建造廉价的燕屋農場来測試 TO BUILD A CHEAP SWIFTLET FARM FOR TEST OUT

這一封電子郵件是我幾天前从我的一個讀者收到的。他本來想進入养燕行业，照我想是一個低成本的燕屋農場。念在口上的"測試"。

請閱讀如下：

親愛的James

我以極大的興趣閱讀你燕養的部落格和經驗。我有一塊非常小的農地在P.......，我很感興趣要建立一個燕屋農場。然而，這些对我来说都是很新鲜的，我不確定我的农地是否能用来养燕。

你是否能幫我在這一点？我肯定會需要你的帮助来提供設置所需的設備和你的建議来構建一個廉價的燕屋農場，来測試一下，看看這块农地是否能夠吸引燕子。

此致敬意

Mr.S...........

这里沒有便宜或昂貴的燕屋農場。但是却有成功和失敗的燕屋農場。

燕子不会理会您的燕屋農場有多便宜或昂貴。最重要的是，它的设计是否能適應它們。

絕對沒有"測試"。要就做到最好，要不就完全不要做。

燕屋農場里的溫度和濕度（內部環境）都必須在適當的水準才能让燕子覺得舒服。滿足了这个標準它們才會留下來和做燕窝。(有关于一個好的設計"飛行路徑")

通常良好的內部環境控制有很多都是与燕屋農場的天花板與牆壁的材料有关。雙層式磚塊，厚天花板与有良好的通風，等等。所有這些都涉及費用。沒有捷徑可走，而且它們並不便宜。

如果你想要測試廉價的燕屋農場，我的建議是不如把钱省下去旅行或玩一些愛好更好不如。往往廉价的燕屋農場使用盡可能少的材料來建造，而且大多數是沒有放热材料。

有數以上千的失敗廉價燕屋農場在外面。如果你不熟悉這個行業，你可能沒有注意到它。

很多人仍然認為只要有个入口洞，只要有一些高音喇叭或只要安装一些木板，等等，燕子就會來居住和做燕窝。他們的领悟完全是錯誤的。

往往为了要節省成本，大部分會在工程中減少材料。單層磚块、 使用鋅板为牆壁、 石棉和發泡 （夹心），便宜3等的Meranti木等等。你想的到的。他們都做的到来节省成本，完全忽略了燕子的要求。

他們的主要目的是節省成本，他們完全沒有注意到他們在做什麼。

這只是材料和施工部分，設計部分有如何。铭记在心，就算燕屋農場的的內部環境控制是，但是如果設計不能滿足它們，它們也可能不居住和做燕窝。這句話"良好的設計"到底代表著什麼呢？

它包括"飛行路徑"。燕子所需的角度和長度，可以自由自在地飛翔，沒有遇到任何困難。此外，入口孔的適當大小和每个作窝区和环绕区的大小，这样燕子才可以輕鬆地飞入這些地區。

这些各方面都必須联系在一起，從設計到材料和施工。顯然，建設燕屋農場的費用固然重要，但是都是次要。（其他人可能不這麼認為，当然他們有他们的權利。）

你是否想要拥有一个便宜建造低成本又失敗的燕屋農場，还是一個價格合理又成功的燕屋農場呢？嗯，決定權在你。

大家有好燕屋農場 ！

TO BUILD A CHEAP SWIFTLET FARM FOR TEST OUT

This is an email I had received a couple of days ago from one of my readers. He had wanted to venture into Swiftlet farming, which I suppose a low cost Swiftlet farm. The catchy word was “ Test Out”.

Please read below:

Dear James,

I read with great interest your blogs and experience on swiftlet farming.  I have a very small piece of farmland in P..... which I am interested in building a swiftlet farm.  However, this is new to me and I am not sure if a swiftlet farm would work on my farm. 

Would you be able to help me on this?  I would definitely need your help to supply the equipment required to set up and also your advice on constructing a cheap farm to test out and see if the place is able to attract swiftlets.

Best regards

Mr.S...........

There are no cheap or expensive Swiftlet farms. But there are successful and failed Swiftlet farms.

Swiftlets couldn’t bother how cheap or expensive a farm is. Most importantly, how it is being designed to suit them.

