my BH all the corners installed boards ... 1 floor 330 ... 2 floor total ~660
got bird droppings but none of the patch expanded until very big ... only 1 feather and no nest marking
don't dare to pull out some corner boards

^above design .... how to service the entrance hole tweeters ? build scaffolding or climb ladder ?

This post has been edited by BirdNest_Satay: Jun 30 2011, 02:50 AM

http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/1417034/+1740
this have been discussed a few times previously ... the above link is the most recent

This post has been edited by BirdNest_Satay: Jul 3 2011, 11:56 PM

A little update on my JV bh ...

Dropping spots stagnant, same size as last month .... back to "empty" condition early this year.
Some spider web irritated my head when I was inside.

1st floor 30-31 celcius, 2nd floor 31 to 32.6celcius ... both around 68-70% humidity .... time 2pm

repaired leaking toilet pipes, changed bird sound, sprayed EM on walls, blocked windy ventilation openings by 50%

Lesson learned .... DO NOT MESS WITH ENTRANCE HOLE
My attempt at using nail carpet to repel pigeons might have scared the swiftlets away.

This post has been edited by BirdNest_Satay: Jul 11 2011, 01:20 PM

Thank you very much for your reply.
To be honest, I am a little uncomfortable about posting my BH's plan in public.

Location is southern tip of peninsular malaysia. 3km away from a fishing town with ~300 BH.
You are correct that this BH is currently in the middle of a row of 21 shoplots. Half of them have top floors converted to BH and the same situation happens ... only 1-2 BH have significant number of birds.

My partner bought the EM to spray here as he have been using it in his other BH which produces harvests.
This BH's walls have not been applied with any commercial aroma products and I suppose EM is beneficial to BH as it "freshens" up the relatively stale air inside and prevents fungus. I do not recall seeing any online claims of swiftlets being repelled by EM's scent but I did caution not to spray it close to the nesting planks.

From day1 in mid January, the BH was rushed into opening sound even when we have not acquired any internal sound as the pigeons were trying to enter the roof which was their breeding ground. Jan to March were plagued by problems with electricity and water supply. No renovation were done after opening sound and we only enter every 4-7 weeks to do simple check and change sound.
My partner have a few years of experience while I am a fresh newbie, so I follow the steps he say.

There were pigeons standing on the dog kennel ledge and dropping their poop into the staircase airwell back in January to March.
The months where I used nail carpet matches the decline of swiftlet dropping growth.
Used in middle of March, removed it in late May. June was the monsoon season but I failed to take advantage of the opportunity.
Don't have any photo of it.

^ Thanks for above pointers from TF, will improve ASAP.
I have overlooked the importance of keeping the droppings damp and the bag of AmmoniumB is sitting at the corner being under-utilised.

This post has been edited by BirdNest_Satay: Jul 11 2011, 11:26 PM

went Batang Kali in October 2010 and May 2011
First trip not many birds in evening sunset, second trip can see the shoplots have good result - plenty of swiftlets flying high above in the morning.

No I do not have any BH there. Went to visit my aunt.
Surprised that the shops have such improvement in 8months.
My cousin said the area have difficulty producing high quality nest due to too inland, but this statement remains unverified.

I did see bats in the residential area after sunset.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
*update July 17*
Yesterday went to turn on humidifiers, mix ammonia with dropping , clean spiderwebs & cockroach carcass.
My partner went up the roof the check tweeters and a bat flew out from a small gap beside the dog kennel.
It have been living in the ceiling after the pigeons were evicted. A few pages ago in this thread somebody mentioned my faulty timer playing 40minutes late into 8:40pm would attract bats, this became reality.
We tried to block the small broken openings with clumps of black netting and spray EM in ceiling in an attempt to reduce the smell. It is not easy to climb inside the ceiling space as a wrong step will crack the ceiling board so there were at least 3 more small holes that could not be reached to be sealed up. Hopefully the bats will not return.

Thank you lowyat forumers for providing solutions to my troubled BH.

This post has been edited by BirdNest_Satay: Jul 17 2011, 01:28 PM

Hi everybody,

Newspaper printed that an 1GP course is being organized in the town that my second BH (shoplot under construction) is located.
The fee is RM400 per pax but I am concerned if it is needed for future license application since Johor have not finalise the license application procedure if I am not wrong.

Please let me know if you have any updated information about the current status of license application in Johor.
Thank You.

Haha I can't find the newspaper in my home so had to search the website until my eyeball pop out.

Here is the article
http://www.chinapress.com.my/node/236986

More surprises found in my empty BH.

The pigeons became desperate and laid 2 eggs on a bucket of swiftlet droppings. attracting the wrong animals

This post has been edited by BirdNest_Satay: Aug 1 2011, 12:09 AM

The pigeon nest bucket is on the staircase few metres below the dog kennel entrance hole, very well lit area.
Reluctance to harm little animals but the pest has got to go.

How about using odorless nail polish to draw a band on the legs ?

Different colors on each left/right leg could create maybe a hundred unique ID.

Yesterday my partner told about his BN harvest was loss due to 4 legged pests tearing through his plastic bag. Nearly 10kilo gone.
I did advise him to buy a freezer since it's a relatively cheap investment.

For our current 10-months old JV rented bh, quite disappointing no bird dropping improvement even when we did not enter for 6 weeks after seeing a swiftlet fly in.
Last week we sealed the old dog kennel entrance and opened a new roof entrance. A hose disconnected from the tap and flooded the top floor. Coincidentally it made the whole floor have that BH smell because the droppings and ammonia were soaked wet.
Yesterday while making some improvements to the water catchment and partition walls got a few individual swiftlets flew in while we working.

Now got a bit of hope

This post has been edited by BirdNest_Satay: Oct 30 2011, 11:47 AM