if i know how to clean it, then no need to attend seminar. this is my first time so still need to learn

i think cleaning bird nest is tiring. Anyone agree with me? pick up the small bulu make me headache sometime. 1 bird nest need nearly 1hour to clean it LOL.

Just my friendly advice to you.

1. If you don't have any basic knowledge of cleaning nests or worst if you don't know anything about EBN, then rather don't waste the money on going to the seminar and learn so little but spend so much.
2. There are many EBN dry cleaning houses in Malaysia and you may want to go there first and learn alittle about dry cleaning before going to attend seminar on cleaning EBN as most of these seminar are just a day or two. During these two days, you just learn the very basic of dry claening EBN and I don't believe that it is worth the money spend unless you already know some and wish to learn more.
3. During my term as our local Association President, we did organised a course on Dry cleaning of EBN for our members and the whole two days course only cost the Association Rm3000 for the whole Association and the attendance is about 30 members...... making approximate Rm100 per person including hotel conference room and tea breaks inclusive.
4. Better get your local Swiftlets Association to organise the course for the members and you need not go to KL or Penang to attend the seminar or course.
5. Only when you want to go commercialise i.e setting up a shop selling processed EBN, you may want to go further and learn about how to clean well, maximize profit, cutting losses and packaging. Learning how to clean is simple but how not to waste and do it fast is rather difficult. My wife and I did learn but only my wife survive till today as she has the patient to sit for hours picking up feathers and dirt from the nests...... and she can't coup up with the orders from friends as production is rather slow. Kalau cari makan, sudah mati lama dah!

Just my experience on Dry Cleaning of EBN.

Uncle WW,

When your wife can't coup up with the orders, PM me. Free labour here. I can come to help you clean up the nests. just teach me how to clean will do.

thanks guys for your input. the seminar is going to include the following. are they all just basic information? who knows everything already?

- Provide state of the art teaching facility which provide unparallel learning experience

- Teach you to DIY all the equipment needed (money saving strategies that lasts)

- Provide step by step guide as to How to Export Bird Nest into China

- We teach BOTH Cup Shape and Biscuit Nest techniques

- How to choose and differentiate different grades of bird nest ?

- How to clean bird nest via the FASTEST and CHEMICAL FREE method ?

- How to UPDRADE nest from B or C to A class Nest (Dr Lim's Secret Receipe) ?

- What is optimum bird nest drying time ?

- How to mould bird nests back into A Class half-saucer shape ?

- How to make A Class bird-nest-biscuit ?

- How to minimize wastage during processing ?

- The Do’s and Don’ts in bird nest proccessing.

- How to improve the aesthetic apperance of the bird nest ?

- What are the TEN must have tools/equipments ?

- How to set up a DIY bird nest proccessing facility at home ?

So you see if all are included in the seminar............how to finish in a day or two. I have been to a 2 days course for export of EBN and till today I still can't export EBN to China. Maybe, I am plain slow and if you are attending the above course, may I learn from you later on the sure way of exporting EBN to China.

So much to learn at the seminar and I wish you success in you success in all your intention and future.


Since, it has been rather quiet recently @ this forum and may I have a suggestion that let discuss about swiftlet keeping as this forum is all about providing swiftlets sanctuaries. Let start with What is the best type of entrance until World Cup ends.

There shall not be any winner or loser, just plain discussion as what you think is best for our best friends, the tiny little swiftlets.

1. To start off, I believe that the best of entrance is the open window type although I never done one but it is the most difficult type of entrance to prefect as it's also the most problematic of all type of entrances. In this type of entrance, you need to consider all the natural elements like wind, light and many others. Solving the noise complaints will almost be impossible.

2. Doing it @ agriculture land, predators and natural elements are the most difficult part.

What say you all?

This post has been edited by West Wing: Jul 7 2010, 06:13 PM

since you attended a seminar b4, mind sharing with us what they taught you on exporting to china? is it the hassle of the packaging and licensing?

if what I learned can truly and really be used...wouldn't I want share with you guys????? More exporting EBN, better will be our price for EBN. Wait for Veterinary Department to come up with a easier way to export EBN legally and not underwater thru HK.

Is it just me or do I feel that u r just shooting at me. Pls be more considerate when replying. If u think u r wasting ur time replying, pls don't reply then. I am just seeking for info. There is no need to flame ppl for asking. Jeeezzzz.

My bad experience for BH@agri land is BATS !! Six of them stayed in during the mating season in April and resulted birds population dropped to 20% and many chicks starved to death. I managed to kill 4 bats and the chased the other two away. Now only 70% of the birds return.
Also, the Tupai likes to visit the BH via the power cable. Not sure they will disturb the birds or not.

My friend, if you feel that I am shooting at you, then I will apologies to you. Really and truly, I just mean you well and all here, too and as honest as I am, I write straight from my heart and never meant to hurt anyone here but to help if possible.

So, let begone be begone and kindly accept my apologies if feel hurt. Drop in at my place anytime to talk about my favorite subject i.e swiftlet and I can talk for days on it. No hard feeling, OK?

