Hi everyone,

I am new to swiftlet farming and I desperately need some advice here. Any form of advice is deeply appreciated.

I am one of those pitiful shoplot owners in Bandar baru Nilai which we invested ten years ago at. However, it has been totally abandoned since. Recently, I noticed that a number of shop lots in the vicinity have been converted to swiftlet farms.

After browsing through the internet forums for the past two weeks, I thought swiftlet farming may be a solution to our failed investment but hate to lose another RM60-100k if this investment fails again.

I have never visited a BH and have a faint idea of a BH layout plan. I deeply appreciate it if anyone could share some advice or info to minimise my investment risk.
Questions:

1) Anybody heard of any successful farms in or around Bandar Baru Nilai ?

2) From a newbie point of view, my three storey shop's location seems strategic for swiftlet farming. Visually, Bandar Baru Nilai seems to be surrounded by a vast lush green jungle. In front of my shop is a secondary jungle and further off, I can see a large hill 1000-2000ft high covered with green forest. There are a lot of swiftlet flying around but not sure whether it is the right type of swiftlet. Does this place looks promising for BH?

2b) I am thinking of engaging a consultant do a test call , to evaluate the swiftlet in the vicinity?. What can I expect from this test call? Is this test worthwhile? What is the norminal market rate for this form of service?

3) My shop lies in a commercial center, 1 km away from residential but two shop rows behind are shops operating with food centers nearby, is there any potential problems from the local council? Does anyone have any info on the BBN local council guidelines and requirements?

4) I have spoken to one person who owns a BH in Port Dickson and in less than one and a half year, he has been harvesting 30-40 nests every three months and he claims that the harvest will increase exponentially with time. Is this considered OK, considering the time frame? He strongly recommends me to go into this business as Nilai is geographically very near to PD. Any comments?

5) My shop is a standard 22 X 80 , three storey. Maybe for a price, can anyone offer me a proven detailed construction drawing of a successful BH, inclusive of a bill of materials.

6) One consultant briefly quoted me 70k-80K to do up the first and second floor only. 80K includes 3 inch concrete roof top for security purposes. Is this necessary? I was told 20%-25% of the costs goes into securing the premises. Can we put these investment later when there are signs of success?

7) Can anybody recommend me an experienced and reliable consultant?

8) I have read briefly somewhere in this forum which says that the average costs is about 25K per floor but could not find a breakdown of the costs. Any advise?

9) Can anyone provide me with a "check list" to set up a sucessful BH with minimal investment. I am a believer of scientific approach and appreciate use of technology, I read some where that a go between, a mix of traditional and technology method will be ideal. So I wish to adopt this method.

10) From the forum, it appears to me that the farm needs a lot of constant monitoring and attention especially in the first year. I do not want to spent too much time and effort here, so anybody knows of genuinely trustworthy person who can jointly operate the farm on a profit sharing basis. Where can I find a guide line on operating procedures for this type of operation? For that matter, any form of guidelines is also appreciated.

11) To minimise investment risk, is it advisable to invest and build just the top most floor first, with minimal security on roof top until signs of good swiftlet occupancy rate occurs. What is will be the estimated investment costs?

12) Alternative, is it adviseable to renovate the first floor first, then do the second floor in the future? FYI, ground floor is vacant with no business activity.

13) Out of the norm, (this maybe a silly idea) but can we use the second floor windows (kernel type) as swiftlet entrance and revolving area and encourage the swiftlet to fly downwards to first floor to nest. The reason for doing this is that I hate to tear of the roof. If this BH fails, I will need another sum of money to restore back to normal shoplot condition in the future. Any advise. (I thought this may save some initial setup costs).

14) I deeply appreciate if any person can offer me to visit their BH to gain an insight of the BH setup. My contact is mentioned below.

15) Is there an Switflet farming association or interest group that I join in KL or PJ area?

16) Or anyone out there willing to JV with me with an option to own the BH in future on a pre-agreed terms. Please forward me your proposal. (Anyone wishing to buy the shop lot now can also be considered?).

I can be contacted at wong88tt@gmail.com

Best regards

Dear Mr Wong,

Welcome on-board. You posted such a long list that it is almost impossible for anybody to provide a good reply.

Go through this forum from the very beginning of V1 and many of your questions will be answered. It will be hard work but you will come out a better-informed person.

After that maybe you can narrow down your list.

Good luck.

This post has been edited by coolandy: Jun 7 2009, 07:36 PM

Wongtt,
Do several bird calls 1st to ascertain your shop is within the flying path of swiftlets before you jump in.
RM70-80K for 2 floors is exorbitantly expensive.

Wong,

Your long list of questions is like asking a consultant that already working for you .

Nothing is free and easy. Seniors here bang their heads so hard for so many years to be what there are today. Giving you all the answers just over 1 email? Be coutesy lah and show some respect first!

