Why a Bird House failed to attract swiftlets to enter and stay:

1) poor design of the entrance and roving room

2) temperature too high due to poor ventilation

Pests in Bird House
There are some very common pests found in bird houses, they are
1) Cockroaches (they like to taste the bird nests before you do and after tasting they will shit on the bird nests, in a few weeks time they will be fat & shiny)
2) Lizard (They will kill the nestlings and enjoy the neck portion of the meat)
3) Rats (Nestling habis)
4) Owl (Sapu semua)
5) Eagle (Sapu juga)
6) Bats (Their droppings on the floor are so smelly that swiftlets will shift to other BH)
7) Termite (Swiftlets will avoid building nests on infested nesting planks, the noise of termite biting wood is frightening to swiftlets )
8) Mite (l make nestlings uneasy)

Swiftlet farming is a huge in Malaysia as in Indonesia, where listed companies are among the industry participants.

Malaysia enjoys certain advantages such as the fact that the swiftlets are found only in some parts of South-East Asia. There is also swiftlet farming in Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, the Philippines and Myanmar.

The frequent forest fires in Indonesia for decades have driven away many birds that ended up in Malaysia.

Indonesia is the pioneer in swiftlet farming that has done quite well in the past but recently years theirnest production and quality are not as good as in Malaysia.

When swiftlet farming takes off in a big way, supply may one day overtake demand.

Swiftlet farming is one of the Malaysia East Coast Economic Region’s promoted activities.

Krai Eco Park

A Malaysian-listed company  Seal Inc Bhd. wholly-owned subsidiary Seal Ventures Sdn Bhd, is the developer of Krai Eco Park, a project comprising about 60 three-storey buildings in Kuala Krai, Kelantan.

Seal Inc’s  project is an industrial park development as swiftlet houses.

Eco parks feature rows of purpose-built swiftlet farms at single locations away from residential and commercial areas.
The park  compliance with the authorities’ requirements and there will be no neighbours to complain about the birdhouses.

Sub-industry

A sub-industry has emerged in Malaysia to provide swiftlet farmers with a broad range of products and services.
that  include audio, monitoring and security systems; chemicals; and fittings for the birdhouses.


In Malaysia, there are dozens of consultants offering services in  design, build and manage swiftlet farms, organizing seminars and courses.

Many such service providers may not have the necessary expertise and experience, and are instead looking to capitalise on the surge in swiftlet farming.

A standard consulting fee for turning shoplots into birdhouses is RM10,000.

 

There is one industry recently thrives in Malaysia – saliva, bird saliva.

And not just any bird. It has to be the swiftlet, whose nests of hardened spit have been a delicacy treasured by the Chinese for centuries.

Depending on the quality, marketplace and timing, a kilograms of unprocessed edible bird nest can fetch a few thousand ringgit.

The processing, a tedious and labor-intensive affair, typically doubles the value of the nests.

In Sabah, bird nest is sold at RM4,000 to RM18,000 per kg.

The global market is said to be worth billions of ringgit.

Started of 20 over  years ago in swiftlet farming on a commercial scale, Indonesia today supplies 70% to 80% of the bird nests consumed worldwide, mainly in Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, Macau, Singapore and North America.

Swiftlet farming is an increasingly visible business in Malaysia. Given the high rate of innovation and adoption here, there is a good chance of Malaysia growing its current market share of about 10%.



There are about 22,000 swiftlet farms (also known as swiftlet hotels, swiftlet houses or birdhouses) in Malaysia.

This explains the increasing frequency of complaints from residents and business owners about birdhouses in their neighborhoods.

If you happen to be near swiftlet farms, it will not take you long to notice them. You will hear loud, piercing chirps filling the sky. This comes from CDs that are played to attract the birds. And if you look around, you are likely to spot windowless buildings (usually shop houses) that have been renovated or built to host feathered occupants.

Birdhouse Boom

The first element is important

1) farms, plantations and jungles that supply the swiftlets’ diet of flying insects.
2) The lack of factories in the vicinity matters because air pollution is anathema to the birds.

There are  many swiftlet farms in :

Perak (in Sitiawan, Ipoh, Teluk Intan and Taiping, for example),
Pahang (Kuantan, Rompin, Pekan),
Kelantan (Kota Baru, Tumpat),
Terengganu (Kuala Terengganu, Kuala Besut) and
Kedah (Sungai Petani)
Sabah (Kota Kinabalu, Tawau)
Sarawak (Mukah)


 

Until recently, the industry in Malaysia had maintained a low profile. The operators that were doing well were unwilling to share information and knowledge. The secrets to profitable swiftlet farming stayed within a tight circle and this was a major barrier to entry.

 

Despite the lack of transparency, the trickle of newcomers had eventually led to a critical mass that kicked the doors wide open some five years ago.

The key attraction here is the lure of lucrative returns from a passive investment. The idea is simple – put up a well-designed and well-equipped swiftlet farm at the right spot, and the rest will fall in place. The birds will come and soon, you can keep harvesting their nests for many years.


Investing  RM500,000 in a good location, an investor can net RM1mil a year within four years. Thus  swiftlet farming is currently the best investment opportunity in Malaysia. It's a gold mine.

 

A lot of people have rushed into it and many of them have crashed and burned.

About 60% of the birdhouses in Malaysia are failed projects another 20% are marginally successful.


The concept of swiftlet farming is uncomplicated, but the execution is technically challenging if the farmers do not understand what makes the birds tick.

Many parameters determine the suitability of a farm’s location that  include
1) food availability,
2) weather and
3) geographical conditions, and
4) no nearby industrial activities.

The design of the birdhouse can be equally tricky. In the wild, swiftlets nest in caves. So, the idea is to simulate a cave environment, which means temperature, lighting, humidity, smell and space are often make-or-break features.

A well-designed birdhouses make it easy for the swiftlets to fly in and out and to nest. They should also be built in such a way so as to protect the birds from predators and to minimise antagonising the neighbours.
 

A double storey wooden bird House:

The structure of the building is basically belian wood with metal roofing as the posts are 6x6 belian and floor beams are 2 x 8 belian.
As shown in the photos the most interesting and cost saving part of the entire building is first floor construction. On the Belian main beams are laid the 2 x 6 Seraya wood with groove which acts as floor joists as well as nesting planks. They were spaced at 18" and on top are covered with 12 mm thick cement boards. This method of construction definitely saves a lot of money for the bird house owner due to the very light structure.
For durability, Belian is well known and tested a wood that will last for more than 50 years in Sabah.

Building a Bird House require :

1) equipments,
2) buiding materials,
3) dimensions planing

8 essential skills of bird farming,
1. Ears - Ext. & int. bird call sound
2. Eyes - entrance & nesting room
3. Nose - ventilation and smell
4. Temperature
5. Relative Humidity
6. Pest Control
7. Security
8. Management

Lizards in Bird Houses

Lizard, the large species of lizard,  is a common predator in bird houses.