Roof already topped-up

Today, my workers finished topping-up the roof. My next move is to construct the roving room above the void on the roof top. Besides the roving room my workers will also construct the flower trough surrounding the roof and the separation walls for the pools. I will have pools and moat around the roving room. Watch up for these features in my future post.

A layer of BRC laid on aluminium foil

Roof ready to receive concrete

Concreting in progress

Roof finally topped-up with concrete

"Everyone has talent. What is rare is the courage to follow the talent to the dark place where it leads." - Erica Jong

Another Sarang Burung product

I was buying drinks for my workers doing concreting today when I noticed something related to birdnest. Usually we hear of kopi tongkat ali but this time you are going to hear about kopi sarang burung, that is, birdnest coffee. The coffee I saw is 7 in 1 which means besides birdnest there are 6 other herbs in the coffee. Wow. isn't that fantastic. So, what's next for birdnest. Our local reaserchers especially in the universities should start doing more R & D on the birdnest so that demand will keep going up together with the price. So far, UTM has been working with local manufacturer and they have started to market birdnest anti-wrinkle face cream.

Video view

Today, I went up to the roof top again. It was around 5.15 pm in the evening and the swiftlets are returning. I used the video mode in my camera to shoot the surroundings and of the swiftlets returning home. From the video, readers can see the shinning thing on the roof. This is the aluminium foil which I used to insulate the roof. This foil is placed on top of the cement board followed by a layer steel wire mesh fabric (BRC) and 2 1/2" thick concrete. the black spots in the sky are swiftlets passing by on their way home in Kuala Terengganu town. These are the swiftlets that I will be targeting when my birdhouse is ready.

Readers can hear the external bird call in this video. This is from a BH about 100m away. The swiftlets will pass through The Hollow first before reeaching this BH on their way home.





"Life can be found only in the present moment. The past is gone, the future is not yet here, and if we do not go back to ourselves in the present moment, we cannot be in touch with life."~Thich Nhat Hanh

View at the top

There staircase has been installed and I went up to the roof for the 1st time. Upon stepping on the roof top I saw of the scenery in front as depicted by the photo below. Below this photo are the sceneries surrounding my birdhouse. At least my roof is at tree top level and is clear of trees which may obstruct the flight path of the swiftlets. My roving room will be above the centre void housing the staircase and the swiftlet entrance will be facing the flight path of the swiftlets returning home which by coincidence is also facing the Terengganu River (about 30 metres away but cannot be seen in the photo).

Front View
(View infront of entrance hole)

Back View
(View at the back of entrance hole)

Staircase already installed

My workers today fixed the staircase for the birdhouse and managed to complete installing all the flights from the Ground Floor to the Roof. However, they have yet to finish fixing the handrails and will continue fixing tomorrow. These staircase are not like the normal building staircase which will occupy a lot of space. This is more a working staircase and I had decided the riser to be 8" and tread 6". My partner will be happy that the staircase had been installed as he has keep reminding me that I should have a proper and solid staircase. Now, he can go up to roof and look at the construction done without having to worry about his safety.

Staircase from 2nd Floor up to Roof suspended between floors.

1st Floor Staircase connecting to 2nd Floor. A dog-leg staircase.

Ground Floor staircase leading to 1st. Floor. A straight flight staircase

External wall already sealed

My workers had finished laying the last brick for the external wall. See photo below.



My steel fabricator had delivered the steel ccomponents for the staircase and they will start installing the staircase tomorrow.

"Hope is important because it can make the present moment less difficult to bear. If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today."

~Thich Nhat Hanh

Feeding Swiftlets

This is a follow-up to my earlier post on how to rear swiftlets from eggs?. I saw this video in You Tube and would like to share with my readers. Seeing is believing.





The food for young chicks are mealworms and crickets. Below are videos on how to breed mealworms and crickets?.

Progress photo of the interior

So far I have been posting photographs of the progress from the outside. Today I will be posting a few progress photographs from the inside showing the progress of the 1st., 2nd. and 3rd. Floor.

This is the view of the 1st. Floor. My workers finishing up the floor
while another group measuring up to fabricate the steel staircase.

View of the 2nd. and 3rd. Floor. All the cement boards in place
and internal plastering completed. Observe the arrangement of
the nesting planks. There are in 2' x 2' grid. So. there are alot of
corners and I am not worried because young birds prefer the
corners and I am looking forwrd to quantity dan quality for a start.
However, I have also ordered curvered corner pieces, 200 pieces,
which I will cut into 2 and placed at strategic areas to strengthen
the timber floor strucuture besides minimising on corner nests.

Look at the sky above. The space above will be covered-up and
served as the roving area. There will be a roof above. The LAL
are all directly below the roving area (16' x 16') and I believed
this will create a great internal playground for the swiftlets.

"War can only be understood and put an end to if you and all those who are concerned very deeply with the survival of man, feel that you are utterly responsible for killing others. What will make you change?" - J. Krishnamurti...

10 reasons why you should get involved in the Swiftlet Industry

My fellow blogger and countryman Jahaniwalit wrote in his blog in Bahasa Malaysia on the above and I would like to translate into English for the benefit of my readers.

First : The swiftlet industry have successfully produced many silent millionaires. The secret of the dark house have been unveiled. The dark house is no more a secret because many had known about it. The enthusiasm to invest in this industry has become a new phenomena in Malaysia. Many investors dared to invest by the millions. In fact many dared to take the risk knowing that they do not have the authority's approval..

