If really insist auto-gate, why not auto-grille instead auto-gate. So that swiftlets can still fly in and out but not owls.

Dear West Wing

The air well type entrance that always mention by you is it same with open roof design or its look like smoke tunnel design where quite famous in Selangor now a day?

Thank.

Most high buildings have air well so I normally will used that air well for the birds to glide in. This way, it save cost and you don't have to do alot of damages to the building. I have been very successful using the method. What is good is that the air well itself is an insulation wall for the birdhouse.

Too small an air well is useless cos the birds need to drop in or dive in . New birds need a long area which I refer to as a landing runaway to give them the confidence and the feeling of safety before entering. And for some of the new BHs, where there is no open air well, my way is either to have an long open roof or using the existing air ventilation opening (look similar to the DK type) as the structures are there so I will have no much problem with the local authorities.

Above are my sincere advice and other may have their own suggestion.

I think what Uncle Ben have shared with us is the gist of his experience gained thru past years’ observation. This formula definitely must have worked well for him, even though it might not work for others, it’s all depended on the different conditions and circumstances of the BHs.

I think the message Uncle Ben would like to put across is to caution us pay more attention on the durability of the nesting planks. Too much humid exposure will cause fast growing of mould on the planks. He is suggesting to us that it’s not necessary to switch on the humidifier in a new BH. When the birds’ population start to increase only then will set the humidity to 80 and 85 max and switch it off during raining season. I think it should be alright to follow his advice.

I agree with you that no doubt the humidifier can reduce the temperature in the BH, but its main function is to increase the humidity. It is not installed solely to bring down the BH’s temperature.

The key to control the temperature is preventing heat from entering the birdhouse. We should prevent heat getting in with good insulation and we should study how heat enters the BH.

Where and how to insulate? It all depends on the existing conditions of the BH. Therefore, prior to the BH renovation, it is advisable to do analysis i.e taking temperature to enable us make the right and wise decision. Best time to take the temperature is between 3 to 5 pm at the highest floor nearest to the ceiling. We should measure the hottest area of the BH (area facing afternoon sun) and preferably during hottest day. If the result shows reading below 30°C, then why should we waste time installing the bubble aluminium foil, mineral wool, and so on? If the result only shows high reading at certain areas, then localized insulation treatment shall only be done.

Above again is only my 2 cents. Correct me if I am wrong.

P/S: I was once influenced by some consultants to use the high tech equipment and expensive misty humidifier in my BH. But I have changed my mind soon after stumbling on this forum and I have never regret for the decision made.

This post has been edited by Engineer Lee: Mar 11 2009, 03:41 PM

I have always respect and admire Tan Sri Tiong's wisdom n contribution esp 2 chinese education, media, missionery works, social, enviromental and many others. I wan 2 share that Tan Sri is also involved in bh busincess but do u think for investment as he is already so rich. No, his bh r very successful showing the luck n fung shui of this humble man has. I am sure that these swiftlet birds bring fortune and luck to those successful operators. we provide sanctury to them in return they bring white gold to us. Where in the world got people have such heart 2 destroy them like those raiders doing now.
However in Sibu, so called Dr Hu who need to advertise himself( no business due his 2 BIG CANNON) is demanding council 2 destroy all birds in the town.The bird shit near his clinic prevent his customers coming is his reason 2 destroy bird. Luckily we got new qualified councillor, Patrick who is supportive of eco system wan 2 plant more tree 4 these beautiful birds.There r also another very impt selfish political not supportive as he sacred to loss in next election. He is supporting the on going operation.
TO ALL THOSE FRIEN WHO CANT GET ALONG WITH OUR SWIFTLET BETTER THINK TWICE AS SOMETHING UNPLEASANT MAY COMING 2 U SOON...........

i agreed with you ,ah lee
but how to prevent the heat when afternoon sun?what is the good solution u used now?can share with us ,thanks ,i will appreciate ur sharing.

---

Added on March 11, 2009, 4:54 pmSOMETHING UNPLEASANT MAY COMING 2 U SOON?
what is this?

This post has been edited by vegachia: Mar 11 2009, 04:54 PM

Hi CWG,
There is a miss conception when air condition in a BH is mention. Most including myself a few years ago thinks that its something to do with the thing that sticks out on the walls of our house that you can switch on and produce cool air.

A well designed BH will have a constant temperature of between 26 degrees to 30 degrees. There are so many methods to create these desired conditions.

