Indonesia Swiftlet Farm - Rumah Walet Indonesia

( A video sent by Mr.A.G.After revamped and the use of Love Potion and Hi-Nest Gs18 tweeters combined with the Gezillion External and Internal sound)

( A 4 storey Swiftlet Farm standing high among all in a padi field area)

I have know Mr. A.G through my blog. He is a regular reader of my blog. He lives in  Kalimantan, Indonesia. 

 He sent me a design of his new Swiftlet farm in Kalimantan, Indonesia.  A 4 storey building  of 15x26ft with a Dog Kennel design.

 As I observed, I reckoned, with  such size and its design this Swiftlet farm would have  a hard time  attracting Swiftlets to stay and build nests.

I do understand most Swiftlet farms in Indonesia favor  this type of design. A very narrow, small size and high/tall Swiftlet farm. It's has been a norms and identity for Indonesia Swiftlet farm. It was influenced by Swiftlet farms in the town where space was limited. One cannot go wide but could go high. Secondly, theft was rampant, therefore to build it high to prevent theft.

This type of Swiftlet farms were built many years ago when there were not many Swiftlet farms around. The old ones which beyond 20 years are harvesting tens of kg of nests per month. But things had changed now. The newly built ones don't share the same faith. Some hardly have few nests after few years. 

When there were just few Swiftlet farms around Swiftlet don't have a choice they have to stay. Therefore, even those badly built ones could attract many Swiftlets. But, it is no the same now as  Swiftlet farms are mushrooming everywhere and attracting Swiftlets to your farm needs special skills and knowledge.

As time goes by, the old Swiftlet farms once used to be the top  are now facing problem. Number of nests reduced. Their young Swiftlets are leaving them for Swiftlet farms that could provide better living condition in particularly those Swiftlets farms with good design of flying path, good light condition, good sounds,etc.

Above is the sketch plan that Mr. A.G sent me. The inter-hole is of the lift type. If you are inexperience all things look good. The 8x8ft inter-hole looks no mistake. But if you take into consideration of the size of the entire Swiftlet farm, then the inter-hole showed problem. Bear in mind the size of the Swiftlet farm is only 15x26ft. 

I will go a little technical here to share with you all. After deducting the 8ft for the inter-hole what left is 18ft. The 18ft area is exposed to light, drought air,etc. If the 18ft area is to be made into nesting area then it needs partitions. Perhaps 2 partitions but, the size of 18ft restricted it. If we pushed farther there will be no more space for nesting ( Nesting will be very small to accommodate breeding/nesting area).

Inter-hole roving needs 12 ft ( minimum) for birds to maneuver ( means roving and the inter-hole). Imagine how many feet left. As we could see in the picture the Swiftlet farm is around a flat land. Instead of going for high/tall the owner should have opted for a 3 storey farm and make the farm bigger ( longer) as the cost of construction would be the same. He shouldn't have followed the common design. I can't blame him. Often most would follow what others do without understanding what constitute a good Swiftlet farm. 

Mr.A.G complained that birds are not flying into his farm. To solve this problem I drafted out a revamp plan. Indicating the reason why Swiftlet is not flying in.  I want him to understand the underlying factors that have to be solved if he wants his Swiftlet farm to attract Swiftlets to stay and build nests.

( To be fair to Mr.A.G, I had covered ( red square) some of the things need to be done and (measurement)needed to be altered in the farm) 

Young Swiftlets that are mating and looking for a place to build nests would never choose his farm. As they know once they flew in, especially to the lowest floor their off springs will never have a chance to fly out ( dead) . It is too narrow and high. Their natural instincts tell them this is not a safe place to build nests. Therefore it is common to see dead birds at the lowest floor of the roving area  of all Swiftlet farms that shared this design.

Because of its size ( 15x26ft) light could easily penetrate into the nesting area making it too bright. To prevent this partitions have to be erected. But, installing partitions would restrict the flying path of the birds given the limited space of the farm. No partitions it will be too bright......so what should we do?

The partitions have to be installed at the right place without obstructing their flying path. In order to do this you must understand how Swiftlet maneuver and fly. There is no guessing game here. Any mistake it would ruin your Swiftlet farm. 

 Above is the sketch plan showed  how the flying paths changed once the revamp is done. It also showed where the Swiftlets will build their nests. As most of you had already known "Jalur" means flying path. All things in a Swiftlet farm are interrelated. Once, certain things changed it would affect others. It is a matter of instantly...simultaneously or later.

With my vast experience, I could anticipated where the nests will be built after the revamp. This is not magic, it is through the years of seeing and visiting countless Swiftlet farms. Those who have knowledge in Swiftlet farming would agree with me.

 Due to privacy matter I could only reveal level 3 and level 4 revamp plan. I hope by looking at the plan you all  would understand the pros and cons of a small Swiftlet farm.

( To be fair to Mr.A.G, I had covered ( red square)some of the things need to be done and (measurement) needed to be altered in the farm) 

Many of  these types of  Swiftlet farms could be found in the East coast , namely Kelantan, Trenggganu and Pahang. Secondly, many also can be found in Sarawak and Sabah. They were influenced by Indonesia Swiftlet farm and books from Indonesia.

I believe whatever design your Swiftlet farm is, most important it must have the basic that could accommodate what Swiftlet wants. 

Not how you wanted it. Not what your friends wanted it. Absolutely not what other people is doing it and you just follow.

A bottle of  Love Potion was placed next to the Entrance hole to attract young birds to fly in. If you experienced Swiftlets turning away ( turning back when reaching the entrance hole) from the Entrance hole then you should try this. Mr. A.G found this very effective. 

HI-NEST GS18 Tweeters bring out the full crisps and all the mixed sounds from the Gezillion External and Internal sound.

Good Swiftlet Farming All!

For more Information please contact swifjames@yahoo.com. Tel 012.3173811

LOVE POTION ATTRACTS BIRDS TO STAY AND BUILT NESTS. INCREASES BIRDS POPULATION. RETAINS YOUNG BIRDS. ENHANCES FAST NEST BUILDING

NO#1 AROMA IN THE MARKET. YOUR SWIFTLET FARMS DESERVE MORE NESTS.