Second : The swiftlet industry can be inherited by the future generations. The children who will inherite this business do not need skill to continue and manage this business. It is very different from other businesses. For example, if you open a computer business, your children need to acquire computer knowledge to manage like you.

Third : The swiftlet industry is not related to the pharmaceutical industry which depends on the patients for demand. It is a kind of food the has been proven to be good for health since the Tang Dynasty era in China. It has become the health food of the elite and it is very much trusted by the Chinese community. China's economy is expected to expand faster than the American economy. Because of this, there will always be demand for bird nests and will increase with more consumers having the economic edge. (rich man diet). Whereever there is a Chinese community, there exist a market demand for bird nests. With that, the market for bird nests is guaranteed, for now and in future.

Fourth : Swiftlet business is unique because it does not need a working capital or operation cost to run it. If there is any, it is only the cost of electricity and water which is very minimal. It need not close supervision unlike other businesses.

Fifth : Swiftlet business do not need high skill to manage. When the swiftlets start making nests, the owner only need to harvest and sell them. Even when they are not processed the price is still high.

Sixth : Swiftlet business from the investment aspect pelaburan, the capital requirement is relative to the size of the building and there is no standard size. Investment size is dependant on your capability and ability. If the building is an existing building like a shophouse, the owner only need to renovate. So, the fixed capital is only once but the profit obtained is continuous as long as the building continue to exist.

Seventh : Swiftlet business can be carried out anywhere. Study carried out by Wild Life showed almost all the places in Malaysia are suitable to build bird houses.

Eighth: Swiftlet business can be carried out individually or shared. Oleh can be carried out by coperatives or institutions which are successful. If shared with friends, it is not to have misunderstanding and dissatisfaction because the door can have separate padlocks and keys. All partners must come at the same time to open their individual padlock before they can enter to harvest the nests.

Nineth: Swiftlet business can be carried out part-time, because you need not have to give full attention to it. If you are a civil servant, you can own a bird house because it does not disturb your work as a civil servant. Its also the same if you are a restaurant owner, a goldsmith or involved in any other business. Even if you are a politician, it will not disturb your activities. You can still continue with your routine without being interrupted by your swiftlet business.

Tenth: Swiftlet business can create other downstream industries. Swiftlet industry is not just about selling raw nests. Raw nests can be processed to add value. The price of processed and cleaned nests is almost one fold that of raw nests. Other downstream industries can be created like bottling of drinks, processed as nutritious food and others alike.

If my readers have decided to get involved in the swiftlet industry after reading the above, I am willing to help. Readers can call, email or skype me.

External wall almost closed up

My workers are in their last lap of finishing up the external walls. They are in the midst of closing up the middle front external wall.


My workers have also half way into finishing the brickwork of the Utility Room on the Ground Floor. At each corner of the Utility Room is a boxed-up duct (2' 0" x 2' 0") which runs from the Ground Floor to the underside of the 1st. Floor. It is a multi-purpose duct which serves the following purposes:-

1. Acts as a refuse chute. Birdshit are dumped into this duct and dropped to the ground

2. Acts as a service duct. Water pipes and electrical conduits from the Ground Floor run inside the duct to the 1st. Floor and above.

3. Acts as a ventilation duct. Air from the ground rises and flow into the duct and into the air well above the 1st. Floor regulating the temperature and humidity in the interior of the BH. Air movement is restricted to the air well area only and does not affect the nesting places.

4. May act as a feeding tube. This is just an idea. I may breed insects as food for the swiftlets on the ground and channel them through this duct into the interior of the BH.

How to rear young swiftlet from eggs?

A friend informed me that one of the birdhouse owners in town he knew is throwing away the eggs when harvesting, perhaps his birdhouse is already full to the brim, and asked me how he could salvage the eggs and incubate them and when hatched, rear the swiftlets until they can fly and release them in his birdhouse. I have searched the internet and this is the informations I would like to share with my readers.

The A.F eggs take about 30-40 days to hatch and another 30-45 days before they leave their nests. Incubation in the incubator with a temperature set at 40C at a 70% humidity. After the A.F eggs hatched the chicks are left in the incubator for 2-3 days before they are transferred.

Step 1. Those young chicks should be protected from cold and wind. It means put them in a box so that no moving current to reduce the temperature. Light up a low wattage bulb (5 w) with a variable resistance control to regulate the temperature. Temperature should be controlled at around 30˚C .

Step 2 Make a nest for 1 to 3 chicks. Use small plastic containers lay them with tissue paper, with crumpled one at the bottom and flat double layer at the the top. On top of the paper put a small piece of plastic mosquito netting. ( for the claws to hold to enable comfortable feeding)

Step 3 Feeding need too be done at least 4 times a day.

Step 4 Preparation of food : Steam the insects first unless you can ensure they are free from bacteria. Cut the insects into fine pieces using a small scissor. Mix the various insect pieces well and use hard boiled egg yolk as a binder.

Step 5 Food can be used should be suitable and easily available. Recommended food : cricket, breadworms , bloodworm, dry earthworm and egg yolk. . Breadworms can be used as main ingredient.

Step 6 Feeding spoon can be modified from a small rubber tubing, slice one end at an angle and taper off the sharp point.

Step 7 During feeding it should be done within the box, even to transfer chicks from box to another box close them up to protect them from air movement.

Step 8 All food after sterilization should be handled by clean equipment.

Step 9 Newly hatched can take 1 or 2 spoon feed. Later 3 to 5 spoons are required. The above information is from the internet and from Harry's Blog and whether it works or not I don't know as I have not tried. There is no harm trying as if it is successful we are doing something good. Let us be a good samaritan by helping to save the swiftlets.