This post has been edited by Semuabumi: Jun 7 2009, 08:46 PM

Wong,

don't proceed.Think twice.

I know the area, the majlis there make a hell lot of trouble to existing owners there.

In terms of population, not worth it investing additional sum there.

Don't even cares to ask consultant to test sound there, as u will for sure have few hundreds birds playing there.

Go to a place near to TNB shop, go there during morning time around 8am, without sound, looking at all the birds will make u `lau hau shui'.

those that established, have been patronize by thiefs for so many times, and funny things, they still think alarm will scare the birds away instead of thief...

The result if u do it few years ago, u can easily attract at least 100 birds a year. but the population grow is a pity as it is ,to my standard, slow.

Security wise, a nightmare.

I always pity those investors who bought the shops there, it is now only worth less than rm250k.


Honestly, the only solution to revive it is by converting it into farm and just sell it when nests count increase and hopefully recover back your capital which is most likedly at RM600k, thats the selling price if u bought it when it launch time.

With the vicinity of this area to KL, u can easily find investors to sapu it instantly. But with the local dept sabotage and harassing...u will not find a buyer to sell it.

So, think twice. if u really want to do it, just convert one floor and see the result yourself.

Open roof is your only solution, don't make all farmers there suffer by open window type, u will not want to face nilai officers.....

need more helps, can always find it here.

THINK TWICE!!!....

aLSO, the place have at least 50 existing farms few years ago, it could be more by now, so, you are only attracting young chics,

don't expect too much !!.....




I once heard a friend told me that a renowned feng shui sifu did a survey in that area and what he said is,

it is a very very good place if u use it as a cemetary as anyone with their ancestors bury there will benefit the future generation.

But for business, it will be doom.



Do not wish to see any more newbies bang their head anymore.

Thats all i wish to do.

Thats all i can do even if i angered anyone here.

Those that have involves in this industry for over 5 years and own established farms, we are less affected as we might painfully said that we lost less compare to newbies who only just started and still need to pay monthly installments to bank.


and of course, don't just listen to me, as i am INEXPERIENCED AS i only attended one seminar so far!!...


haha...just have a good laugh out of it.


See, i only attended one seminar already owned established farms, what are u waiting for?? register loh!!!..
But seriously, if u are newbies, do attend.

We don't image ourselves as the God!!...

We are only human being, nothing special.

---

Added on June 7, 2009, 9:28 pmai ya....

rugi liao...

i sold mine rm4100 only....but still a better day than few months ago.

Seems liked there is a high demand this month...hmm....i thought someone told me this season is THe

June Tsunami where all production countries are harvesting kau kau and bn price will drop few hundreds??...

kena tipu again...haha....

..



This post has been edited by ChanK: Jun 7 2009, 10:23 PM

hi,

being new to this forum, in fact low yat too, i like to pay homage to the sifus and veterans that have kept this discussion as informative as it can be.

i have read around regarding swiftlet farming and it seems that security is the biggest issue.

we have a family, ancestral land in Johor and certainly it is within the batu pahat - kluang flight path and nearest BH is probably 5kms left and 2kms right, hence i have no doubt that it is workable.

the problem is we have no one staying once farm is in operation (if we build it lar). is it going to be serious?

its going to be a double storey bungalow, hence, apart from main door, do thieves spiderman the walls? hack the walls?

thanks!

tempting to invest but can get over the security issue

No nest why worry about security? You only need security when you have a lot of nests and the revenue from the nests should be able to fund the best security for your bird house.
The best is allocate the ground floor for some one to stay there, be it you or your relatives or full time care taker or security guard.

Wongtt, agreed with coolandy that you should read through this forum stating from V1. It may take you more than a week. By the time you finish reading you become half expert. It may save you many thousands. At least, you can differentiate the experienced designer from those CON-sultants so you don’t pay through nose. Definitely you have to engage an experienced designer and a contractor or designer cum contractor to do it for you for your 1st BH. Don’t get attracted by those who advertise in papers or magazines. Genuinely good designers don’t need to advertise.

Looks like you don’t have choice but to try to rescue yourself rather than like a sitting duck hoping the area becomes developed in no time. God only knows when.

Ideally, two floors are best for a BH. But, with limited budget, one floor is also alright as 22 X 80 is big enough. Do not do kennel or window type entrance any more. The latest proposed drafted national guidelines forbidding this type as it is true that this is the main cause of noise pollution. Open roof type is strongly recommended. Actually the costing of open roof should be much cheaper than kennel type. And also that it is not that eye catching. Don’t build any pond inside or outside the building. Don’t worry about security yet, just worry of how to attract birds first.

Before you start renovating, make sure you apply for renovation plan approval from the council through local draftsman or architect first as far as possible. You shall face lesser council problem later.

