Agree with weihow_2000 too. Even in Mr. Phang's 3 books and 2 DVD I have. They still keeping something to themselves only.

This post has been edited by seeseng: Apr 8 2007, 10:54 AM

Sam,
Yes my farm is small. I call it store-room converted farm. It's my first farm. But it won't be my only farm in future. It will be my stepping stone into this field. I've collected a few swiftlet chirping CDs and one of them is from a farmer who own more than 5 successful farms. I will use that one for mine. Existing tweeters too small in size. Already found a good non-magnetic tweeter @RM5/pcs better sound quality, no hissing. Will add punched aluminium sheet on each of them. Artificial nests will be used to increase populations. I read in Dr. Chris forum that an Indonesian forumer said the mating potion is made of fish oil + duck egg as main ingrediant and kept the other ingrediant such as anti-ant a secret. Crystal Swiftlet selling the potion @RM350 / 5 liter as far as I know. I'll consider to use potion after the construction finished. Nest Tech also selling their own potions. weihow_2000 if you're interested here's the price list:
Ammonia RM220 / 5Liter
Swiftlet aroma RM340 / 4Liter
Swiftlet hormone RM280 / 5Liter
Swiftlet love potion RM340 / 4Liter
Also today I've received the hormone smell 45 degree angle planks from Nest Tech. They're really come with smell. They soaked the 0.7 inches Meranti Kepong wood in their secret formulated potion for 7 hours to make that planks. Made their fastest record of 5 completed nest in 3 months time in their experimental farm. Meranti Kepong is really soft. Made me think twice of choices of wood. Tomorrow will ask supplier to send me Meranti Bukit sample for comparison.



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Weihow_2000, regarding the hygrostat I'm still waiting for reply from supplier. From another forum there's a guy ordered from Tanjung Balai Indonesia @RM550/set. If my supplier can find one should be cheaper than that.
Introducing another piece of swiftlet farming gadget - Infra-Red Thermometer. It's useful for DIY farmers and consultants. It uses laser pointer to measure temperature of areas hard to reach such as walls and ceiling. It's useful when our over heated farm cause by an un-proper covered/concealed part of the wall/ceiling. Just point and click and instantly we know the surface temperature. To anyone interested to buy, my supplier have 2 types. E-Sun China and TES from Taiwan. E-Sun RM-520 @RM285 , TES 1326 @RM385 both including shipping to your door step. Both using 1x 9V battery.


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2 to 3 lux is exactly the ideal light intensity for swiftlet farm. Total darkness won't have any advantage over that.
Just talked to a friend running a 5 yrs old farm last night. His is a joint venture with consultant style. The consultant manage everything down to harvesting and selling. My friend doesn't know much about market price. The consultant is giving him RM3K/Kg price. I think the consultant is giving him very low price. Isn't that price for grade C or D nest?? Any comment? And FYI his farm is doing less than 1kg per month. For double storey shop house that's consider not so productive.
Dr. Chris' forum is written in his book "About the author" page. It's a members only forum for existing farmers and readers of his book only. - http://groups.google.com/group/swiftlet
The 45 degree hormone smell plank is RM3.80 a piece. If it really works double the price is still consider affordable.
I'm currently finding an insecticide call Fendona FC. It's odourless liquid, human and bird friendly. To prevent termites in the farm. Anyone know where to get?
Typo correction: Fendona FC. Not Fedona FC

This post has been edited by seeseng: Apr 10 2007, 03:05 PM

After you join the group Dr. Chris will personally email you. Asking your're existing swiftlet farmer or owner of his book. What kind of question they asked u for verification? For me since I'm not yet both so I just purchase the book directly from him. If you haven't owned the book you may buy from him. RM79.90 including postage to anywhere within Malaysia. It's a good book. Try to ask for 10% discount as after I joined the forum I read that he gave 10% discount for forum members. It's better than Crystal's Complete Introductory Guide. Yeah I just bought "The Complete Introductory Guide for Swiftlet Farming" E-Book last night and finished reading it within an hour.

I see, he wants to verify that you bought his book or not lah. Are you going to buy his book? RM79.90 possibly got 10% discount. BTW first word in page 68 is "Meranti" I just added a link to an Indonesian forum Klub Peternak Walet The link is at my first post.

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Added on April 12, 2007, 2:35 amThere are lots of things to be done before you set up a fam. First of all before you buy or rent a shop lot for swiftlet farming. You have to observe other swiftlet farms nearby. Observe the swiftlet quantity in that area. Use a few tweeters to play swiftlet external chirping sound on the roof top to see how many swiftlet you can gather. Decide to use the lot from the results. The preparation for the grand opening never comes cheap if you hire consultant or consultant companies. Bear in mind that not many consultants do well. Some consultants provide joint-venture service where you don't have to pay them but they will share the profit from your harvest for up to 20 years. Alternatively if you're daring enaugh you can do most of the job DIY. That's what I'm doing now. Because my under constrution farm has only 32' x 19 nesting area exclude roving area and entrace hole. Not worth it to hire consultant. Most of them charge RM5K to RM10K for advice only. I know a few farmers from outstation that renting shop lots in my area for swiftlet farming. Majority of farmers still own the shop lots themselves.