I have recently very reluctantly visited a BH in Kuching where the temperature will go up to 33 degrees hence the owner runs pools and fountains in an attempt to reduce the temperature. I am glad that I did visit this BH because the owner after failing to regulate the temperature have done something very simple and since then the temperature has never gone over 29 degrees .At last its too late this 9 months old empty BH is now a mushroom farm. Call me privately I will give you some tips.

Another BH in Miri the owner installed a very powerful exhaust fan to pull outside air to cool the BH but instate pulling in hot air and destroy the aroma, humidity and everything else and blow out any birds that dares to venture near the entrance. The owner can use this wind tunnel to test his new design aeroplane.

Chicken humidifier complemented with a hygrometer is easy to install, reasonably priced (considering that you don’t need plumbing) and works well. My friend with more then 20 BH now uses chicken humidifiers exclusively. With six figure productions who is to argue with success.

The internal sound will easily muff the humidifiers sound (only for1 or 2 minutes a couple of times a day) and the birds doesn’t seem to mind and definately will not kill them. You need to do a slight modification or the NP directly on the top of the CH will get moldy. Call me privately I will tell you how to ratify this problem. If your ceiling is 12 ft its OK but you need only 71/2 ‘ and keep your money in the Bank or get 3 stories for the price of a two stories. Your choice!.

My 61/2 month old BH with was shut down two weeks ago and all 17 nests harvested. Half of the NP all the speakers, humidifiers, ventilations tubes have been removed. Inspect the BH to-day with a friend, guess what? Now have 24 spots and 3 new nest about ½ inch being built. How to move them to Eco Park ??? Forestry Dept and other enforcement teams have now stood down and no operation since yesterday. Will see what their next move is.

My 2 cents

nice discussion about humidity, methods to reduce temperature. i too have come upon so many types of humidifiers, pools systems and such. but still will use that mist system (pumps, pipes, timers, hygrostat & valves). i was advised to not use the Korean piping since there were cases of them bursting. still waiting for the quotation.

i did however tell the contractor to maintain building the pools... just in case the mist system faces temporary problems. one reason i didn't want to utilize the pool; as mentioned by many forumers, because of leaks. i have seen some BH with bad leaks.... it's a nightmare. the mist system/sprikler... for one it can be controlled 100% by humans... ensuring that the humidity can be controlled (after researching when, where and how)... and if leaks occur, the damage will be minimal. i'll update regularly once the system has been installed. so far i have seen 4 BH using the same system, so far so good. If anyone knows of problems faced by this system, please share (since normally people will promote only the good side).

Guys, please comment on this;

http://aeroventure.com.my/ver1/index.php?o...id=16&Itemid=29

thanks.

This post has been edited by dunsuntutmybuntut: Mar 12 2009, 02:54 PM

like skim cepat kaya

yup skim cepat kaya !!!

exactly. no real assurance of success, no assurance or surety of good management or even briefing of management... and in the end it does look like a skim cepat kaya or mlm type of business. no offense to the c/o or persons involved but it seems a bit too shady/dodgy. hope those who want to get involved with such a scheme be wary and do proper research. i am just giving advice to be wary of such schemes and to think twice before putting your money in there. no intention of malice (i believe being skeptical is a good thing to do, especially when it involves money).

regarding water source (for swiftlets to drink)... i asked the jcb to dig an artificial kolam sized about 30x30 ft... i have no idea on what length or width would be suitable since i have not observed many swiftlets skimming on water for drinking and wetting their feathers for the chicks... any opinions about this? i did see some clips on you tube, but that is on a sungai or tasik...

This post has been edited by dunsuntutmybuntut: Mar 12 2009, 09:13 PM

hi everyone, just found out this interesting forum and decide 2 join up, actually i started involving in this business when my family build a standalone farm last year, i been following and learning from my sifu(build more than 50 farm)for around 6 months, now planning to sell swiftlet piezo tweeter, amp mp3 player my hometown to those sifu. Any bro and sifu here can intro where's the best wholesaler to get those stuff? thx [FONT=Arial]

Lately I am still struggling with my notebook since last struck by lightning more than 2 weeks ago. Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn’t.


Our group is very busy helping in the Bukit Serambau By-election. There are ceramah almost every night. We are having a number of battle fronts with different issues to tackle. We are doing it for our next generation.



As regards to the temperature and the humidity control in a BH, my personal experience and opinion for the newbies are that; never try to use high tech to control the temperature. You are going to pay through nose in the installation, maintenance, and the high monthly bills. The best cost saving in long term is to use proper insulation right from the start when you first do the renovation on the new BH. Instead of paying expensively for that high tech which needs permanent regular maintenance, repairs and replacements, you might as well wisely spend it on the permanent insulation which needs no future maintenance and repairs once for all.