Once you embark on this, do have confidence. Do it till you succeed. Of course, don’t put too high expectation of having hundreds of nests in the first two years these days. You should consider lucky to have tens of nests in the first year esp in that type of area. After all, what choice do you have? Waiting for opportunity? Might as well create one.

aeiou228,

Thanks for the reply. i do appreciate that someone living at the BH would reduce the risk, but assuming that once the BH is mature, and people are determined to come steal they would still come?

tie up the caretaker, relative?

thats the problem....Birds Nest thieves (BN), what kinda thieves are they? do they come in backhoe/ SUV and knock a hole in the brickwall? or if too hard, they give up. u know what i mean, some thieves can break into bank, tow away ATM machines, so BHs are relatively simple compared?

i hear of break ins and occasionally (rarely) some thieve dies due to electrification or fall...

thanks.

Thanks Lucas and all for so many wise words.

Newbie likemyself should take note of these advise before pouring in your hard earned money or borrowed money and get burnt and then relised that you have done so many wrong things.

I made the same mistake and wasted 2 and a half years with zoro result. I then seek help from my sifu ,attended his seminar . Came back and demolished my failed BH and renovated as per his recomandations .

I was given 1 external and 1 internal sound FOC and the bird stay after 3 days of operations. I have since shut down my second BH in a shop lot and built a stand alone and in operation 14 days ago. Encouraging result 14 birds stay and LMB swamped by hunderds of birds each day. Still using the sounds given to me in KT.

Serious swiftlets Ranchers FYI there will be another Seminar in Jakartar on in august. Yes you guest right . I will be there again my fourth time. It must be good and lots of fun if not I have lots of better things to do. Come and ask all the guestions to your heart content . Pls. contact CK for details.

You seriously think people will bother to advise you in the blog ? and for what? get told off , contradicted and ridiculed by some smart alex to show that they know something about something that they know a little about?

Being not so intelligent I am going to named my new BH "EMPTY" punk intended. Empty means hollow inside.

Thanks Lucas and Coolandy for the advice and encouraging words. I will certainly read thru V1 and V2.

Benchai, I would also like to attend the seminar in Jarkarta. Could you give me the contact. My email wong88tt@gmail.com

BTW, Is there an Switflet farming association or interest group that I join?

Got this thru PM as I always encourage questions thru forum to share and I shall forward this to the forum for the FOF ( friends of Forum) to answer or share.

hi, can i ask u about the wire tweeter and wire electric.
can i install the wire of tweeter touch together with the wire of electric????
is it effect the quality of output sound from amplifier????i mean the wire electric magnet will effect the frekuensi of the wire tweeter???thanks
if got effect , so how much the distance should i install between wire tweeter and electric??
the second question is ,my nesting plank install in my slab ad, but got 1 inch space between the plank and the slab???so is it ok???
no problem ,right??coz the slab no that flat in any place, must got abit different about the flat????

1. on the 1st.Q, I really don't think so but then I am not an expert in this electronics interference. Can our expert advice him on this.
2Question. No, it is not OK and you should have taken precaution to prevent this as we have mentioned in the forum on it. Stability and air disturbances will create unhealthy and slow growth in your BH. The ceiling is not even and we all know about it but try to level it as much as possible and some gaps at a little places is normal.

Once the birds start to build nests in the better area, the area with air gap will slowly be use up by birds using saliva (nests) to fill up the gap between the plank and the ceiling so don't you worry.

As always, above are my personal comment and suggestions and other may want to add or disagree....no problems....pls. advice lah.

How often does one encounter a young swiftlet resting on a potted flower plant in an open car park.? The cats roaming the area will make a meal
out of it if I dont do somethg. I put in a box n brought it home during lunch hr. last Wed. In the evening forego my golf game , bot some worms,mashed them up n fed it laced with my leftover bn water. Not an easy job , cos its such a delicate creature. My only worry was that will it make thru the nite.With my spare amp n tweeter played internal sd before I went to bed.
Thurs morning went to check n found its ok. Fed it again n it managed to fly to the window curtain.Swiftlet instincts early morning out they go to look for food.I did observed its flight n sure its not that strong enough to fend for itself. Noticed some greenish white shit spots in the cardbox, I might hv scared the shit out of it, like we use to say.But at least food digested.So I
decided to keep it another day n see how it goes.

Fri morn. I made the baby sound si...si...si and its 2 big eyes look at me..huh foster papa calling. I knew then its going to be alright. More shit spots.
Told my wife to feed it again at noon. She called me n she had a hard time feeding it cos it kept on flexing its wings n somehow flew to the window curtain again. My feelings tells me that its time to let it go. My mrs suggests to let it fly from our BH. I agreed n went up to top flr ard 1pm n let it perched on the sytrofoam. 2 swiflets were playing ard on the top flr with the male really hot on the female. They couldnt be bothered with my presence n even flew ard me. Good company for this young swlftlet n on familiar surrounding.I took 2 photos before I left.

