My friends,

The Boss of Aeroswift goes by the name of Khairil Sani Wong. Maybe he just wants to get more malays and muslims into swiftlet farming, which should be welcomed. However it can also be read that he is taking advantage of the malay's ignorance in this business. So it is up to one's interpretation.

They are also going to launch as per advertised in their website:

"Perasmian Bangunan Projek Burung Walet

Posted by K.Sani Wong in Aeroswift Consultancy Sdn Bhd, Mukhriz Mahathir

Alhamdulillah perasmian PUSHPIAM dan perasmian bangunan projek Rumah Burung Walet usahasama antara PUSHPIAM dan Aeroswift akan dilakukan oleh YB Dato' Mukhriz Tun Mahathir.

Selain itu, MoU pembelian produk Burung Walet antara Aeroswift Consultancy Sdn Bhd dengan Yan Sun Group (China) juga akan ditandatangi pada hari tersebut.

Orang ramai amnya dan ahli PUSHPIAM khususnya dijemput hadir ke perasmian tersebut pada 14hb Ogos 2009 pukul 3 petang.

Datang, jangan tak datang ye!"

Good on you Lucas 1.

AFs are color blind, so we farmers should be too.

To those who are fighting a much appreciated course in defending the Edible-nest Swiftlets, I hope the info posted below will be of help. Please allow me to quote some bits and pieces from the research paper below

Problems in the harvest of edible birds’ nests
in Sarawak and Sabah, Malaysian Borneo by JOSEPH J. HOBBS
Department of Geography, University of Missouri-Columbia, 8, Stewart Hall, Columbia, MO 65211, Biodiversity and Conservation 13: 2209–2226, 2004.
# 2004 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.

Quote 1: .....such as Good Luck Cave, which contains Sarawak
Chamber, the world’slarge st cave chamber.
The park is managed by the Sarawak Forest Department which, by several
informants’ accounts, bears responsibility for much of the illegal bird nest
harvesting. The salaries for park staff are very low, and yearly renewable
contracts keep the prospects of termination weighing on them. These unfavorable
termshave led to a recent steep decline in the number of rangers
(from 16 to 8) and other park staff, with some important consequences. First,
there are fewer guides to take visitors to the more remote caves, without which
those caves go largely unmonitored and unprotected. Second, several staff
membershav e become corrupted, and profit from the theft and sale of the
birds’ nests, either by collecting the nests themselves, or more typically by
looking the other way in exchange for a share of the profits

Quote 2: I asked several involved parties why it was apparently impossible to prevent
nest theft at Niah. Some emphasized the practical difficulties. Paschal Dagang
of the Sarawak Forest Department, for example, said ‘‘They can sneak in
because there are so many passages, and we don’t have enough enforcement
staff’’.

Quote 3: Other sources told me the problem was not that the soldiers were incapable
of effective patrolling, but that they were corrupted and took bribesof 20–30
ringgits(US$ 5.26–7.89) to ignore theft. Niah’sNational ParkWarden Mutalib
Abu Tajudin was especially bitter about this collusion, and about his inability
to crack down on poaching. He admitted that he and most other park employees
generally avoid the cave and any dealings with the poachers, because
the poachers threatened that any intervention would cost the lives of park staff
family members and of tourists visiting the cave.

***************************************************

The above research was done in 2003 and paper published in 2004. Is the present situation in Sarawak same as then?

With the great decline of ebn in the wild, I guess it is difficult for them to cari makan so they have to focus their attention to the bird houses in towns.

Do you think the relevant authorities have the well being of the birds as their main priority?

I hope so but I doubt it.

This post has been edited by coolandy: Aug 2 2009, 09:32 PM

I copy & paste the following for you all to judge for yourself. Will prolong use cause 'White Dust" to form on the nesting planks and damage it forever? We need more data. FYI, Air-O-Swiss is a manufacturer of ultrasonic Humidifier. Looks like it needs super clean water & a lot of maintenance. Use it at your own risk.

"The Air-O-Swiss Room Humidifier System works by Ultrasonic Humidification. Water from the Removable Water Reservoir first travels through a Dimineralization Cartridge. The granules within the cartridge remove minerals from the water that can produce "white dust" in the room and also prevents lime scale build-up within the humidifier, making cleaning a simple task. White dust is caused when minerals are carried into the room air from a humidifier and precipitates out when the water vapor evaporates. After leaving the Dimineralization Cartridge, the water travels to the base of the unit where it contacts the patented Ionic Silver Stick®. The Ionic Silver Stick® releases silver ions to kill bacteria and viruses within the water and maintain constant water purity. If the pre-heating option was selected, the water will be heated to 176°F. The water within the base then travels to the Nebulizer Chamber and contacts the Ultrasonic Vibrator, which creates high frequency oscillations to transform the water in the base into a micro-fine mist. The Ultra-Quiet Fan pushes air into the Nebulizer Chamber where the air and micro-fine mist mix together. The air continues up the Evaporation Chamber and is released into the room where the water vapor fully evaporates immediately to release moisture and increase the relative humidity of the room


Maintenance

Water conditions will dictate the amount of maintenance and cleaning required. Using hard water with a lot of minerals will require more frequent demineralization cartridge changes and unit cleaning. The design and features of the Air-O-Swiss Humidifier provides a system that requires much less maintenance and has lower operating costs when compared to other humidifier systems.

