I am also fortunate to know a few who built their farms, tossed ideas with them - by now there are more than ten design revisions! Along the way, a few more ideas crept into my wish-list.. so it's time to pull all the loose thoughts together.
So what are the key ideas?
1. I am building the farm at a latitude with 3 cold months in a year. Temperature drops to lower 20's deg. C; even as low as 18 deg C in extremity where chicks died from cold! This is a major consideration.
The design I adopt is double walls with air space in between. It is like a cocoon to shelter from the elements of nature. This is DIY job #1.
2. Tapping sun's energy is also a pet idea and water is such a wonderful storage medium of thermal energy. So I intend to made full use of the roof as a solar collector, warm up the water and collect them on a roof pool. It then feeds down the space between the walls by gravity feed to create humidity and regulate the temperature. My DIY job #2.
Of course there are many technical considerations involving thermodynamics and controls; when I get it right, no humidifiers needed - that's the goal.
The farm house is to emulate a natural cave environment - my object is to do it with minimal energy required.
3. There are lots of insects in the area, especially at night. I'll experiment with ideas to attract insects into a chamber (a trap) at night and let them out at the roving yard in the day. That will be complimented with my own insect cultivation. That should be an interesting DIY job #3!
4. I have been putting my own sound system together. I will wired the bird house with 4 circuits, each driven by an amplifier. Failure of an amplifier would only result in loss of 1/4 of tweeters, (1/3 to the affected floors). I need a robust design so I can be away for extended period without concerns of sound system failure. Of course, the sound system will have back up power in case of power interruption. This is my DIY job #4.
5. Video surveillance system - I'll do away with consoles and CCTV monitors. I'll have wireless connection so I can make observations without entering the bird house altogether. My goal is to have internet for remote monitoring eventually. My DIY job #5.
6. With internet connection, remote monitoring of various sub-systems (humidity & temperature controls, sound) can be implemented together with video surveillance - DIY job #6
7. Long range callers? I'll experiment with horn arrays & dish to extend the bird calling range. This may end up as my own trade secret! That's DIY job #7
8. How about a wind turbine to generate my own electricity? It may not be economical but another interesting DIY job #8. A low priority project but I have provision for it in my design considerations.
9. Last but not least.. I always wanted to get an understanding of bird's behavior & its sound. So my farm also doubles as a living laboratory for such studies.
10. Yet another nice to have gadget.. bird counter. Won't you like to monitor birds leaving/return daily? Over time it tells of your population growth! DIY #10.
My object is to advance the best practices of swiftlet farming with next level of scientific knowledge.
