Hi folks,

I have been lurking around this forum for years. Perhaps right where V1 just started. Unfortunately I didn't have the fortune to be able to start a BH yet then and so kept a very low profile. However, things have changed and I am on the verge of starting a BH soon in Sarikei,Sarawak on a plot of agriculture land not too far from town. Will be doing the bird call test when I go back for CNY although my sis and sis-in-law have seen the area and saw a number of BHses around the area and the birds are rather visible too.

I must have listen to tons of swiftlet sounds (samples off the net) but to date, I still find it difficult to postively identify whether it is an external or internal sound. Baby chicks sound are probably more distinctive but the others I am not too sure. There are categories of sounds I believe for eg:

Playing
Warning
Fighting
Mating
Duress/stress/in pain
etc

Is there a way to classify these sounds accordingly? Perhaps there are some traits to look out for? A library of sounds perhaps? I have seen on the net claims for sounds that supposedly fit for use both internally and externally. I have purchased 4 different external calling sounds CD from Ekawalet and tried to "benchmark" against ambiguous sounds ( those not stated internal or external) in an attempt to spot similar traits of external sound. Not very confident at all even after so many hrs of listening!

2ndly I am in need to come out quickly with a bird call testing gadget. Nesttech in JB selling for abt Rm800 and I dont think I want to spend that kind of money at the moment. The plot of land is not accessible by car currently so the idea of playing the car stereo is out. Will a stereo portable set be sufficiently loud to do the test? Most bird sounds that I have is quite soft when I played them off the home hifi. The louder ones are usually heavily distorted/clipped. Initially I thought of getting one of those china made 12V Class T amp, wrapped some rechargeable batteries around it and stick in a tweeter or 2 and I'd have a something usable. But I think time is not on my side at the moment. Any suggestions?

I probably will need further advice and tips as I go along but so far I am very touched by the levels of generosity seen in this forum.

And please no sales call to any consultants out there. Don't call me, I'll call you. They are everywhere I tell you!.

Regards,
Eric

Guys, Thanks for the tips. Unfortunately I am in JB and I am not local either. If you can point me to shops in JB or Singapore that sells these items , that would be very much appreciated. Last week spent half a day in Singapore Sim Lim Tower looking for such items but not successful. However bought a Fluke infra red thermometer and a laser distance meter instead!

Yes, born, bred there. St. Anthonian too! Looking at out of town maybe 15km out.

Kong Xi Fatt Chai everyone!

Back to home town Sarikei, Sarawak. Tried bird call test a couple of times. At 10 am, maybe abt 100 birds. 2 days later, 100-200 birds at 6.30pm. 2 days later at 6.30pm less than 20. The next day at abt 10am less than 10. Confusing results. Shld I go ahead with the building of the bH? Intend to keep on testing till I have to go back Johor next week.

1) My BH neighbours , within 100-200M, are 4 storeys and 5 storeys and looked very well financed. I am going to build only a 3 storey BH. In this scenario, they have a height advantage and probably more capital than I. How would you compete in this environment? I probably can put more time into this as it will be full time. I plan to squat close to the BH to know and understand swiftlets intimately. This is standalone BH on agriculture land 5 mins from Sarikei town.
2) Can some kind souls direct me to economical misting/fogging sources? I looked at www.mistycool.com.my but it is KL based and will probably cost more than 3K if shipped over to Sarawak . If I can buy the pump locally, it will be easier for maintenance. Better if can DIY. Mistycool uses a high pressure pump =>1000 psi. On 2nd thoughts I am happy to settle for low or mid pressure designs. Any tips/advice will be highly appreciated.

[quote=mois,Feb 24 2011, 11:24 AM]
Somewhere near swimming pool location isnt? i have a few friends built their Bird House around there.

