I am back to Sabah again this time to Sandakan. I
was asked to help this failed Swiftlet farm which was built more than a year
ago. It is a single storey farm with a Dog Kennel design. The owner had engaged
a so called "expert" to build it for him as he knew very little about
Swiftlet farming. After spending so much hope and effort, it has only 2 nests.
To be precised 1.5 nests. Worst of all one of the nests is half completed. It
means the Swiftlets had left after building the nest half way.
The number of failed Swiftlets farm would keep
increasing if the people still do not change their mind set. Sabah is one of
the states that have the most failed Swiftlet farms. At the same time, Sabah
has the highest number of Mini Swiftlets farms compared to other states.
The perception of "It is so easy to build a
successful Swiftlet farm” has taken Sabah by storm. "Everyone can have
successful Swiftlet farm" quoted similarly to AirAsia” Everyone can
fly" is totally opposite.
So what if everyone could fly but they can't get to
the destination they wanted? So what if you could build a cheap economical
Swiftlet farm but it is built to fail?
I had visited many failed Swiftlet farms in Sabah.
The way they built Swiftlet farms now in Sabah is worse than 30 years ago. I
mean the technique, skill and knowledge. I believe the aim and objective was to
build a building rather than a successful Swiftlet farm.
It is not the builder fault. They had completed
their tasks. They gave you what you paid for. You wanted a building they built
one for you. You can't blame them because you are the one who had chosen them.
As I had mentioned before, again and again, building
a successful Swiftlet farm has got nothing to do with pricing. Swiftlets don't
care whether the building cost is cheap or expensive. Most importantly, it is how
the internal environment being made and designed so that it is suitable for
them to stay and build nests.
Most people have forgotten this simple ideology. Now
they are banking on who could build the fastest and cheapest Swiftlet farm.
Let’s examine the problems of the failed Mini
Swiftlet farm which many people still unable to observe and notice. From here
you would know why Mini Swiftlet farm tends to have more problems.
1) I have got nothing against the Mini Swiftlet
farm. But, I do not support the idea of Mini Swiftlet farm because its size.
The Mini Swiftlet farm restricts the flying path and making bird's maneuvering
difficult. If Swiftlets can't fly in and out easily as a result they won't
stay.
2) Because of its small size, controlling of
lighting and air flow is restricted. We can't erect partitions to slow down the
air flow as it will restrict the flying path. In other words you are creating
problems as you are building it.
3) The materials used in this Swiftlet farm is
Styrofoam impregnated with thin cellulose. This material is often used in Europe,
cold countries as insulation. It is too artificial. It doesn't adsorb water and
there will be no vaporization process like the natural cave environment. Unlike
clay bricks which adsorb moist and release them slowly to stabilize the
humidity. I definitely won’t encourage the use of the Styrofoam impregnated
with thin cellulose. For residential houses and industries use, yes. But not
for Swiftlet farms use.
4) Secondly, the Styrofoam impregnated with thin
cellulose absorbs sound and reducing the frequency rebounds. High frequency of
Swiftlet sounds are absorbed into the wall making the Swiftlet sound less
attractive. It reduces the effectiveness of the Swiftlets Sounds. (In sound
Industry, Styrofoam is used as material for sound proofing).
5) Through my visiting experiences, people in Sabah
are prone to believe in myth rather than skill and technology. Like I had said,
there is no magic in Swiftlet farming. Go and learn the correct skill and learn
the correct way you will be successful. This is also subjected to who you
learned it from. Don't let the blind lead the blind.
6) There are 2 things we could observe from the way
the Entrance hole is being built.
A) The reason an Awning of 2 ft is installed on top of
the Entrance hole is to prevent rain water from entering the farm. The floor of
the small dog kennel is of Styrofoam impregnated cellulose and is jointed to
each other. Unlike concrete which could hold water and is water proof. Any
water entered through the Entrance hole will seep through the jointed gap and
will flow down to the ceiling as a result all the planks will get wet. To
prevent this, therefore an Awning was built (a very bad decision).
This forced Swiftlets to slow down and fly lower and
leveled to a horizontal position before entering the farm. This prevented
Swiftlets from diving into the farm with speed. As we know during home coming
at 7.30pm most Swiftlets would prefer to dive into farms. Slowing them down
would expose them to predators. As a result Swiftlet would avoid staying in
this Swiftlet farm.
