Hot hot Weather

Due to the hot weather this few days, the water tanks in my bird house is completely dry. I have 3 numbers of 400 gal water tanks inside the bird house to collect and store rain water.

The water stored inside the water tanks is not enough to cope with the dry season. I need to apply a JBA water meter to supply water to the bird house.

I wanted to save some money for not applying water meter because the minimum water charges are quite high. I think the minimum water meter charge is RM36 per month. The amount of water usage in average for a bird house is less than RM10 per month.

Still no Sign of Bird

Check the bird house recently. There is still no sign of bird staying in the bird house.

Using the temperature data logger, I noticed that the internal condition is very good. The temperature is below 30 deg C and the humidity is 85%. All the micro conditions in the bird house are good.

So the only problem now is the sound. How to advertise to the birds to inform them that there is a good bird house for them to build their nest and lay their eggs. I have changed a few external sound already but the result was not good.

When I was standing in front of my bird house, I noticed that external sounds were coming from all directions. I can hear external sound coming from the opposite houses. I realized that the sounds from the opposite houses are echos from my external hexagon tweeter. Since most of the houses around my bird house are empty, they can create a lot of echos.

I have decided to shut down the hexagon tweeter and install two bazooka tweeters facing directly to one of the bird house nearby with a lot of birds. Hopefully, I might attract some of the birds from the bird house. ;)

I have also changed a new sound. Let see what is the result in a few weeks time.

Bird Nest Price

Received email from my friends. They were talking about current bird nest price. They were very happy because the price is going up.

The price of bird nest has risen to about RM3,500 per kg from about RM2,800 per kg. I think I will go up to RM4,500 very soon.

Rain Water

I have installed the data logger in the bird house and will only collect the readings in 3 weeks time.

When I was at the bird house, I noticed that the water tanks for the humidifiers are empty. The water in the water tanks are rain water collected from the roof gutter. I assumed that the water collected in the tanks can last for at least 10 days without rain but I was wrong. Only 5 days without rain and the tanks became dry.

I have decided to install an additional tank to collect the rain water so that it can last for at least 10 days. If the problem persists, I may have to reconnect the water from the water main. It cost about RM500 for deposit and a minimum usage charge of RM15 per month.

Temperature Data Logger

Went to my bird house last Thursday to install a TV monitor to the CCTV system. Before that I have to use a notebook to connect to the CCTV system using WIFI to view the video.

I checked the internal temperature in the bird house and found that the recorded maximum temperature is 29C and the minimum temperature is 27.3C which is within the design specification. However, in order to check the temperature more accurately, I may have to invest in a data logger. A data logger is an instrument that can record the temperature and the humidity level in the room with a fix interval. It could record as many as 5000 readings in the memory.





The recorded data can be transferred into the computer using USB connection and a graph can be plotted using the software provided. The readings will be more accurate than the one that I am using now. But, the price of the data logger is very expensive. It cost about RM400 per piece.

Anyway, I have already ordered and waiting for the product to be delivered soon.

External Sound

My mobile phone rang at about 10.45pm yesterday night. When I answered, I heard an excited voice over the phone - “Is the external sound you sent me a duress sound”. It was my friend – Victor. I said no and why. He said the sound was very good and attracted a lot of swiftlets to his bird house. Some swiftlets even cling on to the hexagon tweeter.

Victor’s bird house has been in operation for almost 3 months already. He has been testing external sound for his bird house over the Chinese New Year holiday. He wanted to have 2 external sounds, one sound for his hexagon tweeter to turn on only in the evening and one sound for the external tweeters to turn from 7am to 8pm.

The external sound that I sent him was bought from a doctor and I have not tried it yet. One of my friends has tested the sound using a test kit in an open field but the result was no good. That is the reason why I have not tried it out in my own bird house.

I am excited now. I will try it in my own bird house today. Hope to see good result.

Waiting

Happy Chinese New Year. I was busy preparing for Chinese New Year and have not catch up with writing the blog.

Many of my relatives and friends know that I have a new bird house. So whenever they see me, the first thing they will ask is “are there any birds in your bird house?” and my answer is always “no, not yet”.

The way I answered them sound slight disappointed. Yes, to tell you the truth. The day when the sound in the bird house was turned on, I was expecting the swiftlets to swarming into my bird house immediately and I was expecting to find bird nests in the bird house within a week. I was so excited and went into the bird house after 2 days but found no swiftlets inside the bird house. The high expectation was little let down.

People used to said that the higher the expectation the higher the disappointment. So after 2 weeks, I felt more disappointed especially when I was constantly been asked “are there any birds in your bird house?”

Now, I have told myself not to be disappointed. It is the actual process and time frame to attract the swiftlets into my bird house. I looked back at the projection in my proposal before I started my bird house; I have only projected 30 nests in the first year. So the time frame is still within the range.

It takes a fruit tree 3 to 5 years to start growing fruits for harvesting. Rearing cows and sheep also require 2 to 3 years before selling them so what is waiting 2 to 3 years for the bird house to be occupied for nest harvesting?

Swiftlets farming is a waiting game. You need to wait for the swiftlets to multiply. At the meantime I shall be playing golf while waiting.