Organization of a farm for breeding and growing crayfish at home. Recommendations and business plan.

Breeding and growing crayfish as a business at home in our country is only gaining momentum, and due to the unsatisfactory environmental situation and water pollution in our rivers, the number of crayfish is constantly decreasing, only properly organized crayfish farms can correct the situation.

In addition, our beer lovers are less and less fond of the usual fish as a snack, and more and more of crayfish!

Almost all over the world, on all continents, they breed crayfish. This business is so popular because there is no need for large investments even at the very beginning of this business, while the costs are reduced in the future, and sales grow from year to year.

Crayfish breeding as a business is not only a global production: at first it can be organized on a small scale, for example, even in ordinary home conditions. It will certainly bring income after a certain time, if you adhere to all the long-established standards for breeding crayfish. This is one of the best business ideas, low cost but requires some knowledge and diligence.

Organization of a crayfish breeding business at home

What reservoirs are suitable for breeding

You can breed crayfish in ordinary reservoirs that were dug specifically for this purpose or were used to breed fish. Running water is optional. It is much more important that crayfish have the opportunity to build burrows in which they will spend most of their time. The bottom should be lined with small stones, gravel or clay.

Difficulties of breeding in aquariums

Some start breeding crayfish at home in large aquariums. However, if you are going to breed them for business, then aquariums will not be enough, they are only suitable for mastering and learning the processes of growing and breeding. There are other difficulties in growing these crustaceans in aquariums.

Firstly, the number of crustaceans bred in aquariums will be small, and secondly, many problems are associated with maintaining biological balance in such a small volume. The water must be constantly purified and the young must be isolated from the older ones to prevent cannibalism. Sometimes crayfish are kept in the same aquarium with fish, but you need to know that only some breeds can get along with crayfish without harming them and not being eaten themselves.

Video "How to breed crayfish at home"

Video breeding crayfish at home

Breeding in pools

If you still decide to add fish to crayfish, then you need to choose from those breeds that prefer to be closer to the surface, bottom fish, for example, some breeds of catfish so beloved by aquarists can be eaten by them. In turn, it is not necessary to keep expensive breeds and squids with them.

Indoor pools can be an ideal option, in which you can organize all the necessary conditions for year-round keeping of crayfish. In such reservoirs, they will be constantly active, eat well and grow quickly. From 3-4 similar pools, you can get about half a ton of crayfish for sale.

Don't expect big profits in the first year. First you need to grow a broodstock, and then expect them to receive crustaceans and subsequent profits.

The purchase of already adult females can significantly accelerate profits. But they are quite expensive, but if you have the appropriate finances for growing crayfish, you can try.

Pond breeding

If you are going to start breeding crayfish in ponds, then you should understand that this is a rather lengthy process, because due to the low temperature, the crayfish will be inactive, eat poorly and, accordingly, grow slowly.

If you have a suburban area, then you can dig a suitable reservoir. But it is worth thinking in advance that in addition to free space, bulk material, special equipment is also needed.

The depth of the reservoir should be at least one and a half meters, the minimum area is 30 m2, these are the minimum dimensions, but they are enough for a small livestock. This is a small reservoir and in order to save money, it can be dug out manually in a few weeks, but if you have a friend with a personal excavator, then it is better to entrust this work to him.

Digging a reservoir for breeding crayfish is not necessary in the form of a pool. The shape of the pit, in which there will be a spherical bottom, is more suitable for our case. For effective business, you will need not one, but two, even better, three or four such reservoirs.

As mentioned above, the bottom should be lined with stones or large pebbles, which must be sprinkled with river sand.

Sometimes a reservoir can overflow with water, so you need to worry about arranging a drain in advance. It's easy, just install the pipe, at the end of which there must be a net. If there is no grid, then your wards will have the opportunity to leave the reservoir and, of course, die.

Various garden vegetation sits along the edge of the reservoir, which plays not only the role of decor, but will also strengthen the banks, preventing them from collapsing.

For the winter, reservoirs are insulated, otherwise the water will freeze, and its inhabitants will die.

Conditions of detention

After your reservoir is ready, you just have to fill it with water and launch crayfish into it. The quality and purity of water is of great importance. If the reservoir is not flowing, then the water in it should change as it gets dirty - this is about once every 2 weeks. If the reservoir is equipped correctly and a drainage system is provided for, then this is not difficult. The pipe is opened, the old water is drained and new water is poured.

It is not necessary to drain all the water; a 1/3 update is enough. This will be enough to enrich the water with oxygen, while not disturbing your pets or disturbing the biological balance.

In our latitudes, crayfish can be bred (depending on the onset of cold weather) for about 7-8 months a year. However, this time should be enough. One female can usually give a couple of hundred crustaceans, but a few dozen usually live to large sizes.

Often, breeding crayfish at home is hampered by such an unpleasant phenomenon as crayfish cannibalism. Adult individuals perceive small crayfish as food and eat them with great pleasure. In particular, females are prone to this, which for a long time, carrying eggs, are in one place, as a result of which they often starve.

