(Egg shells on floor)
You had planned your harvest weeks ago and anticipated to
take home some nests. But every time you climb up the ladder and check most of
the nests are occupied with eggs. You only managed to harvest a few after many
attempts..perhaps only 10%.
Yes.... it happens to all Swiftlet farms during this month
of September. It is the beginning of a
raining season, but this year it started early. The birds have waited, a few months earlier the weather was hot and
dry. Birds had delayed laying eggs until nearing raining season.
They choose
the beginning of the raining season as
the insect breeding period coinciding with the raining season. Choosing the right period is crucial as it
increases the survival rate of the young chicks. During this time, food is abundant. This natural bird
instinct which has been practiced since
the existence of mammals.
Observe the changes in your Swiftlet farms. This is an
important period for retaining young birds at the same time to attract young
birds from other farms to stay and build nests in your farm. How do you do
that?
Every Swiftlet farm has its potentiality, it depends how
it’s being managed. Observe the changes in your farm, one of the most important
observations is to see for egg shells on the floor of the farm. Never heard of
this....... Sounds foreign to you isn't it?....that means you haven't noticed
this all this while.
The future of a Swiftlet farm lies on young chicks a
new generation not old bird as old birds would die eventually. If a
Swiftlet farm can't produce enough young
chicks the future of the Swiftlet farm is dim.
Don't just look at the nests and birds but also look for the
egg shells on the floor. If the floors have plenty of egg shells it shows
the eggs are hatched well. If you find
many unhatched eggs it indicates a problem. It is common to have 5% unhatched
eggs on the floor. Anything more than something needs to be done.
During this time, you
should see lots of egg shells.. The more the better. It indicates a healthy
growth. You should also see lots of young birds flying inside the farm. They
are smaller sizes.
Their feathers are a lighter color. They fly slower.. Unlike
those bigger darker color ones those are
older birds. (The older ones fly at speed having the best maneuverability they
check in and check out the farm within seconds}. If you see this, it indicates
the farm is in good growing condition.
I had seen many stagnated farms. Initially they grow fast.. Some
time hitting 100 nests in 1-1.5 years but thereafter it went into slow growth.
The next 2 years...the 3rd and 4th remaining at 120-150 nests. They do have new
nests but the increase is not impressive.
There are many reasons behind this to name a few....
-Use of wrong Swiftlet sound
- Used Wrong Aroma
-Poor management of air movement (closing /opening too many
Vent-holes)
-Poor control of humidity (adding additional humidifier too
many units)
-Installing wrong tweeters at the wrong place
The list could go on.....
The internal of the Swiftlet farm is constantly changing. As
there are more occupants (birds) the internal changes. More birds mean much
heat is produced. They are living thing they produce heat. The droppings they
produce also change the internal environment.
When the Internal environment
changes it will no longer remains as before. The temperature will increase, but
humidity may reduce or increase depends on the volume of birds (large amount of
droppings may increase the humidity) ...thus the vent-holes have to be opened
or closed depending on the current situation.
It seems complicated isn't it? Yes, it is indeed if you want to have few thousand
nests. But If you are satisfied with 20 -40 nests after a few years then it is
totally a different question.
The myth of easy Swiftlet farming likes .."It is a once
a month a fair, no need to take care one, just wait, just go to shop and get
some cheap aroma can already, all sounds and aromas are the same one"..and
so on..all these no longer apply if you are targeting few thousand nests in a
short period of time.
Be observant...learn the correct way you will achieve your
objective.
Good Swiftlet farming All!