---

Added on July 8, 2010, 10:12 amThanks, I will try to make sure the power cable is not near to any opening and to buy Batman gears to beware of Bats, hahaha.

Here, my friends have owls and reptiles to take care off. If one owl take 6 swiftlets a day, a family of 4 will consume approximate 720 swiftlets in just one month. So, a BH with a thousand birds will be wipe clean in one month only. Oyes, the land I just bought has a wooden house in it and inside, there are trace of owls shits and lot of swiftlets feathers. I have informed BH owners around the area about it and now, it 's up to them to solve the problem with the owls cos it has to be owls as lizards don't bring their food back to consume.

Checking with a BH next to my land, the owner told me that he has afew hundred nests after 2 years and many nests remain unfinished and that's conclude my findings to be true. But the good thing is that I must have bought a good swiftlet area as even with the owls and other predators, my friend's BH still have alot of nests.

Another factor which also scare me about the area is that just a week ago, someone did try to break in but couldn't as the BH has concreted ground floor 15 feet high, a few concrete doors and has auto gate with lorry's drive shafts for the entrance hole. Triggered Alarm bought him with a few police men to his BH only to find traces of trying to force entry. This time, my friend was lucky but next time, the thieves may be careful not to trigger off the alarm and may bring in heavy equipments.........yes, what were missing are all the CCTV installed around the building.

This post has been edited by West Wing: Jul 8 2010, 10:12 AM

I solved the Tupai visit by covering the power cable with a 2' long 1" garden hose coated with rat's glue.
As for the owl prevention, I used the standard methods. Installed out door lamp and bird spikes at the main entrance hole. So far so good.
For main entrance door, I suggest installing imported China made security door. No more pack lock and lock ears. I installed one unit at my home kitchen back door and I'm very sure no thief will want to waste time breaking open this type of door. The cost of the door is RM1500+/- including installation.

guys, last few days i harvested around 950grams. Then 4days later it becomes 933grams. Is this normal? is that ok to spray some water on it few days before we sell to middleman? 17gram loses = RM79.0 rugi.

This question is best reserved for WW to answer So your average price is RM4,647 per KG ?

How's about an open roof entrance compared to window entrance?

You see, the buyers here insist totally dry nests and will deduct wetness..............but after paying you for your dried nests, they will spray your nest with distilled water on the pretext of preventing damage to the nests during transportation and handling.

Oversea buyer do allow a certain percentage of wetness in nests and will also deduct if too wet. So, don't worry as buyers differ and it's like the pasar market where sellers and buyers negotiate for the better price as there are no fix price for the EBN. If the buyers like what they see and may offer more so when we deal with buyers, we have to pull and release just like fishing otherwise, we lose the fish. Got what I mean and that's why buyers hate when I am around helping my friends getting better price for their nests.

How to solve your worry is to have more buyers and better acquittance with other BH owners and compare prices of different grades and who is paying higher and what's the latest news like is the market short of nests or any Chinaman coming in big way or Indo buyers having a disagreement on pricing which all can affect your nest price.

Again, my little experience to share with all and others please do share, too.

---

Added on July 8, 2010, 5:49 pmLatest news that I found out from a Chinese Medicine Shop is that Perhilitan Officers are going around to fine them for selling Birdnest without permit.

A fine of Rm20 and a annual fee of Rm100 are needed for selling Birdnests and also record of purchases and sales must be kept on EBN.

Very susah lah................cannot get BirdHouse owners, now, Medical Shop pun kena ...then what??? I heard that Pahang has start checking on Chinese Medical Shops on Birdnests products, any news for elsewhere?

This post has been edited by West Wing: Jul 8 2010, 05:49 PM

The last time was RM4900. This week suddenly Rm4700 per KG for C-Cup @ 180 degree nests.

I think next time im gonna try West Wing method. Spray up to a certain level of wetness only then sell it. We here mostly sell to the same person anyway. The other middlemen offer less than that.

WW, can u share ur experience using humidifier? Currently im using 2units chicken soup with hornhat. Now im gonna need another humidifier. I plan to try ultrasonic humidifier like the one James and Pak Harry are selling. But then a friend of mine suggest Fujibin which is more pricey and realible.

Agree with you brother west wing. Congratulations on your purchase of agriculture land for birdhouse. Salute you for you for your guts. I am sure you will be successful in your new birdhouse. How big, high do you intend to build? Entrance type, kindly share with us newbies.

About young birds, anybody know how long it take for them to mature and start building nests. Tried to get from books but still no clue. Some say 8 months yet some says 2 years?????

Normally how often do we harvest the nest. Is it every month or every 45 days? Mind to share with us when is the best time to harvest so as to get the maximum numbers of nest.

Thanks

Well you can always DIY your own Super Humidifier. You just need 1 set at RM800. The mist output is 1800 litre/hour.


http://yenyen-swiftlet-farming.blogspot.co...ultrasonic.html

anyone attending?



http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/sear...y&client=safari

see you there!

This post has been edited by htc: Jul 9 2010, 10:22 AM