Definitely no “Test Out”. Do the best or don’t do it at all.

The temperature and the humidity in a Swiftlet farm (internal environment) has to be at an appropriate level where Swiftlets feel comfortable. With this criteria met they will stay and build nests. ( subjected to a good design” Flying path”)

Often good Internal environment control has very much to do with the material of the walls and the ceiling of the farm. Double layered bricks, a thick ceiling with good ventilation,etc. All these involve costs. There are no short cuts and they are not cheap.

If you want to test out on the cheap Swiftlet farms, my advice would be to better save the money for a vacation or on some hobbies. Often cheap Swiftlet farms use least possible material to build and most are without insulation materials.

There are thousands of failed cheap Swiftlet farms out there. If you unfamiliar with this industry, you may fail to notice it.

Many still think that as long there is an Entrance hole, as long there are some tweeters fixed at the entrance hole, or as long there are nesting planks and so on, birds will come to stay and build nests. They had perceived it wrongly.

Often to save cost most would cut down on materials during construction. Single layered bricks, using zinc sheets as walls, asbestos and Styrofoam (sandwich), cheap 3rd graded Meranti, etc. You name it. They do it for the sake of cost saving and totally ignore the bird's requirements.

Their main objective is cost saving and they have completely oblivious to what they are doing. 

This is only the material and construction part,  what about the design. Bear in mind, even when a Swiftlet farm is constructed to good internal environmental control, if the design doesn’t suit them, they may not stay and build nests. What does the phrase “ Good Design” means?

It encompasses “ Flying Path”. A degree and length needed for a bird to fly freely without any difficulty. Also, the adequate size of the Entrance hole and the size of each nesting and roving areas so that birds could easily  access these areas.

All aspects must come together, from designing to materials and construction. Obviously the cost of building a Swiftlet farm is important, but they are secondary. ( Other people may think differently and they have all the rights to differ.)

Would you want to own a cheaply built low cost failed Swiftlet farm or a reasonably priced successful Swiftlet farm? Well, the decision is yours.

Good  Swiftlet farming All!

草燕和可食燕窝的燕子 GRASS NESTS SWIFTLET and EDIBLE BIRDS NEST SWIFTLET

一位部落格的讀者打电话给我想要知道是否可以在福隆港建燕屋农场，因為他的父母在那裡擁有一小塊的土地。好吧，讓我解釋一下。

如果你旅行到高原地方像金马伦，福隆港和雲頂高原你會看到很多燕子在天空中漫遊。有人可能會想，是不是一个很好的养燕地方，因為有很多植物在這些地方。有上千畝的原始叢林在這裡。它將提供充足的食物给燕子。在這裡有一個燕屋農場应该是很理想的。很多人都可能会这么認為。

如果在這裡建了一個燕屋農場，會很容易成功嗎？

不...不...它將永遠都不會。那些遨遊在天空的燕子不是可食燕窝的燕子 （A.Fuciphagus）。那些是草窩的草燕。它們的窝是用杂草、 海藻及很小百分比的唾液。它没有商業價值，因为有大量的杂草和藻類污染了唾液。

(掉落在地板上的草窝）

（在這裡还有另外一個。這不是可食的燕窝）

对于新手来说，所有的燕子看起來都是相同的，其中包括所有在天空中飛翔的鸟。不是很多人可以分别它們。很明顯，通過判斷它的燕窝可以很容易的辨認。但是，你能分别只是看看它們如何飞翔嗎？一些人一定會想是否有可能嗎？是的，它是可能的，讓我與你分享一些技巧。

他們在空中的飞翔方式是不同的。一個人只需要有豐富的經驗和足夠瘋狂的把整個生活投入养燕......就好像我...哈哈哈。。。如果你对养燕沒有愛或激情，那么就很難抓到這種技能。

高原的燕子体型是較小的。我讲的不是那些在走廊尤其是在昔加末，笨珍，永平就举舉幾个例子的草燕。那些是Apus-Apus。那些是黑色的和在背部有白色的线條。

高原草燕是較小，它們有更深的顏色，綠色和深棕色。他們飛行的行為，他們飛的不穩定，極具侵略性，快速，可以急轉彎。因此，它們可以飛過小孔和小的裂缝，沒有任何困難。

由於它们的飛行能力和行為，它們可以住在海拔1000米以上的地區。在這一級，它有不同類型的昆蟲由於其高海拔。不同的環境會產生不同的食物（昆蟲）。這些食物來源可能不適合可食燕窝的燕子 (A.Fuciphagus）金絲燕。這就是為什麼你不會看到可食燕窝的燕子在1300米以上。

