u r welcome.
"raking in millions, give la the contractors some job!"
I dun hv such high hopes. I expect the price will drop with so many BHs coming into production soon.
If I just keep my retirement investment money above inflation I will be happy.
Like most of us, I have plans for the remaining of the land which is the fun part of this whole exercise.

"obstruct sound path"
This is something I may need to think abt.

thks for the rest of yr comments.

Hi Cergau,

To avoid too steep staircase, you can break the staircase into two parts for more steps, see pic below.

I also have a BH design very similar to yours.
My floor to floor will be 3.5 meter only.
The size is 6 meter by 20 meter,will be built on a shallow pond.
Hopefully can start by next month.




This post has been edited by Tweeter: Feb 10 2010, 11:29 AM

From my little experiences to share,

Just like human, they too take for granted that there is nothing obstructing their way but they will get use to it. Next time, they will be smarter and use their eyes and ears. A friend of mine drove straight into a drain and his excuse was that there was no drain there all the time..........again, taking thing for granted, my friend.

From case history, a friend of mine renovated the entrance hole and move it about 10 meter away and he found that some of his birds knocked into the sealed old entrance but gradually but surely, they will get use to it. If they are not sure, then they will use echolocation to guild themselves in darkness.

So, don't you worry,we have these experiences before.

I also have a BH design very similar to yours.
My floor to floor will be 3.5 meter only.
The size is 6 meter by 20 meter,will be built on a shallow pond.
Hopefully can start by next month.


[/quote]
Hi Tweeter, your BH is very close to what i had in mind, except was thinking maybe 2 storey and Dog Kennel style (extended upward from the roving area, hence i 'save' back the roving area fr nesting). How mcuh did it cost you on the building? and equipment? Trying to work out my budget.

Say Tweeter, got opening ceremony/Kenduri or not? Invite us la...

[quote=Raymondetc,Feb 10 2010, 10:56 AM]
I also have a BH design very similar to yours.
My floor to floor will be 3.5 meter only.
The size is 6 meter by 20 meter,will be built on a shallow pond.
Hopefully can start by next month.


[/quote]
Hi Tweeter, your BH is very close to what i had in mind, except was thinking maybe 2 storey and Dog Kennel style (extended upward from the roving area, hence i 'save' back the roving area fr nesting). How mcuh did it cost you on the building? and equipment? Trying to work out my budget.

Say Tweeter, got opening ceremony/Kenduri or not? Invite us la...

[/quote]

Hi Raymondetc,

Total cost exclude land is estimated at RM 182,000.
Sorry for not being clear, the construction, not the BH operation will be started next month.
Hopefully can be finished and open for bird by Jul.

All are invited lah, will be in Southen part of Thailand.
But better to come by Jul next year to see not only house but birdnests too!

Just to share what I believe


1.How high should it be......obviously, the higher the better as there will be no obstruction to the bird and if your floor is high, you can even be there and the birds will not care nor concern about your present in the BH but then....beware, the higher it is, the more dangerous it is for you. The Better for the birds, but the worst for you. Most accidents happened in BH are caused by falling off ladders and many have broken arm to tell tales. Simple thing like climbing ladder will be problematic when you are tired like having climbing up and down harvesting hundreds of nests and you may just slip and fall to the ground.

As for the holes in the BH for the birds to go down to the lower floors and again, caution as the holes may be your way to heaven as as you are working in a BH where lighting and congestion plus the unpleasant of wearing a mask will disorientate you and cause you to fall down. Best if you can have blocker around the holes although it may alittle obstruct the flight of the birds but it wil save your life. Remember the case of a BH owner (a Millionaire before venturing into the BH Buz) fell to his death in his BH thru a hole in the upper floor of his BH.

Doing a new BH, you must consider from both angles, the birds and you in particular.......not use of a successful BH if you are dead.

Most of the designs that I have seem are typical types and most of them are similar. You see one, you have seen most of them all but to me, many can have better designs for the birds if you are doing it in the plantation cos there are no building specifications to follow............obvoiusly, there are always risk to be the pioneer in designing new designs.

Don't ask me what I have in mind cos I won't be telling as I reserve it for myself.........my dream BH.

As always, above are my opinions on the matter and all may comments and happy to hear if I am wrong.

Hi West wing,

Thank you for your comments as always.

Most of the designs that I have seem are typical types and most of them are similar. You see one, you have seen most of them all but to me, many can have better designs for the birds if you are doing it in the plantation cos there are no building specifications to follow............obvoiusly, there are always risk to be the pioneer in designing new designs.

Don't ask me what I have in mind cos I won't be telling as I reserve it for myself.........my dream BH.



Please share more tips to newbie like us, as we desperately need them in order not to fail.
There are too many failed BH already, don't want to add one more.

Tweeter thks for yr comments.

---

Added on February 10, 2010, 1:26 pmWW,
thks for yr advice.
If I stay with the design, I will very likely go abt the maint/harvesting with a safety harness.
I use safety harness in my other hobby up in trees/hides etc.
Also I am in the dark all the time.
So safety is not something I will take lightly.
I will attempt a scaffolding gurney design to share as a safety option in this forum for the industry.

This post has been edited by Cergau: Feb 10 2010, 01:26 PM

Please share Cergau.

I'm now having big headache chasing the lizards and cleaning the mold on the nesting planks 10' high above the floor and how I wish my nesting planks can be 1' or 2' lower.
Yes. WW, I'll get pretty disorientated after several rounds of up n down from the ladder and I guess the most dangerous part is when one is disorientated, there is a tendency to neglect the proper footing of the ladder as it move from one place to another and that's when accident happen.