This post has been edited by seeseng: Apr 12 2007, 11:13 AM

I've read that. Nothing new. Election coming. "Moon clan" flaming Bee Anne for ignoring licensing issue on swiftlet farms. For many years authorities haven't decide how much fee to imply so until now still no need license yet. Later need license just pay them lah.

This post has been edited by seeseng: Apr 12 2007, 01:56 PM


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There are many reasons swiftlet test out your place and dislike to stay in it.
1) Too hot or too cold. ideal 27-30 degree
2) Too dry or too humid. ideal 75-90% RH
3) Too dark or too bright. ideal 2-3 lux
4) Presence of predators. (Even rat dropping smell will scare them)
4) Wrong chirping sound. Too loud / too many tweeters / bad quality tweeters.
5) Wrong material of nesting planks / no grooves on planks.
6) Poorly design entrance
7) Presence of chemical smell
8) Internal air pressure results of not enaugh ventilation holes
34 degree max is very high. Your farm is concrete or wooden? The roof is tiles/zinc/asbestos? Need to know these to come out with solutions. Normally to reduce heat you need to install heat dissipitation turbine to draw out hot air from inside the farm. Or install 12" exhaust fan (with grills on both sides) to draw out hot air. Turbine type is silence operation. Is the humidity enaugh?
The device to auto on/off humidifier that trigger on humidity level is call hygrostat or humidistat. I'm still searching for that up and down. There's one supplier selling and I think the price is too high. RM550 for one sucks model that with internal sensor with range of +-15% that sucks. Another good model with external sensor that can screw to nesting plank for best result and range of 1%. That's perfect. But price at RM850. Bummer. So I'm still seaching from other sources now. You can still use timer switch to control humidifier but would fail its purpose on rainy days. Are you using chicken farm humidifier? It's better to wrap it with sound reduction jacket. If you're going to do renovation in the farm remember to off chirping sound better still close the entrance.

This post has been edited by seeseng: Apr 13 2007, 04:21 AM

That pic I took from Dr. Chris forum. But poster doesn't give any info about the pic. Don't quite like the forum style. Cannot attach anything in typing posts. To upload files there's another section where all the files uploaded there but no info at all. I heard the Indonesian already can produce "blood nest" in swiftlet farms but the formula still remain a secret.

According to "Complete Introductory Guide to Swiftlet Farming"
In 2006, white edible birds nests were being sold by swiftlet farmers in Malaysia at around RM4300 to RM6500 per kilogram, depending on the quality of the nests sold.
In 2006, whilte edible birds nests that have been processed and sold by retailers to consumers in Hong Kong averaged around RM21500 to RM25000 per kilogram.
That's according to book. Maybe you need to ask Sam for the per kilogram price.
Currently there are many swiftlet farming consultant companies out there. You can survey around. Among those famous are Nest Tech, Crystal Swiftlets etc.

This post has been edited by seeseng: Apr 13 2007, 11:26 PM

It's not so simple. Investment is high, failure rate is as high as 50%-70%. Many not fail but fairly passed with poor results. But if after a year your farm is successful, the future is very bright.

This post has been edited by seeseng: Apr 14 2007, 05:01 PM

With duration of 9 weeks for such results is consider good. Furthermore now is the main mating season. All new bird farms will have very low increment. After June your farm's bird population will increase faster than now.

The hygrostat/humidistat / humidity controller. I've ask my friend to find the product in China. If he can find one then budget is below RM500 I asked him to buy 2 units. He'll be back after 5 days. The local supplier selling too expensive but the product is great. With 2 meter length sensor. So the sensor can put at nesting plank for best results. The accuracy range is +-1%. Price is RM850 including shipping. The RM550 is their old model stopped selling now. That one only build in sensor. Same like the type Nest Tech build-in their humidifiers. Accuracy range is +-15%. That's way inaccurate. It works like a timer switch but it trigger by environment humidity. If we set the trigger % to 80%RF. It will stop sending power to humidifier when the humidity reach 80%RF. Will start the humidifier when environment humidity is less than 80%RF. You know we can't predict the weather humidity. Sometimes the time suppose to be less humid but the humidity appear high. Such as on rainy days, even after rain we can't predict how long the humidity will stay high. Over humid for a period of time will result in nests become yellowish colour. The grade drop then price per kilogram also drop lah. If humidity not enaugh also the nests will become smaller, thinner, got gaps between the strands. If too dry nests will easily crack, some fall to the ground and in some cases the shape not nice. Not half cup shape. Another good thing is if you can maintain stable humidity. Mean the environment humidity not go up and down too much. The swiftlets will feel very comfortable. Swiftlets will build bigger, thicker, heavier nests. According to Nest Tech, in this situation you will get weight increase of 10%-15% more weight for same numbers of nests than before. E.g. normally you need around 120 nests to make up 1kg. Fore nests build in stable humidity/temperature maybe you only need 105-110 nests to make 1 kilogram.