然而可食燕窝的燕子 (A.Fuciphagus）它們飞翔的方式傾向滑翔飛、 较慢的行動和非常優美。它們採取更大的回轉圓行飛行，与那些草燕相比它们可採取一個鋒利的小转弯。它們更深的棕色和有一束光棕色在較低的背上。

因此，是非常的重要来理解和區分它們的飛行行為，如果你想要設計一個好的燕屋農場。從這裡你會知道什麼是最小的長度和寬度来做环绕区和作窝区的需求。这并不是什么猜謎遊戲。你知道就知道，不知道就不知道。

（這燕子看起來非常像那些屋燕)

我想實際上有多少人知道和理解這一點？也許只是少數...也許低於。在我多年的參與养燕坦率地說，10个里有9个是不知道或理解這一點的。

如果你不能區分燕子的類型。

如果你不懂不同的燕子有不同的飞翔方式。

那麼你是如何希望它們來幫你建立一個成功的燕屋農場？

大家有好燕屋农场 ！

電話： 012-3173811 電子郵件： SWIFJAMES@YAHOO.COM

第一养燕激素。"快速增加燕窝"。如果你的燕屋農場做得不好。嘗試一瓶，看看它的不同。

GRASS NESTS SWIFTLET and EDIBLE BIRDS NEST SWIFTLET

A blog reader of mine calls and wants to know whether he could build a Swiftlet farm in Fraser Hill as his parent owns a plot of land there. Well, let me explain.

If you travel to places like Cameron Highland, Frazer Hill and Genting Highland you would see plenty of Swiftlets roaming in the sky. One may think, isn’t it a good place for Swiftlet farming as there is plenty of green in all these areas. There are thousand of acres untouched jungle here. It  would provide plenty of food for Swiftlets. Having a Swiftlet farm here would be ideal. So as many would think so.

If a Swiftlet farm were to build here, would it be easily successful?

NO…NO…it will never. Those Swiftlets that roam the sky are not Edible Bird Nests Swiftlet (A.Fuciphagus). They are Grass Nests Swiftlets. Their nests are made with grass, algae and small percentage of saliva. It has no commercial value as the large amount of grass and algae contaminate the saliva.

( Nest fell, on the floor)

( Here is another one. This not Edible Birds Nests)

For Newbies  all Swiftlets looked the same that included all birds that fly in the sky. Not many people could differentiate them. Obviously by judging from the nests it could be easily identified. But, could you tell by looking at how they fly? One must be wondering is it possible? Yes, it is possible and let me share some tips with you.

They fly differently in the air. One needs to have vast experience and crazy enough to devote its entire life into Swiftlet farming…..like me ha..ha..ha.. If you don’t have the love or passion for Swiftlet farming, then it is hard to grab this skill.

The highland Swiftlets are smaller in sizes. I am not talking about those grass Swiftlets at those corridors or 5 foot way of Segamat, Pontian, Yong Peng to name a few. Those are Apus-Apus. They are black in color and have a white strip on their lower back.

The highland Grass Swiftlets are smaller, they have a deeper color of greenish and deep brown. As for their flying behavior, they fly erratically, very aggressive, fast and could negotiate sharp turns. Therefore, they could fly through small holes and small gaps without any difficulty.

 Because of their flying ability and behavior, they could live in an area of more than 1000 meters above sea level. At this level, it has different type of insects due to its elevation. Different environment produces different food ( Insect). These food sources may not suitable for the Edible Birds Nests (A. fuciphagus) Swiftlets. That is why you won’t see EBN Swiftlets above  1300 meters.

Where as the Edible Birds Nests (A. fuciphagus) Swiftlet they tend to glide as the fly, slower in action and very much graceful. They take bigger turning circle when flying  compare to those Grass Swiftlets which could take a sharp small corner. They are dark brown in color toning toward deeper brown and had a light brown on their lower back.