My wish was that it will be strong enough to fly out n look for food n survive. Doesnt matter it will make my BH its home afterall this is a Birdman's calling.

From what I heard and if it's true that a lot of buildings @ Bandar Nilai baru are left vacant and since wongtt has mentioned that alot of swiftlets are seen flying in the area....and that many here have concurred that the area is good for this industry. Why wait, better try your luck in DIY BH (Cheap Lah) and if you are going to get the authorities to approve your BH, I think by next year, they will still not going to do so and worst, if they disallow you, then if you still go ahead, then the authorities will use force to dismantle you BH as if they didn't, they will lose face and respect and no one will be afraid of them in the future. This is the last thing we want to do. Always remember that "Kun Chi" has two mouths ..............

There are so many BHs in the area as you mentioned; many is the strength and if you wait, by then the authorities may say, enough is enough and you will lost out.

If the price of the building is very cheap, I may also interested to invest in the area but then, my boss (wife) will surely against the idea. She will curse and yell " Haven't you got enough, isn't what you have will last you for the rest of your life and are you going to work until you drop dead!!!!!!!!"

I don't know about your wife but I surely don't understand women........when they spend, they never think....hahahahaha.


And for ORNIMANN's story, we all are of the same kind....we really care for the swiftlets and on so many occasions, I did take siwftlets that fell from the sky or from friends due to the harvesting of nests from nearby BHs and what I did was to put them into my BH and let nature take over from there......luckily, almost all make it thru and I don't know why and how.........

This post has been edited by West Wing: Jun 8 2009, 04:23 PM

my my...

This forum is more swiftlets friendly than i thought!!...

which is both good and bad.

but, thats what the forum mean to be, give you the pro n con and at the end, u have to decide whether u want to bang head or just sit tight!!..haha...


it is of much interest that they said they want to whiten the swiftlets industry from town by some parties.

How should we argue that??

well, reading the expert analysis that swiftlets do fly quite far when food is scarce and flying 100km back n fort to look for insects are quite norm this day.

so, if those parties wants to proceed with those idiotic idea!!....

Then they should not allowed any swiftlets farming activities within 200km from any town !!!...but that too is not that safe, don't we??

how about 400km radius as buffer zone, and if they see even one swiftlet fly over the town, they can shoot them down!!!....

Thats how u should whiten the industry!!....

Or better still, 1Malaysia do not need swiftlet farming industry to survive!!!..

We still got plenty of oil Reserve!!!!......banyak nenek moyang money belum habis pakai lagi!!!...apa takut!!!....


well, sai hei to talk to a bunch of so hai!!!..


bye.

Dear Wong:

Welcome to the world of swiftlet farming.

Each and every single day, I feel happy and delighted coz they are more and more newbies venture out into this industry.

This makes me feel that I am not alone, and hope you feel it too.

Sifu Lucas 1, West Wing, Benchai, ChanK, Kuching Farmer, Coolandy, Swift4ever, are respected, humble and responsible sifus. You can trust their words. They are the beacon of the bay.

Something I wish to share with you for this trade:

1) Why you do it is more important than how you do it
that is the reason to keep you holding on, overcome before become.

2) Know who is more important than know how
I recommend you to study the bible of this trade : David Lim's comprehensive report. Try to learn from the
experienced sifus.

3) Uncertainty is always certain
You should see failure as part and parcel of ticket to success. Enjoy the learning process.

4) If you do what you have always done, you will always get what you have always gotten.
It is better you decide your own destiny than letting others to decide for you.

Good luck and have fun.

P/s : sorry for not being able to answer all the questions PM to me, in this forum or in my blog. Recently really get tied up with my petty project.

This post has been edited by Engineer Lee: Jun 8 2009, 09:37 PM

This time i need help.

1)Anyone here fr kuantan can tell me the estimate of farm house in kuantan town?

2) Any license been issued and where?

3) What guidelines been followed for the previous license issued ?

[quote=ChanK,Jun 9 2009, 01:16 PM]
This time i need help.

I shall try to answer your questions from feedback that I know...........

1)Anyone here fr kuantan can tell me the estimate of farm house in kuantan town?

Are you asking for license. If so, one floor is Rm240 and 2 floors BH is Rm400.
If you are buying BH....then, the standard price shall apply and it is very expensive.

2) Any license been issued and where?

Alot and there some that cannot get license due to some reasons. Yearly renewable

3) What guidelines been followed for the previous license issued ?

Same as before like makan shop is still not allowed at ground floor and bla bla bla.......fair conditions, I should say.......

thks.

Boss ChanK i tot u will swim to sarawak

Kidding!!!! Good Luck