Maintenance Procedures

*

Every two weeks check the unit base for any deposits. Clean any deposits around the titanium disc with the provided brush. Use a mixture of white vinegar and warm water in a 1:2 ratio to help remove deposits.
*

Replace the demineralization cartridge every 2-3 months, depending on water conditions. More frequent changes may be needed for hard water (high mineral content) conditions.
*

Replace the Ionic Silver Stick® once a year."

This post has been edited by coolandy: Aug 13 2009, 12:22 PM

In weather systems, air always flow from cold regions (high pressure) to warm regions (low pressure) where the warm air rises.

What CWG probably says is that in a closed system, heated air could not expand and hence builds up more pressure.

Sadly there are so many CON MEN in this world. The politicians just read out what their runners have typed out for them.

Siapa yang ramai akan kena tipu?

Wishing West Wing a quick recovery.

With so many doctors in the family, sure get good treatment.

Just read the article.

All I can say is that he did not have ALL the facts at his disposal (wouldn't expect otherwise) but he is partially correct though, thanks to the many selfish Swiftlet farmers still lurking among us. It is our job to educate them.

Even in my hometown, there are farmers blatantly playing very loud calling sound from about 6:45am right through to 9:00pm. These are experienced farmers and some don't give a damn. They are the blacksheep of the family.

You still see many bloggers and expert consultants promoting the hexagonal tweeters, pooling sound etc. These should be illegal! They only care about profits. Noise pollution is none of their concern because it is not their ears that are exposed to the noise more than 12 hours a day. There is no internal check-and-balance in this industry.

If you have children studying for the up-coming PMR & SPM and they cannot concentrate on their studies, would you not be annoyed? I have met people who wanted to throw diesel into those farms! Talk about pissed off residents.

Would you blame the town council for wanting to shut down bird farms? I certainly don't.

Bro WW,

Take it easy. After recovery, then can involve in birds again.

It should be 100% refundable + interest + penalty (15% of capital invested) to prevent fraudulent misrepresentation of facts!

Then I am willing to invest.

When asked, are we expected to provide straight forward answers? Did anybody get paid for doing so?

West Wing & others have been giving a lot of tips.

If newbies are not willing to put in the effort to dig for info from the begining, then it is most UNFAIR to say that sifus here are not very helpful.

Bear in mind that the sifus also got other work to do.

Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam facilitate EBN farming.

Our Malaysia government frustrates EBN farming.

Such is the sad situation facing all of us here.

West Wing, wish you a speedy recovery.

For me, a comfortable control room is a must. That is where we check our system, maybe record some CCTV and take a rest after visiting our BH.

Eventhough the BH is meant to generate and maximize income, don't forget that we also need to live a good life. We cannot bring the extra money with us to the next world.

So, a balance is needed.

Tweeter, my connection is very very very slow and could not access the video. Hope to view it soon.

Thanks anyway.

Apartment? Absolutely a BIG NO.

Come on, don't let your greed affect your sense of judgment.

Sebab nila setitik, rosak susu se belanga.

Thanks DSMB,

Good links.

Scientists have a problem identifying male and female swiftlets. Eggs? Aristotle said that the pointed eggs are male and the rounder ones are females. Some Indonesia authors mentioned the same.

How do we separate fact from fiction. I am really keen to know more about this issue.

This post has been edited by coolandy: Sep 30 2009, 09:24 PM

The poultry humidifier:

I have used 21 units so far, some since 2.5 yrs ago and none giving me any problems.

Don't think they give any warranty but you can try.

How do you plan to manage the humidity level?

West Wing,

You are a true bird lover and I can tell that in your heart, you are grateful for what the swiftlets have given you. :-)

This industry should be supported by the the government and all ethical swiftlet sanctuary providers should be given due recognition by the perhilitan people and also the Minister in charge of Trade and Investment.

This industry has saved many an abandoned shoplot and also provided many jobs and economic benefits in the construction industry. The foreign exchange earned is very substantial.

The government should help each and every bird sanctuary provider.

The general feeling is that the OWL will perch before entering to make further exploration. However, do owls fly straight into a building without standing on the ledge first? I think sometimes they do.

Nevertheless, the above device, though not foolproof, is of help.

---

Added on October 21, 2009, 11:37 amDSMB,

The perhilitan people just wants to cling on to the power given to them eventhough they know that their original job is to protect the birds from extinction due to rampant and uncontrolled harvesting in the caves.

If they had done their job properly, the birds at Niah caves would be in Millions instead of 60,000.

This post has been edited by coolandy: Oct 21 2009, 11:43 AM