A couple of weeks ago, I was invited to revamp a Swiftlet farm located in the North of Perak. As far as the location concerns, this Swiftlet farm is sitting on a Swiftlets goldmine. A Prime Birds Zone, everyone would want to have a Swiftlet farm here.
It has operated for almost 3 years now. A 3 storey 20 x 80ft with a semi-dog kennel design.( I shall elaborate later) There are many Swiftlet farms here in the same vicinity and all of them are doing very well . (sources: harvest of 3-5kg of nests within 5 years).
but, somehow this particular Swiftlet farm performance is really sad....
The owner Mr.Q called me while I was on my way to the Airport. I was leaving for Sandakan.
"Hi Mr. James, I am Q, I saw your blog and I am still reading it now. I hope I could finish it in a week or two. I need you help"
"Hi Mr. Q, it is good to hear that. How can I help you?"
"Mr.James, I want to invite you to visit my Farm. My Swiftlet farm is not doing well. I hope you could help to revamp it."
"Mr. Q, I suppose the design, the internal environment, sound system,etc are not properly done and managed"
"I don't think so Mr.James. As far as I know everything is fine."
Are you sure Mr.Q?.......If everything is fine then you should be harvesting many kg of nests right now. Never mind let me check my itinerary first and I will let you know next week as I am travelling often these few months."
I only could visit Mr.Q's farm two months later as I have to complete other revamp jobs. The owner Mr.Q had built this farm with the help of his brothers based on the information and knowledge they acquired from friends,relatives and some local so called Sifus.
It has less that 10 nests. Most birds had left after building one or two nests. The design and the Internal environment are not swiftlet friendly. It is poorly designed and managed. I can't blame them as they have little knowledge about swiftlet farming. Worst of all they would listen to any idea without weighing whether the idea makes sense or otherwise.
Once Swiftlets fly pass the Entrance hole they have to dive 90dg down immediately to avoid hitting the wall. As you could see the wall is painted black. Well, it seems that this wall was created to trick the Swiftlets. If they are not careful they would bang on it.
With this tricky roving area, most Swiftlets would avoid staying in this Swiftlet farm. They know once they got in they could never get out....perhaps die inside the farm. Only those that could maneuver perfectly would survive in this Swiftlet farm.
There are barely 20 tweeters in this Swiftlet farm. It is not surprised, people still build this kind of Swiftlet farm. It is recommended 80 -120 tweeters for a size of 20x70ft (subjected to the planking design) .There are no corner boards on the planks, reason Swiftlets like 90dg corner. Well if what they said it true then this Swiftlet farm should have few hundred nests by now.
The planking system is straight type design. There are no planks crossing between the straight planks. I don't buy this idea which many Sifus claimed it would produce more straight nests. Is having straight nest or having as many Swiftlets to stay is the main criteria? Which is more important? You already knew the answer.
The Ventilation holes are not attached to a PVC pipe. The light ray from the Ventilation holes brightens up the whole Swiftlet farm. In order to reduce the brightness, they painted many parts of the internal black. Hence, creating a problem, and then trying cover that problem with another problem. It never ends. The root cause is the Ventilation holes. Just attached 3-4ft PVC pipes to the Vent-holes then the problems shall be solved.
The light came from all places. Look at the above pictures. Birds would bang on it as they think that is the Entrance hole. The holes should be covered properly without allowing any light to penetrate into the farm. For those who had gone inside a successful Swiftlet to harvest nest, they know what I am talking about. Swiftlets often hit on our headlamp. They follow the light, especially young birds.
1) Birds need to fly deep inside before they could find the Interhole. This would affect the adaptation period thus, it takes a longer time for them to fly and explore the lower floor.
2) It is harder for the light to reach the lower floor thus creating a total darkness below. Often too dark young birds would avoid flying down to the lower floor.
There is no door separating the control room and the nesting area. Can you believe that? Picture tell a thousand words.
1) The neon lights from the Amplifiers would frighten birds
2) The Amplifiers are exposed to the humidity produced by the humidifier and it would damage the Amplifier.
They also placed a table fan next to the Amplifier to cool it down. This creates a movement of air in the farm. The whole internal environment is totally up sided down.
There are hundred more problems in this Swiftlet farm which I can not finish writing.
Now after seeing all those pictures it is no longer a surprise. Actual fact.....people are still building this type of Swiftlet farm. As this keep goes on .....the successful rate of Swiftlet farming will remain at 80-20. (80% failed)
I explained every single problem to Mr. Q, making sure he understands how it happened and what we are going to do to solve it.
It is not just plain instructions and simple explanations. I want him to understand the underlying cause, how light density, flying path, total darkness, etc can affect the internal environment of the farm and how they deter birds from staying.
If he understands all this he would not make any more mistakes in future. Or at least, he won't take blind advice from those so called sifus.
As usual, the revamp plan was given to him which covers partitioning, tweeters positioning, sound system setup, Ventilation hole adjustment, removal of walls, re-positioning of Entrance hole, etc.....many more.
Good Swiftlet farming All!
For more information you may contact me at 012 3173811
THE HOT WEATHER IS HERE. USE LOVE POTION TO RETAIN YOUNG SWIFTLETS AND TO PREVENT MIGRATION