Therefore, it is important to understand and differentiate their flying behavior if you want to design a good Swiftlet farm. From here you would know what is the minimum length and width required for a roving and a nesting area. There is no guessing game here. Either you know or you don’t.

(The Bird looks very much like those House Swiftlet)

I wonder how many actually know  and understand this? Perhaps just a handful…maybe less than that. Through my many years of involvement in Swiftlet farming to be frank, 9 out of 10 didn’t know or understand this.

If one can’t differentiate the type of Swiftlets.

If one  doesn’t understand how different Swiftlets fly differently .

Then how would you expect them to build you a successful Swiftlet farm?

Good Swiftlet farming All!

TEL: 012-3173811 EMAIL: SWIFJAMES@YAHOO.COM

NO:1 SWIFTLET HORMONE . " FAST NESTS GROWTH". IF YOUR SWIFTLET FARM IS NOT DOING GOOD. TRY A BOTTLE AND SEE THE DIFFERENT.

在城市里的燕屋农场 SWIFTLET FARMS IN THE CITY

上星期我在柔佛前往一些好友的燕屋农场。房地產的繁榮真的改變了的柔佛州的天際線尤其是依斯干達開發區附近。

几年前来过Bandar Baru Permas Jaya，這個小鎮被認為不好的物業投資。

如果我的記憶力还好的话，這里只有幾家咖啡店和辦公室在經營，大部分的店鋪单位被空置。

除了把它们轉化為燕屋农场你还可以把它們起成什么。那是許多年前的事了。但是，現在一切都改變了。房地產的繁榮把帶業務來到這座城市。現在它是繁華和有許多商務工作的市镇。

但是在這裡的燕屋农场仍然是一概不变，有很好的偽裝、 融入到城市的生活。據估計80%的馬來西亞的燕屋农场是來自店鋪单位。商店单位的成功率是非常遠高於那些獨立燕屋农场（独立式）。

如果你不是養燕的，你將永遠不會注意到有這麼多不同的燕窩農場。這裡只是我拍照片的一小部分。

慢慢欣賞照片。你可以在城市里的店鋪单位建立一间燕屋农场，但是要確保它們有很好的偽裝，融入到城市的環境。

蓬勃發展的城鎮

這是一个独特的。招牌說明一切。

他們在卡拉Ok里播放燕子的聲音。

做得非常好的通風孔

在一家旅館的后面

巨大的入口洞

猜猜看，燕屋农场在哪里？

舊設計的燕屋农场、 用水泥板来封闭了窗口。

這一没有好好的偽裝。我猜是這裡唯一一個看起來像這樣的

大家有好燕屋农场。

想要快速的燕窝增長和保留小燕子。请使用Love Potion

SWIFTLET FARMS IN THE CITY

Last week I was in Johor Bahru visiting some old Swiftlets buddies. The property boom had really changed the skyline of Johor Bahru especially those near the Iskandar development areas.

I was at Bandar Baru Permas Jaya. Many years back, this  town was considered a bad investment for property investors. 

If my memory served me well, it was just few coffee shops and offices operating then, and most Shop lots were left unoccupied. 

What are you to do with them other then converting them into Swiftlet farms. That was many years  back. But, now everything had changed. The property boom had brought business to this town. Now it is a bustling town with many business activities.

But the Swiftlet farms here remain unchanged, very well camouflaged and blended into the city life. 

It is estimated 80% of Swiftlet farm in Malaysia come from Shop lot. The successful rate of Swiftlet farming from Shop lot unit is very much higher than those of Standalone ( bungalow).

If you are not into Swiftlet farming, you will never noticed that there are so many Swiftlet farms here.

Here is only a fraction of them which I took picture.

Enjoy the pictures. You could build  Swiftlet farms in  Shop Lots in a city, but make sure  they are nicely camouflaged and blended in to city environment.

Booming town

This is a unique one. The Signboard says it all. 

They play Swiftlet sound in Karaoke.

 A very well done Vent-holes

 At the back of a Hotel

 Huge Entrance Hole

 Guess, where is the Swiftlet farm?

 Old design Swiftlet farms, cement boards are used to close up the windows.