Humidity does not help the birds to stay in the BH. It is the correct design and the temperature that decide. High humidity does not lower the temperature. Humidity only comes into play at very later stage when you want to control and have better quality of nests. Portable chicken farm type humidifier is the best. This is the main reason why Benchai’s BH after he had taken out almost everything, with no sound, water and electricity, the birds still keep on coming back and numbers increased. I am very sure he has the correct design and temperature done in his BH. Therefore, don’t be suckers to those consultants or self proclaimed expert bloggers’ recommendation of high tech products advertised.

My advice to those who are really new to this industry and new to this forum, before you embark, spend some time seriously read through thoroughly the past posts especially those 2,400 posts in the volume 1 (V1). There are many good articles which can save you tens of thousands ringgits. Read also David Lim’s REPORT ON THE BIRDS’ NEST INDUSTRY OF MALAYSIA, after that, you shall have very good in-depth understanding and knowledge to make the correct decision. Good Luck.

Congrate ! for v2 !

Thanks Lucas 1, reminding us about the temperature & humidity.

As i said, my BH is in construction and using material which is relatively new for standalone BH's... supposed to have good insulation properties as well as low thermal conductivity. Before launching the BH, i was planning to take data (temperature, humidity, turbulence...maybe using crude methods unless i get one of those gadgets/data collectors) for 1-2 weeks... and was thinking of modifying the checklist that yenyen gave (http://yenyen-swiftlet-farming.blogspot.com/) to include these variables. like some forumers... i am a believer of science based findings/evidence based... but up till now, i notice these birds sometimes defy even some of the fundamental knowledge of themselves in books... this is further shown by forumers experiences as well. Pening la nak paham these swiftlets, hope i get enough knowledge and wisdom as the other forumers.

thanks lucas advice but what is the good material for insulator BH?
use red brick with cavity wall 2inch air gap??? or other material?

how do it?can you share with us newbie?

In building or renovation of BH, not 2 BHs will be identical but may be similars. As in everything like sound, fong sui opening or any matter, frist to be consider is the area then the location before then how the placement of the BH. That's why a few heads is always better than one. Take a few friends in the Buz to have a look at the area and allow each of them to give opinion, then you make the final decision base on their feedback.

Everthing must be consider, like the sun, the wind , the location and surrounding. Ask yourself questions and those friends of yours. Questions like,
1. How is this area?
2. Where should the BH be, which direction should the house be facing and All must be on why?
3. Even how high and how big must be asked?

All must be asked irrespective of whether you think are relevant or not cos you may need them to finalize your conclusion.

So, all said at the forum are what we think are correct but then, your area and ours maybe different. Like one guy told me that a certain great master's bird call is great, then I played it and found that it was not good and mine is even better....that doesn't make mine better then the great master from Indonesia's sound. Maybe, my area birds understand bahasa malaysia bukan bahasa Indo.

So, if you need to build any BH for that matter, do you really need double layer of bricks as I have friends who have just normal sad bricks and they are very successful. Not really all high techs are good cos sometime, simple old ways are still the best.

Like if your area is hot, then insulation is a must and you don't need anyone to tell you that and if your area is winding then you position of our BH's entrance must be well placed and so on.All these must be evaluated @ location. Like I have visited a BH because the friend ask me how many humidifiers are required and I need to examine the BH to make recommendation.

Like one Sifu friend took me to one of his client's BH and the inside is so blur that we can't see where we are going due to the mist from the humidifiers: are we growing fungus but I won't want to say that to my consultant friend, would I????? Must give face lah.

So, the worst built BH may have a few thousands nests and the best BH may have zero nest... but if your BH is carefully planned, you are assured of greater changes of success. Above are my humble view to share in the setting of sanctuary for swiftlets.

thanks very nice advice.
but do u believe feng shui????if Bh saty in masjid or church or hospital or school,which 1 feng shui good???
i have read article from CK ,he say the BH stay in school and masjid or church is good wo...any sifu here believe it if i have mistake just correct me??

This post has been edited by vegachia: Mar 14 2009, 08:51 PM

my shoplot bh facing tution school n not far away frm school had been shutdown by F.....G gov.... u think fung shui o nt...

Stay near to the hospital definitely is a NO, no matter how good the feng shui is.

Locate it near to a river and behind a mountain, should be a wiser choice.

Chinese feng shui quote : "che shua khua hai"