Nope, across Nyelong River

Actually nothing wrong with made-in-china. The factories make goods fit for use in most major western countries. (Otherwise they can't survive)However, there are quality rejects which they sell cheaply to countries such as ours and our importers look at price only and don't do QC. And our shopkeepers take whatever the salesmen that come around monthly lelong. Just imagine tweeters selling for <RM1. Including freight costs and margins, what do you thing the thing cost anyway? My suspicion is that these are rejects and thrown away for scrap and some smart businessman takes these and resell them. Even if it cost him 20cts to buy the "scrap" materials, and selling for 40cts, that is still a 100% margin!

Ben, is there any truth to rumour that those BH now on agriculture land but subsequently rezone to commercial will suffer the same fate? I am from Sarikei and just starting to build a BH on agricultural land. That was coffee shop talk so not sure as to how genuine the rumours are.

Aroma reminds me of a girl who puts on perfume or guy on cologne. Using the most expensive/best perfume/cologne isn't going to attract heaps of ppl to you if you didn't shave, comb your hair, make yourself presentable etc. Same as for BH I suppose. Terrible microhabitat, terrible songs not going to make you terribly popular even if put on the best aroma money can buy?

/

I wonder during the milk powder scandal did they claim that the cows were from New Zealand? Chinese food stuff manufacturers have lost a lot of credibility since then. Trying to taichi the problems as imported will only bluff some people some time. Eventually, those with a half a brain will realise that big time EBN exporters have too much to lose by adulterating their products just a gain a few more dollars. Or course, if the genuine EBN importers insist on buying from no name small time fly-by-night sources, who do you blame?

EBN is like any other business. You check and monitor your sources and upstream/downstream activities. Otherwise, how do you assure that your products have that stamp of quality? This is expensive stuff and this is not the corner shop selling 10ct sweets.

For a new BH,

(1)can forum members recommend a good song for the center sound (internal)? What type of sound is normally used for the center sound? Inap? Population?

(2) In terms of volume, how should this be set for :
a) pooling sound for the hexagon speakers
b) entrance hole
c) roving area
d) nesting

For example, should the pooling sound be softer/louder/same as entrance? Roving vs Entrance, Internal vs Roving, Internal Center vs Internal surround/side.

For stand alone agricultural BH, not taking into consideration security, you can do it cheap RM60-80K for a 2-storey using roofing spandex/cement board/wood structure. The spandex is for the outer walls and the cement boards the inner wall. If security is an issue, then lower floor may need to be of bricks and the costs go up. Since land is plenty and cheap for agricultural land, the gap between the outer /inner walls is increased to prevent heat from getting in. My friend says 1 ft. gap is mentioned by contractors. You will need reflective or insulation materials in the cavity though.

I think all 4 of you better attend a course together so that everyone is equipped with basic knowledge and intelligent questions can be asked by the clueless b4 sinking in the money. After discussion among the 4 of you and all are still enthusiastic about going though with it, then draft a well thought-out distribution plan of investments and duties/responsibilities. Have a proper exit clause in case of death/incapability etc.

But if I were you, I wouldn't kongsi. Good friends may become not so good friends. Sometimes, the spouses/relatives add even more spices to screw up your friendship.

You will never made enough money selling electricity to TNB with your solar power. There will not be a ROI. Who is proposing such a gadget? If it is one of your investing friends, beware. Isn't it nice to be able to supply to the partnership and made some money out of it?

Sorry if I sounded a tad too pessimistic and wary. But that is the nature of this industry. 80% failure rate among other things. However, before you start anything else, please do a bird call test at the intended location of the BH. If the response is poor, there is no need to go further unless you want to try at other locations. I think the rest of the information, you should start reading from the very first post to educate yourself somewhat and get a gist of what swiftlet farming is all about.

Shouldn't the Swiftlet associations here do a PR blitz in China advising the people there on how the vast majority of red nest are produced and encouraging them to eat only white EBN? What work do the associations do when they see such news? Place police report?