 This one is not well camouflaged. I guess the only one here looks like this.

Good Swiftlet farming All.


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入口洞不一定要朝向東 ENTRANCE HOLE NOT NECESSARY FACING EAST

我最後一次的燕屋参观使我想起了燕屋主提出的問题关于入口洞的位置。這是很特别，他想知道是否必須要把入口洞朝向東边。

对我来说，入口洞朝向那个方向并不是一個問題。只要没有障礙物好比大樹、 高大的建築物等等在入口洞的前面。不應該有任何大的东西，这会阻止燕子的飛行路徑特別是在回归的时间。

如果有被阻擋，燕子会觉得很難飛進燕屋農場。在回归的时间燕子幾乎是以很快的速度飛入燕屋農場。它們潛入的速度很快。它們需要一個開放的空间，在入口洞，我經常称它为“跑道"。

一个開放的空间面積至少30x30尺让它們滑翔進燕屋農場。這的空间方面没有樹木、 建築物或高楼。

聽了我的事實解釋後燕屋主A先生同意了，但是他仍然有一些保留在這一方面。我問他......"你從哪得到這個想法和为什么入口洞一定要朝向東边呢?"

A先生解釋說，"哦 James......我的師傅告訴我的。他說： 所有的燕屋農場的入口洞必须朝向東边。如果不是，燕子會找不到出路。當太陽升起的第一曙光將進入洞口而燕子才知道是早晨"。

在消化完他的話後，我問他："那么A先生，那些没有面向东方的燕屋農場呢？我敢肯定有好幾千间的燕屋農場不是面向東方的。他們也會失敗嗎？那些在里面的燕子都找不到出路吗?"

"James，這是我師傅告訴我，我只是跟著。我從來沒有想到。"

有數以上千的成功燕屋農場都沒有朝向東面的入口洞。因此，入口洞必須面向東边的声明是過時的"TAK BOLEH PAKAI"。請不要盲目地跟隨。當有人說某些东西我們應該徹底的想想，看看是否合理。

就算你现在讀着你也應該想想它是否有道理。

有很多人会给愚蠢的想法，他們自己本身都從沒試過。他們建議所有各種各樣的想法，希望有人會跟隨。如果行的通那就是他們的功勞。如果它失敗，是你的問題。不管怎麼說，燕屋農場不屬於他們的。

如果您要將一個商店單位轉換成燕屋農場你的入口洞根本没有别的選擇方向。要么燕子從前面或後面進來。 最重要的是設計......是內部的設計。

我肯定大多數，如果不是所有那些非常成功的燕屋農場，能每月收穫幾十公斤的燕窝是從商店轉換的燕屋農場。很多的入口洞都不朝向東边。所以入口洞必須面向東边純碎是一个神話。

其次，"燕子无法找到它們的入口洞如果不是面向東边"是完全不符合邏輯的。

因此，不要只是盲目地跟著。仔细的想想，看看是否它是合乎邏輯。您所需要的是一些養燕的常識因为养燕需要有很多的常識。

大家有燕屋農場 ！

如果您有任何問題或建議請致電我 012-3173811。

"最好是分享。分享使世界更加美好"

ENTRANCE HOLE NOT NECESSARY FACING EAST

My last trip reminded me of a question asked by an owner of a Swiftlet farm regarding the position of an entrance hole. It was quite peculiar, he wanted to know whether it is a must to have the Entrance hole facing the East.

To me which ever direction the Entrance hole is facing is not an issue. As long there are no obstructions like having big trees, tall buildings,etc in front of the Entrance hole. There shouldn’t be any big structures  that would block the flying path of the Swiftlet especially during homecoming hours.

If obstructed, Swiftlet will find it hard to fly into the Swiftlet farm. During homecoming Swiftlets virtually fly into the farm with speed. They dive in with speed.They need an open area in front of the Entrance hole which I often call ‘ Run Way”.  

An open area of at least 30x30ft  for them to glide through before diving into the Switlet farm.This area should be clear of trees, buildings or high structures.

After listening to my factual explanation the owner Mr. A agreed, but he still had some reservations on this. I asked him… “ Where did you get this idea from and why must the Entrance hole  face  East?”

