Bancroft I took a course in insect rearing . Built a insect barn attached to the BH and insect released directly into the roving area. The insect will then fly onwards the LMB attracted by the outside light.

I use 4 kg of mixed that I manufacture myself. Very successful producing heaps of Muttu as name by Pak Agong. Been doing this in my researched BH. Lots of birds come twice a day to feed and a wonderful sight. I have yet to be convinced if the birds will actually stay as I have not recorded any unusual increase in birds populations or nest in the last 8 months.

I do belief that if you have a huge population and insufficient feed sourounding area to sustain your birds . Then extra feeding is necessary. I also belief that continuous feeing will keep your baby birds from straying to far in search of feed and might settle in other bird house.

I am making feed to start from day one in my new # 25 th BH which I expect to on sound next Monday . I will assase if this will pull lots of birds to the new BH and in a way advertising the new BH and see if they will stay.

From my observation in my research Bh , lots of birds actually rush into the BH and feeding in the air well type entrance. I am speculating that if we pull them into the bh they start to get use to the BH and they may find the BH attractive and will stay.

I am having a Ball having so much fun!

Noh: Export of bird's nest to be resolved shortly

also here
http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v6/newsindex.php?id=666752

also here
noh-omar-masalah-eksport-sarang-burung-walit-selesai/

This post has been edited by Cergau: May 17 2012, 02:24 PM

Hai, Benchai, do u ever apply duck egg white on the plank? I have try last week after read Haxxx blog, and from CC tv i notice that the bird hate the smell so much until they left the place they normally stay even some already with marking. so far , 1 week have past they still avoid those plank I apply with duck egg white. Will see for another few weeks weather the situation will improve. Luckily those bird not leaving but change location only....

If you want to try EGGs, then the eggs to try are that of the swiftlets but I never encourage it as that's murdering of swiftlets to me. These broken swiftlet eggs do attract swiftlets but maybe for a wrong reason.

I have the feeling that swiftlets have all senses in perfection cos the birds can see well, hear well and smell well and whether taking prolong usage of birdnests can improve our senses as well; then that will certainly increase the price of birdnests by many times.

Any research in these will definitely benefit us.....

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Added on May 17, 2012, 4:45 pmAs for man made food for the swiftlets, no harm producing or buying although it will certainly draw in birds but whether staying or not shall be another topic to discuss.

If you have seen ants/termites fledgling time, then you shall understand as thousand of swiftlets can be seen feeding off the flying insects and how they know, it must be their keen sight to be able to see from so far away.

I admit that I never have use these food for swiftlets and did help some friends to buy. No positive feedback from any of them on the improvement/advantage of using them. Infact, I still have another 2 unused cans and I should have to use it myself in my new BH as I wasn't been paid for it by a friend that didn't come to collect them after been reminded many times. Next time, must collect payment before helping to order...........Tak untong kena rugi lagi.

Anyone here using the swiftlet's feed here?

This post has been edited by West Wing: May 17 2012, 04:45 PM

Tried it before but not helping whatsoever.

Yes I experimented with duck eggs on NP that I installed to the most populated area in my 3 rd BH. I was a failure and not only unpopulated but later turn green with fungus. The temporary plank was then removed.

From the courses I attended I learn a composition of Duck eggs and bird shit and my home made aroma ( only for own use and never sold a drop ) this is made into a paste and plastered on the wall in the nesting room. Had good result but weather it was concidental or not is arguable.

Now I only placed buckets of BS in all new BHs and pour in some of my Homemade aroma . I also placed 2 gallan of aroma in the roving area with the cap ofF so act as slow release.

Having said that I will not vouch the effectiveness of aroma in BH. All BHs that I sold I maintain them until there are 30 establish nests and markings. So I just do it as
A routine and the new owner are very pleased and value for their investments.

I do belief that fresh bird shit in New BHs will make the new tennant feel more comfortable. Answer is three things ! Bird Shit , Bird Shit and Bird Shit !!!

Taking one week off from Walet walt and walt so have little time to chat. Above is Only My own opinion and for fun reading.

demand is not catching up wt supply.....

No wonder no feed back from users and I thought that they forget to thank me for help them in securing the birds' food and by the way, I never like the idea of fruit flies but seem to think that flying ants or termites might do the trick as I have seen the large gathering of swiftlets everytime these insects fly ..... must be that fruit flies aren't their main diet at all.

I have seen swiftlets feeding on house flies when time are bad zooming at rubbish bin by the road side but nothing on fruit flies. Good that we share and provide feedback here to ensure that lesser fellows will suffer.....another good way of helping fellow mankind....instead of giving fishes like our Gmen in the form of RM200-Rm500 every occasion possible (wastage of public money), we are great Men that part with our knowledge so that all Men can learn to fish and "Cari makan sendiri".

So, anyone know how to breed Termites successfully and I think that Termites are good form of protein in some countries........"boleh cari makan membiak Anai Anai".......