In case you don't have the bird call song, you can get it here:

http://www.4shared.com/audio/cMzEdGH7/cek_...niawalet_ar.htm

If you have a very loud mobile phone, you can play it with your phone when you visit the site. Else get a portable mp3 player. Good luck!

Basically this is a food adulteration issue. Someone tries to pass off something A as B by chemically altering its looks and substance using unapproved additives. There are some who are quick to capitalise upon this opportunity to harm this industry. Swiftlets are in no danger of extinction and not proven to spread avian flu for the last 20 years. In fact swiftlets ranchers take better care of swiftlets than those who talk only. We provide safe and comfortable refuge to them. If someone feels it is unethical to harvest their nests, then by the same token it is unethical to milk cows, take eggs from chickens, or operate a fish farm. SAM, there are many other places where your help is needed, but swiftlet is in no danger of extinction just yet.

Some want to regulate and benefit from an industry that they themselves have not promoted, helped or nurture. They just want power and providing very little value-add. Sometimes, I think negative-value add. For those in power without any foresight, just remember money flows. It will find the place of least resistance to prosper. Malaysia is ranked 3rd in terms of qty production. yet we don't hear of No 1 and 2 putting RFIDs and such nonsense. Personally, trying to hamper this industry is very unpatriotic as it hurts the economy.

Where is the action taken to identify and arrest the people responsible for faking red bird nest? When there were reports of fake eggs, how quick were the authorities to investigate. Very fast they came out with the answer. But eggs don't bring in export dollars to the country, EBN do. So shouldn't the effort be in enhancing the productivity of the industry. And please don't mention ecopark. Not proven and trying to create a false impression that this is a feasible idea. Prove it first with your own money b4 asking folks to part with their money to test a theory of yours.

"Malaysian bird’s nest exports to China had surged from 1.44 tonnes in 2009 to 100 tonnes last year."

How did we increase production that fast? It takes many many years to get new BH to be productive. Conclusion must be (a) back door from other countries. or (b) previously Malaysian EBN backdoor to other countries , now they are back.

Which infers we need to track EBN from other countries too???

Uncle West Wing, my BH 24 x 72 x 3 floor opened sound for 5 wks already. I see around 3 birds that comes to my BH almost daily, visiting several times between 6 to 11.30 am but I see no signs of nest. They always stay at the top of the monkey house near to the Entrance Hole and they don't go into the nesting area. In the evening, I get more birds visiting but none of them stay overnight and most of them play at the top of the monkey house too. Once in a blue moon, 1 or 2 will go into the nesting area but will exit in a rather short time.

I have 8 cameras that monitor their movements and visits. The temperature/humidity is ok and no signs of predators. I use Pak Hen's aroma H3N1 and recently I sprayed some bird droppings solution on the floor and walls. The first day when I sprayed the bird droppings solution, many birds came but the number dropped over the next few days. It is getting rather depressing to see no improvement. Can you suggest some tips on how I can improve the situation? I am trying out your suggestion to have some external sound in the nesting area. Currently my external sound goes into the roving area only.

My take is that my external sound seems to be able to attract birds to come, but I am not able to pull them right into the nesting area. Oh, sometimes the birds will play for quite some time in the roving area, but always the top part. My bh has the airwell design.

Never overnight, so, not a single tenant. The behaviour of these 3 swiftlets are rather puzzling. The come in the morning, do a look-look see-see then they leave. And they come a few times in the morning. I am holding out these birds to be "potential" tenants. Perhaps, they are checking out the potential bh to stay when mating/breeding starts. I hope...But they don't check out the nesting area though, only the roving area.

Based upon the previous discussions in the forum, I am experimenting to have external sounds in the nesting area. Today, I introduced new tweeters into the nesting area to bring in some external sounds (about 30% penetration) into the nesting area. Just the 3rd floor for a start. Basically am extending the song for the roving area into the nesting area and the song has 50/50 mix of external/internal sound. If I am doing something really wrong, pls shout!

Pls see attached files.

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?v8fdk7hs8mjqiqn