Hi Cergau,

Yes agree with you. Swiftlets do not use ecol-location all the times. I can hear the clicking sound when they are in dark area especially when in the birdhouse locating their favourite nesting places. They are like us human beings too, being over confidence in familiar areas. Hope they can adjust soon and do not abandon their nesting area just because of some obstructions along the way.

As to your new design birdhouse, I am no expert but with the experience I encounter for my birdhouse, I think the roof entrance is good. This is because this design will cut out the lights unlike mine dog kennel type and it is too bright, that's why I have to fit extra "wall" to cut out the glare. I feel your ceiling is too high when come to harvesting the nests. Initially when the nests are few, it is not too bad. But imagine once there are full of nests.....just imagine how tough it will be. I have seen some as low as 7' only, yet there are full of birds.

Just my 2 cents to share.

---

Added on February 10, 2010, 6:09 pmHi Brother WW,

As usual your write out and ideas are very practical and useful to us newbie. Thank you very much and "kong Hee Fat Choy" to you and all Chinese forummers

Hope can meet you again at Hai Pin for a cup of famous Kemaman coffee.

This post has been edited by swiftlailai: Feb 10 2010, 06:09 PM

swiftlailai,

May I know the material you used for the partial partition ? Plywood ?

I was thinking something like this.
With castors, it shd be around 7', the scaffolding is 6'.
There are half scaffolds of 3', so you can mix and match and build up as needed for yr BH dimension & design.
You can also add on a pulley sustem where you just pull yrself along w/o having to climb down to push the gurney.
If you want some more fun, you can fabricate a manual winch or motorised winch to pull you along.
You will have to figure out if this is feasible.
I figure there will be a need to have guides on the floor to guide it along.
Also you can hook yrself with a safety harness onto the gurney if you can build it sturdy or have a cable at on the ceiling where you can hook yr safety harness.
Since it's modular you can dismantle for storage at a convenient corner of each floor.
Just initial thoughts for now, maybe you guys can think of better ways with this.
The crossbars I suggest you fabricate yr own as the commercial ones are flimsy. a 2"x3" ('kok-chai')/wood is a good replacement.
Please use at yr own risk & I take no responsibility for yr safety from yr own fabrication.

PS cant load my pic as there's a storage problem on the LowYat site.
Will try upload tomorrow.

PS2 The storgae problem still exist, so you will need to download here
http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk287/s...ng_gurney_1.jpg

This post has been edited by Cergau: Feb 11 2010, 09:07 AM

Sounds cool... a bit like those ladders on wheels in the library... but you need to have some sort of brakes on it so it does not move while you are doing the harvesting or u will fall!

That's neat !!
Yes, I guess you need this in your 15' BH but it may not be suitable for my 10' BH. Reasons being:
1) Anything 3' above the ground will obstruct the flying birds in a 10' BH.
2) Assembling and dismantling will make a lot of noise. And one have to do it in the dark with head lights only.
3) Dismantling it for storage will make a simple ad hock chore like putting a fallen chick back to the nest , or replacing a single tweeter a big hassle.
4) To overcome problem #3, I would need a 7 steps light weight aluminum ladder as backup.
5) Then I'm coming back to the old fashion way again..... the ladder.

This post has been edited by aeiou228: Feb 11 2010, 12:14 PM

swiftlailai,
thks for yr comments.
I may adopt a dog kennel yet.
I will stay with 15' if the contractor doesnt make a fuss or the additional cost is marginal.
I will hv the option of a mezzanine floor plus condo-type NP, (2 possible expansion methods) all w/o having to mess with the BH structure.

Source: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=...7622&sec=nation

I would be surprised if the contractor didn't make a fuss... lol... over 3 storeys there is a total increase of 15 feet which is a storey and a half... the extra brickwork would be quite substantial.

Reading bits and pieces of your posts... limited time & internet access... will relate all the dealings with my local council's technical department, Jabatan Perancangan Bandar & Desa, Bomba, Peparitan and etc (this past week was dealing with all these departments) later on when u have more time. N9 state gov issued a directive to JBPD to freeze all swiftlet premises/licenses, pending the new guideline (basically, we apply thru the local council, but approval comes from JBPD for stand alone units, for shoplots are the PBT's prelesenan).

I think someone posted a link to the draft 1GP in V1, i think. If so, can someone rehighlight the link, if not, i'll have to scan and post here. Also have a copy of KPKT's (Kementerian Perumahan & Kerajaan Tempatan) guidline for BH licensing (2005 guidelines). That draft 1GP... sigh...

Bro Cergau, the staircase is a nice idea, as some others said, for observation (additional glass panels). Mine's 90% complete, so takle wat apa dah.

Found some owl feces yesterday, below the entry hole. tonight will do some covert operation, spying where the bird perches.

This post has been edited by dunsuntutmybuntut: Feb 11 2010, 05:01 PM

Wow... you can even recognise owl shit?? lol... how to tell?

Also... any friends here from Kuching or Sarawak... would be nice to come out for tea or coffee and share ideas and knowledge! Just PM me...

hi dunsun,

do u mean Negeri Sembilan now cannot have a swiftlet farm house at this moment? how many states have halted the licensing?

check out here , so many people got conned.
http://www.mfa.org.my/?classified:pelabura...est:16777-FRM-4

This post has been edited by hackwire: Feb 12 2010, 12:15 AM