Mr. A explained,  “ Oh James…my Sifu told me. He said all Swiftlets farms’ Entrance holes should face the East. If not, Swiftlets  won’t  find their way out. As the Sun rises the first day light will enter the Entrance hole and indicates to Swiftlets it is morning”.

After digesting his remark  I asked him, “Mr. A, what about those Swiftlet farms that are not facing the East? I am sure there are thousand of them which are not facing the East.  Would they  fail too? Would  all the Swiftlets inside the Swiftlet farms can’t find their way out?”

“James, this is what my Sifu told me and I just follow. I’ve never thought of that.”

There are thousands of successful Swiftlet farms with entrance holes  that are no facing East. Therefore,  the Entrance hole must face the East statement is outdated “ TAK BOLEH PAKAI”. Please do not follow blindly. When somebody says something we should think thoroughly  and see whether it is logical or otherwise.

Even as you are reading now you should think whether what you are reading makes sense or otherwise.

There are lots of  people out there giving silly ideas  which they themselves had never tried. They suggest all kinds of ideas hoping someone would follow. If it works they take credit. If it fails that is your problem. Anyway, the swiftlets farms don’t belong to them.

If you are going to convert a Shoplot unit into a Swiftlet farm you don’t have much option of choosing the direction of the Entrance hole . Either the Birds come in from the front or the back.

What’s  most important is the design….the internal design.

I am sure most, if not all those very successful Swiftlet farms that could harvest tens of  kg of nests per month are from converted Shop lots. Many of their Entrance holes are not facing East.

So the Entrance hole must face East a pure myth.

Secondly, “Swiftlets  can’t find their way out if the Entrance hole is not facing East” is totally illogical.

So don’t just follow blindly.  Think and see whether it is logical. All you need is some common sense as Swiftlet farming has got a lot to do with common sense.

Good Swiftlet farming All!

If you have  any question or advise please call me at  012-3173811.

“The best is to share. Sharing makes the world wonderful”

選擇理想的壁角板 CHOOSING THE IDEAL CORNER BOARD

理想情況下品質好的燕窝應該是白色，體積大，圆形，还有挺直背面180度。通常這種類型的燕窝是在直板摘下来的。它們可以獲取更高的銷售價格。

並不是所有從燕屋農場里收穫的燕窝都是100%由直板摘下的，有些是從角落、 牆壁、 天花板等等。這一切取決於木板形成如何在設計中。顯然，那些燕屋農場選擇盒型設計的會有更多的角落燕窝，相比那些選擇直板設計。平均，還有至少20-40%的燕窝建在燕屋農場里的是來自角落。

如果給我一個選擇我会更加喜歡直窝，但在現實生活中沒有一个燕屋農場可以直接產生100%的直巢。我們可以做到的是減少角落窝的數量，由安裝壁角板。

角落窝不受到青睞是因為它的價格比較低。在某些情況下，它可能低至50%与直窩的價格相比。如果你的燕屋農場有很多角落窝那麼你每月的產量利潤將受到影響。

然後，我们必須知道哪种和哪些類型的壁角板来安裝。為您的資訊，並不是所有類型的壁角板都是相同的。它的形狀及尺寸影響造在它的燕窝上。

從我多年的經驗建設燕屋農場，讓我與你分享壁角板的形狀和大小是如何影響您燕屋農場里的燕窝。

以上的照片顯示了3種類型的燕窝。

1） 從直木板的燕窝。這是大多數人选择的，因為它們是更大和更重。它們可以加工成为滿杯的燕窝。

2） 從新月型的壁角板，可以通過被认为直窝。

3） 從剪切的壁角板。雖然90度被增加到130度。通常它們仍然被认为是角落窝。

這是來自90度没有任何壁角板的角落燕窝。價格可能是30-50%低於直窝。

許多人仍然相信没有壁角板燕屋農場會有更好的成長率。這是一個神話，它是不真實的。

以上的照片显示的燕窝從剪切的壁角板。在中间仍然是一个駝峰。它只是降低了角度。像大多數的燕窝采购商仍認為這是角落窝。這種類型的壁角板在好多年前是相当被受用的，因为当时还没有新月類型。

