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.