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Added on May 17, 2012, 6:42 pmMy Friend Ben,

You should come here often (posting) and share your vast experience in the latest "Art and Science" of doing BH. Still I never think Duck egg is the reason for your experiment's success but rather when you added bird shits to it causing decomposition and if you try other type of eggs, the result shall be the same as it's due to " Shit + whatever Eggs" give you yah!!!!!!! The aroma can kill us but not the birds; that's my belief....only. One thing everybody will agreed totally agree with you is SHIT..SHIT..SHIT and plenty of SHIT

This post has been edited by West Wing: May 17 2012, 06:46 PM

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=...7222&sec=nation

Dr noh said agro bank has given out loans worth of 1 billion for building swiftlet house for farmers. If bird nest industry issue is not solved yet, i guess many will default and affect agro bank balance sheet. Agro bank is glc though

With the honest report from Benchai and Wise Wing, I must also say that after trying very many 'aromas' none of them conclusively proved that the birds preferred any of them in any way.

I concur with both our great experts that all it takes is shit ! It's all about a big load of shit.

In my school boy understanding of science, shit and water combined produces ammonia, plus other smelly stuff, so the use of pure ammonia as emitted by ammonium bicarbonate, it may mask the smell of a newly built BH. This is what I used when I first opened the doors of my swiftlet hotel. 2 bags per floor.

If you have a BH in an Agri area, as I have, maybe the use of fresh chicken dung in the field might also help. I ordered 100 bags of fresh chicken manure to put in the farm and that attracted hundreds of birds from sunrise to sunset everyday for about 3 months. I then switched to Oil Palm waste which is the left over from the fruit bunches after the fruits have been removed and these created a lot of insects which again attracted a lot of birds daily.

I am trying desperately to kill termites, have also given them instructions to fly to Wise Wing's BH but they won't leave and keep eating up my coconut trees, durian seedlings, killing off my bananas. I wish I could dig them up and put them on a lorry to the east coast.

Like the Rice industry with BERNAS, soon there will be a 'co-op' to control EBN, run by some UMNO controlled crony and we will have to sell exclusively to them or through them. What can we do about that ?

Many thanks to our Seniors here with their advices n comical views on
sw ranching.Yeah times are bad but bros here still alive n kicking.
Fully agree with the Shit thing. Open the papers nowadays u see full of shit but open BH also full of shits but these shits make u happy not otherwise. Birdman full of shit man!

Heard this tip from a bro about bird shit. His indon worker ask him for bs for cili padi plants , believe it or not the palnt has got more cilis than leaves. This bro also planted jambu ayer using bs as manure , result jambu fruit 4 to 5 inches long.
What a wonderful creature this swiftlet.
One more tip he shared with me. Ask ur Missus not to waste money on those hand lotion from pharmacy. Yeah u got it , bs lotion on ur palm n hands.... super smooth he said. Entrepreneurs take note. If successful thank him. To be continued

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Added on May 18, 2012, 12:10 pmJust finish my job in the washroom...dont ask me what I did n its of no use also
This bro also told me his Sporean friend wanted to buy a small packet of bs from him( maybe 1 to 2 kilos only) price S$50/= after he advised
this Singkie friend to try bs on his wifes problem.
Sorry to say I couldnt pry this tip from him. He said he got his reason. Have to do some psycho work on him some time later.
BTW I havent tried any of his tips yet neither does my wife on the bs lotion. Ha Ha Ha!
Have a wonderful weekend

This post has been edited by somman99: May 18 2012, 12:10 PM

Once saw fruit flies at the roving 1 mth after activating insect fed and at the same time swiftlets flying low at chest height believe feeding on flies. Usually they fly high nearer to ceiling.

Some increase in nests not sure coincident. But only 1 bucket of fed weight 3kg, wonder how much insect can it produce? Tuck Fook kind of mass production more effective lah. Home made few buckets type just extra junk foods. Probably helps just for few not main colonies.

IMO more benefit to those selling insect fed than benefit the birds. Home made cheaper but how much can you make. 1 lorry of EFB or cow dung more effective anytime.

Many thanks to seniors here for your advice. By the way discussing about BS aroma, let me tell you my own BH story. This is my second BH, next to the first which has low growth rate for a few months i mentioned before. Both was built on a piece of ariland, having same dimension 10 x 30 m x 4 stories. I called them the old and the new.

In the old one, because its area is quite large, i had to spend lots of money for BS. At that time, i bought about 300 kg for the first application. I scatter on the floor all over my BH. Some was soaked in water for a few days and spray on walls. It cost me about RM1500. When it was on sound, it seemed to be very attractive. I could count about 20 birds staying overnight on the first day. After 3 months, this bh reached 60 nests. After 5 months, 100 nests. Since then, it had lower growth rate.