那是沒有選項可供選擇。剩餘的木板被切斷，做成直的角板。剩餘的木板被使用並且這可以省下一些錢。

以上的照片是從新月型壁角板收穫的燕窝。它是幾乎直的。它可以通過为直窩。它增加了角度達 160度。我認為這是最佳的壁角板可用。

（与直板的燕窝和剪切壁角板的燕窝比較）

(燕窝被建在新月型的壁角板上）

(燕窝被建在剪切壁角板上）

剪切壁角板的缺點：

1） 買家会认为它們為角落窝。

2） 它只會从90度增加到很小的度数。

3） 它是有差距（孔）在木板的後面。害蟲可以隱藏，並在那裡繁殖。

4） 燕子可能在洞裡築燕窝。(增加角落窝的數量)。

在木板之中，我會選擇那些帶褐色的。它們可以抵禦真菌和不怕水（高濕度）。好的Meranti是很難找到了。經常还是很昂貴的。

如果你能找到它們買一些和保持。

大家有燕屋農場 ！

電話： 012-3173811

電子郵件: swifjames@yahoo.com

CHOOSING THE IDEAL CORNER BOARD

Ideally a good quality Nest should be white, big in size, round shaped and have a straight back of

180 dg. Often this type of Nest is harvested from straight plank. They fetch a higher selling price.

Not all Nests harvested from a Swiftlet farm are 100% from straight planks, some are from corners, walls, ceilings, etc.  It all depends on how the Nesting planks formation being designed. Obviously Swiftlet farm opted for the checker box type design would have more corner nests than those opted for straight plank design. Averagely, there is at least 20-40% of Nest built in a Swiftlet farm comes from the Corners. 

If given a choice I am sure all would prefer Straight Nests but, in reality there is no Swiftlet farm that could produce 100% Straight Nest. What we could do is to reduce the number of Corner Nests by installing Corner Boards. 

Corner Nest is not favored because the price is lower. In some instances it could be as low as 50% lower than the price of Straight nest. If your Swiftlet farm has lots of Corner nests then your monthly yield profit would be affected.

Then again one must know which and what types of Corner Board to install. For your information, not all types of Corner Board are the same.  The shape and its size affects the quality of the Nest that built on them.

From my many years of experience building Swiftlet farms, let me share with you how Corner Board affects the shape and size of the Nests in your Swiftlet farm.

The above picture shows 3 types of Nests. 

1) Nest from a Straight plank. This is the most sort after because they are bigger in size and heavier. They could be processed into full cup nests.

2) From a Crescent corner Board, could pass for a Straight nest. 

3) From a Cut Plank Corner Board. Though the 90dg angle has been increased to130dg. Often they are still consider as Corner Nests.

This is a Corner nest from a 90dg Corner without any Corner Board. The price could be 30-50% lower than the Straight Nests.

Many still believe that without the Corner Boards a Swiftlet farm would have a better growth rate. This is a myth and it is untrue. 

The above picture shows a Nest from a Cut Plank Corner Board. There is still a hump at the middle. It only reduces the angle. As most Nests buyer still consider this as a Corner Nest. This type of Corner Board was favored many years ago when the Crescent type was not available then.

There was no option to choose from. The left-over planks were cut to make into Straight Corner board. The left-over Planks were used and this saved the builder some money.

Above is a picture of a Nest harvested from a Crescent Corner Board. It is almost straight. It could pass for a Straight nest. It increases the angle up to 160dg. I consider this as the best Corner Board available. 

( Comparing Nests from Straight Plank and Cut Plank Corner Board)

( Nest built on a Crescent Corner Board)

( Nest built on a Cut Plank Corner Board)

The disadvantages of the Cut Plank Corner Board:

1) Buyer consider them as Corner nests.

2) It only increases the 90dg angle by a small degree.

3) There is a gap ( hole) at the back of the Board. Pest could hide and breed there.

4) Birds may build Nests inside the hole. ( Increases the number of Corner nest).

In term of wood material I would choose those brownish colored ones. They could withstand fungus and not afraid of water ( high humidity). Good Meranti is hard to find now. Often expensive. 

If you could get hold of them buy some and keep.

Good Swiftlet Farming All!

Tel: 012-3173811

email: swifjames@yahoo.com