To prevent this phenomenon, females at this time need to be transplanted to another place i.e. a special incubator and as soon as the crustaceans hatch, they are removed from it, thereby increasing the number of surviving young.

The diet of small crustaceans is the same as adult crayfish:

• meat;
• dead fish;
• bread;
• vegetables.

There is a special food for small crustaceans on sale - this, of course, is an ideal option and growing crayfish will be more successful.

The composition of such feeds was developed by specialists and tested in practice, it includes:

• raw fats;
• cellulose
• digestible proteins;
• crude proteins;
• minced fish and flour;

Where to buy crayfish for breeding and what

Specifically, for breeding, mainly female crayfish will be needed, but males are also needed. Some crayfish breeders buy legged females that already have caviar. On average, to grow one ton of crayfish, you need to buy about four hundred females. Naturally, if you are just starting to breed, then there is a lot of this amount, for the first time fifty is enough.

You can also catch crayfish on your own in their natural habitats. Ponds of small size with well-established water exchange and aeration are the best place for further breeding of embryos in females.

You can buy crayfish for subsequent breeding at special enterprises that breed breeding stock for sale.

You can also do it even easier, namely, place an order for raklov, which you can meet at any grocery market that sells their production.

Breeding crayfish as a business - provides for savings at all stages.

Breeds of crayfish and features of their cultivation

Australian

In order to breed the Red Claw Australian, special conditions are required. This is the most "meaty" breed. Breeding is possible only in closed water bodies, and additional heating is required. Very often they are bred at home in aquariums, while their volume should not be less than 100 liters. This is enough for the normal maintenance of 3-4 individuals.

They have a need for periodic rises to the surface and this must be taken into account when arranging a reservoir. Burrows, various shelters and various snags should be provided in advance. They need these shelters for eating, resting and for the period of molting, which can occur anywhere, but then the cancer needs to hide somewhere.

They are unpretentious in food: they eat dead fish, aquatic vegetation, combined feed, bread.

You can plant fish with them, but not all breeds are suitable. It is better to buy fast-growing inexpensive species for these purposes, because there is a huge likelihood of overeating and the frequent death of fastidious fish. Ordinary guppeshki may be the best solution.

blue cuban

This type of crayfish is exceptionally unpretentious. Sizes are average. The water temperature is not more than 26C, the hardness is high. They feed on everything they can find at the bottom. Attacks on fish that swim close to them are not uncommon. If they are properly fed and properly cared for, then after six months the young reach the size of adults. In a reservoir in which Cubans are kept, the soil should be sandy, the vegetation should be coarse. Filtration and aeration of water is required. Crayfish of this breed, like all crustaceans, love to hide in various grottoes, burrows and shelters.

Marble

Marble, like the Australian, needs special breeding conditions: water temperature 20-28C, filtration and aeration. Abundant feeding. But the big advantage is that in a 100 l. can contain about twenty individuals. Reproduction is parthenogenesis. If anyone still does not know what it is, then in short this is a same-sex method, when cancer is both a female and a male. The larvae hatch on the abdomen for about a month. The young growth grows up to 15 cm. After the birth, the fry must be planted, otherwise the adults will definitely feast on them.

Business setup costs

Equipment and containers for breeding crayfish

For breeding crayfish in open-type reservoirs, insulation is still needed, since freezing of its lower layers is unacceptable.

It is more profitable to breed crayfish in pools or aquariums, but at the same time, at first, investments will be required to purchase specialized equipment:

But do not be afraid these are the costs of the first initial stage. Already next year they will be significantly lower and you may already be able to start making the first profit. As a result, the crayfish breeding business is profitable, and the payback period is 2 years.

More about equipment

If you decide to organize your own small crayfish farm, then additional equipment should be purchased to increase profitability. As you know, crayfish are creatures quite dependent on the conditions in which they are kept, as a result of which a logical conclusion suggests itself, the better conditions you organize for them, the sooner and better they will be able to repay you with good growth.

To fully equip the pond you will need:

• Thermal insulation equipment. It can be greenhouses, both specialized industrial production, and their own design. Greenhouses are needed to maintain the optimum water temperature for crayfish.
• To keep the water in the pond, you need a reliable frame, and it is better if it is made of polypropylene.
• The compressor is needed so that water stagnates in it, otherwise the growth of crayfish may slow down or stop altogether.
• An oxidizer, especially in winter, is needed to saturate the water with oxygen. You need to install it already in the fall and do not wait until the ice crust begins to cover the reservoir.
• A filtration system is needed in any case, including if water is replaced in a timely manner, since in any case, food residues and excretion of crayfish will accumulate at the bottom, which rotting and decomposing will pollute the water, which will negatively affect not only growth, but and shellfish health.

When breeding crayfish in aquariums, you need a special filtration system, as well as heating and compressor systems.

This video explains how a crayfish farm works and what needs to be done to speed up their growth.