit, we
headed back to our Hotel. A good rest is needed as I have another 3 Switlet farms to visit. The itinerary for the next day is to visit another
Swiftlet farm in Kimanis.
Good Swiftlet Farming All!