After 5 months since the old was on sound, the new was completed. But this time, i decided not to buy the BS to save my money. I just used my homemade aroma under my friend's instruction. This time, the aroma cost me about RM500 only, 1/3 to the BS. At that time, i didn't have strong belief on the aroma, just give it a try before BS application. Could you believe that i had about 100 birds staying overnight on the first day it was on sound. On my first visit last month, i can count about 80 BS spot and some nest markings just after one month in operation. Haven't visit it till now but through my CCTV cams, i can count about 200 birds staying each night.

Noted that the two have different design and play different sound. The environment in the new is totally dark while the old is a bit brighter.

This is my own true story, just wanna share with friends here. Any comment is most welcome.

This post has been edited by bancroft: May 18 2012, 05:56 PM

Fruit flies powder not cheap and needs at least 5 days to be activated, once the powder fermented, it emits overwhelming rotten smell in the roving room. Not sure the birds like or dislike the strong smell though. I gave up the powder method and replaced it lower cost fruit flies attractant hormone and placed it at the main LMB. Yes it attracted a small number of fruit flies without the need to produce it but due to my BH design flaw, (I need to walk pass 3 nesting floors in order to replace the hormone placed on the edge of LMB located at the top floor) I don't want to kacau the birds inside the nesting room, thus I discontinued this method too.

DIY Insect powder is cheap, just soy bean+chicken fed+oat 1:1:1. Protein, vitamin so after few mths turn black smell exactly like IWK human waste when u korek-korek-korek play with it. I put in well ventilated airwell. No no at roving, I don't like, swiftlet may like

Too much efford. Only agri farm can do 1 lorry. Many thks to our cow farmer neighbour for the idea, plant flowers use own by-products till we cannot tahan complain till he put smaller portion inside his own house.

This post has been edited by Bobby C: May 18 2012, 06:26 PM

To make insect the mix is made up of two ingredents and three type of chemical . One of this chemical prevents the mix from going bad . I make 4 kg feed every week . At end of fifth week I removed the tray no one . Meaning the feed will be exhausted after 5 weeks. For every 4 kgs of mix you produce 1 kg of insect. The insect can be harvested by blowing them into a very fine mash nylons nets. This are frozen and have a shelf life if two years. Present I have 7 kgs of frozen insects in my freezer . This I plan to use in June to feed Fladging from the cave which is available during harvesting time.

If you have the correct method and correct combo there is only a very acceptable smell of fermentation. I started of with my BH smelling as if there is a dead body inside. After a course with Pak Agong and a wonderful holiday in Surabaya making insect is not a problem. the feed will be totally consumed and only leave behind a layer of dry brown crust which I will try to raise meal worms. Yes I am also raising meal worms for my Murai .

I also tried the rotten fruits method . This produce a different type pf insect slightly smaller With red eyes. . The birds love them but hard to produce in large quantity and if the juice is allowed to accumulate the rotting fruits will go moldy and smell pretty bad.

Back to KK tomorrow and on sound in my latest BH. Them fly direct to Kuching and going on a swiftlet safari with two buddies. Will check out very exciting area where 1000 nests in two years is possible but at last it is so isolated and remote but again if you choose the road that is less traveled by , that may make a different. Who knows. Having so much fun with Walet.

Good luck will contrubuit more when I take my next break from Walet Walet Walet. Cheers !

http://www.swiftletfarming.com.my/contents.php?id=100007
Hei, guy...just came across this ad, Crazy if this is really working....

My take most important is LOCATION .

Using test location sound with many nearby BHs will not determin that the area is suitable even with hundreds of birds attacking your stress call tweeters. , I learned a very expensive lesson . Bhs in this type of area Will be very difficul to pull in tennant from your neighboue's BHs and lead to slow growth.

Best area will be the feeding area which is isolated and no BHs nearby. If you find this type of location you hit the jackpot. BH no 20 ( design and commission )in such area, oil palm estate 6 months 10 days 197 nests not counting markings.

A friend who also build bh and shared many BHs dont belief in aroma at all and never use a single drop of aroma or bird shit.. Has many very successful BHs. Puzzle !!!

Another success story the first bh in Kuala Matu converted from a timber chicken farm house on stilt . Bottom use a storage and workshop. 400 nests in the first year. Is now 4 years old with 3000 nests .

Conclusion LOCATION good design and good sounds = SUCCESSFUL BHs . If don't have GOOD location just keep your money in the bank . Successful BHs brings so much happiness. Stress and frustrations is bad for health. Please don't get me wrong I ALSO HAVE FAILED BHS ( slow growth about 30 % ) Happy reading.

Cow dung is different due to the differing digestive systems !

Not so much for the aroma but for the flies. Our area recorded sudden increase in home flies tat can last for >1 mth when cow neighbour brought in 1 lorry of dung to his home. Swiftlets will be certainly glad v extra feeding. Size of home flies much bigger compares v fruit flies. Any time more effective than insect fed. Cheap n good.

This post has been edited by Bobby C: May 19 2012, 01:45 PM