This post has been edited by seeseng: Apr 16 2007, 01:34 AM


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Local selling RM850.
The hygrostat come in few models. Cheapest 1 is RM850 with 13amps plug. Max can control up to 2 units of humidifier. If 2 floors you have to buy 2. Because 1 unit only 1 sensor. Can sense 1 floor only. Correction the sensor wire is 3 meter long.

This post has been edited by seeseng: Apr 16 2007, 10:22 AM

What type of humidifier are you using? How many unit? How long and wide is your farm? Floor to nesting plank how high? If you have 2 floors you need to put 1 hygrostat each lah. Each floor sure different humidity level. So for 2 hygrostat you can use/control up to 4 humidifiers. Each floor 2 units.

The hygrostat control the power to the pump. Since you only have 1 pump you'll only need 1 hygrostat. Hygrostat will stop the pump when the sensor sense the humidity level you set. To purchase hygrostat locally you can email markindo88@yahoo.com Mr. Alan to order. Price RM850 including postage.

This post has been edited by seeseng: Apr 18 2007, 02:46 AM

Your first and foremost problem to overcome is the high temperature. What's the size of your farm? What type of building? Concrete or wood? What type of roof top? Zinc / asbestos or flat concrete? There are various types of farm cooling method. Combination of few types should produce the best results.
1) Roof top water sprinkler (Can be timer controlled if use electric water pump)
2) Turbine ventilator. Draw out hot air from internal to external. Need to install grill on the ceiling and duct direct to roof top. (Quite costly but no power needed. Number of unit depend on size of farm)
3) Exhaust fan. (Cheap, can be timer controlled. Choose the type with grills both side. Pic attached is Khind 10" VF100)
4)Sufficient 4" PVC pipe type ventilation holes.

I've seen farms using extra layer of fiber glass or polystyrine on the ceiling as ceiling heat insulation but they're not so effective if the roof is zinc. The insulation slower the heat from outside to enter but also slower the heat from inside to go away. Because sometimes heat also come from not only the roof but the walls as well. Insulated ceiling may cause a situation they called "Microwave effect" where internal a lot hotter than outside. If your roof is "A" shape type then put insulation layer at the area ceiling nearest to roof. I've tested mine with infrared thermometer. Ceiling nearest to roof are hottest.

According to successful farmers currently the best type of entrance hole is :
1)Open roof top entrance. - This is one of the favourite. Entrance size as big as 6'x6'. Since rain will direct go in you'll need a water pool and draining system down the entrance. Problem with this type is theft and air current not stable.
2)Dog kennel/Tower - Another favourite. Swiftlet feel safer nesting inside. But take few days time for new swiftlets to familiarize with the entrace and fly path.
You may see side window entrance at old farms but it's not recommended for new farms.
It's recommended to use mid range/long range tweeters at the entrace.

"turning point / partition of S curve" I think that area is what they call roving area. An area between nesting area and entrance hole. This area should be painted black/cave like colour. Roving area is for young birds to learn to fly and others to socialize. The S curve act as light barrier into nesting area as they need very dark in nesting area. Bear in mind this species of swiftlet need 4-5 feet to make a turn. You should have proper facing tweeters to guide the birds from entrance into roving area then guide them into nesting area.

This post has been edited by seeseng: Apr 21 2007, 07:28 PM


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If concrete building it should be easier to solve problem than wooden building. 33.5 C & 90%RF indicates the high humidity is holding up heat. You need to vent the hot wet air out. For 20x70 ft farm your ideal roving area size should be around 20x10 to 20x15. Inside roving area can also install nesting planks. Some birds will build nest there as well though it's not so dark.

This post has been edited by seeseng: Apr 23 2007, 08:30 PM

It's very sad that swiftlet farmers are forced to bribe the authorities just to pass their licenses. Through export of edible bird nests each year swiftlet farming industry help the country earn hundred millions of foreign currency. Swiftlet farming help a great deal in protecting an endangered species from extinction. Before we have swiftlet farming in house, those swiftlet in natural habitat become lesser and lesser each year cause by human uncontrolled harvesting of bird nests from caves. After in house swiftlet farming started the numbers of swiftlet has increased. The swiftlets are not in captivity. They're free to go for food searching. It's a humble job of wildlife preservation. In exchange we only take swiftlet unwanted used nest. Doesn't this job deserve to be respected? Or the authorities think it's more important to spend millions for 1 person to go eat roti canai in space? Or spend great deal of $ sending mat rempits to north pole to jump parachute?
New updates: My friend back from China & found a supplier for hygrostat. 2 units of demo units will arrive early May.

The price for hygrostat is still unknown. My friend's supplier will negotiate the best price with China manufacturer. For sure cheaper than local supplier.


http://www.ratuwalet.com/contact.html
Look they have a course to make normal nest become blood nest.
"kursus memerahkan sarang walet"
If not mistaken the course cost US$1100 for 30 minutes course.

This post has been edited by seeseng: Apr 26 2007, 01:58 PM