B) The length of the Mini Swiftlets farm is short (the
name says it all) making it easier for light from the Entrance hole to reach
the nesting area making it too bright. To counter this problem they added a 2
ft Awning. If the farm was made longer or has partitions then the 2 ft Awning
is not needed. So you could see clearly how problem arise from the Mini
Swiftlets farms.
As a result, reducing the size of the Entrance hole
and adding a 2ft awning have done more harm than good. The person who built
this Swiftlet farm should have known all these.
7) The Second Entrance hole is too small. It is
difficult for the Swiftlets to maneuver. Any form of restrictions that
interfered with Bird's Runway will prevent them from staying in the Swiftlets
farm. Why the Second entrance hole was built this small? The answer is
"the builder is creating its own problem". Mini Swiftlets farm space
is limited. They can't create a big roving and big second entrance hole as it
would take up the spaces and reducing the size of the nesting area. Secondly,
the purpose of the small Second entrance hole is to reduce the light density.
They didn't know the consequences from their actions otherwise they wouldn't
have built it this way.
Making it worst the Entrance hole is parallel to the
Inter-hole. The glares could easily penetrate directly in to the nesting area
and making it too bright.
8) Since this is custom made Swiftlets farm from
zero to a building, why the exit door is made 3ft height. Every time we enter
the farm we have squat down. Unless this building has been there for years and
we are converting it into a farm otherwise there is no reason to build a 3ft
exit. The builder's skill and knowledge is questionable.
9) Tweeters in the middle and there are only few of
them. No.1 basic Swiftlet farming knowledge, Swiftlets don't fly in the middle.
They fly in a circular motion 1-2 ft from the wall. That is why the very first
nest in a new Swiftlet farm often built at corner at the edge of the farm. By
knowing this more Tweeters should be installed at the side.
10) Tweeter should be placed under the corner boards
so that the Swiftlets would build nests on top of the tweeters, not sideways
from the corner board. To safe cost, they are squeezing the cost to the limit.
Whether the farm is successful or not to them it is secondary.
11) The structure of the building is of hollow
steel. It looks clean and nice. It will worn out soon as Swiftlet farm is
always in high humidity (wet) . When the dropping mixed with water and moist it
will corrode the hollow steel. The life span of this type of Swiftlet farm is
short.
12) Small farms tend to have internal heat
distribution problem. The smaller it is the more heat intensity concentrated on
a small area compare to a bigger farm.
In order to reduce the temperature they increased
the number of Ventilation hole. Cross ventilation is a problem here. When hot
and drought season come, hot air from outside could easily enter the farm
through the Ventilation hole making the internal temperature unstable. There
are too many Ventilation holes here. Often builders just follow what they saw
and they do not understand the purpose of the Ventilation hole. Often
Ventilation hole has been misunderstood by many as a tool to cool down the
internal. This is absolutely wrong perception.
Some may argue that there are also Mini Swiftlet farms
that are successful too. Yes I agree, but the percentage is small. When
competition comes in the fittest will survive. I had already written about this
in my previous articles. Back in the 80's and 90's people in the rural areas
had converted their chicken and goat coops into Swiftlet farms and a few of
them doing quite well. Eventually, when competition comes in the birds would
have more choices to choose from. The better designed Swiftlet Farms and those
that have better internal environment control will capture all Swiftlets,
including young birds from successful Swiftlet farms.
There are more problems that I have observed, if I
were to write here it would take up at least another 10 pages. For those who
have no passion for Swiftlet farming and only come in for the dollar sign they
would fall asleep reading this....isn't this boring?
Anyhow I have come out with a revamp plan for the
owner of this Swiftlets farm. The revamp plan consisted of:
1) Redesign the whole internal.
2) Tweeters position and set up
3) Readjustment of the Entrance hole and the Second
Entrance hole
4) Light density control management
5) Temperature control and control the number of
Ventilation holes
6) Internal and External sound hypnotically to
attract Swiftlets to stay and build nests
7) Hormone and Aroma management.
8).......and many more.
Bear in mind having many Swiftlets come and play and
stay is totally different from having many Swiftlets building nests.
Good Swiftlet farming All.
Contact 012-3173811
web.facebook.com/swiftletfarmer.swiftletfarmer
