Crayfish breeding as a business: creating a farm, buying crayfish, equipment, content features, business plan

06.09.2021

The idea of breeding crayfish is not new. Similar farms were organized in the Rostov region even before the start of perestroika in the Soviet Union. However, today this business has not become a completely occupied niche in Russia. We will understand the features of crayfish breeding in order to understand what are the prospects for crayfish breeding, whether such a commercial enterprise can bring in a significant and stable income.

Breeding crayfish in ponds

Growing crayfish in an artificial pond is considered the cheapest and easiest way in such an activity.

If you have your own land, then building a pond will not be a big effort. This will keep costs to a minimum.

The recommended area of the reservoir is 25-60 m 2, depth - 1-3 m. It is advisable to cover the bottom with sand and lay out stones so that arthropods can dig holes for themselves. After that, you should stock up on food, as well as build several concrete pools. They are useful for fattening and overexposure of young livestock.

Remember to provide a reliable water stack and an additional source of water. Purchase cleaning and aeration systems. Study the specialized literature, it will never be superfluous. In principle, after this, larvae or breeding stock can be introduced into the pond.

An artificial reservoir requires replacement every 2-3 weeks. In winter, it is advisable to catch the livestock and transplant it into an indoor pond so that the crayfish do not suffocate under the ice.

It is impossible to build a pond in a sunny place!

If there is a natural reservoir near your place, then you can launch the larvae there. However, it must meet the following requirements:

shaded sandy shores;
the presence of a rocky bottom;
environmental friendliness;
bottom suitable for the construction of holes;
absence of pathogenic flora.

The real problem in this case is poachers. However, they also have control. You can hire watchmen, put up streamers with bells, stretch the net on the surface.

This method of cultivation ultimately saves the budget for organizing a habitat for crayfish and their nutrition, however, the farmer is not able to control the temperature regime.

This means that in terms of weight, individuals grown in a natural reservoir will be approximately 30% inferior to those individuals that were grown in a home pond.

In aquarium

In an aquarium, crayfish can be grown even in urban conditions, though on a somewhat smaller scale than in a pond. The room can be rented in a quiet residential area. This method of breeding crayfish has many advantages:

convenient control of pets;
strict adherence to the temperature regime;
less feed consumption;
simplified catching of crayfish;
the possibility of installing a filtration system;
short winter.

In such "hothouse" conditions, young offspring develop quickly and efficiently, and the entrepreneur, in turn, makes a faster profit. However, you should not forget about the need to pay bills for electricity and space heating.

It is important to know the secrets of choosing the right aquarium:

volume from 250 l;
wide bottom;
low plastic walls up to 1 m (to avoid contact of metal with water).

Soil should be poured at the bottom, pebbles and driftwood should be put, algae should be planted. The density of planting crayfish can reach 350 individuals per 1 m 2.

Create a farm

Entrepreneurs involved in breeding crayfish are advised to familiarize themselves with the features of keeping arthropods in practice before investing impressive amounts in this. Despite the fact that the World Wide Web provides access to almost any information, the advice of professionals should not be neglected.

Farm for industrial cultivation of crayfish

Experienced crayfish farmers will not reveal all the secrets, but visiting their farm will give you an idea of what a successful farm should look like.

Where to buy crayfish for breeding

Finding larvae is problematic, so you have to buy adults. It is not necessary to acquire a lot of breeding stock at once. For a small farm, 40 males and 80 females will be enough. The latter are easily identified by the presence of eggs under the tail in late spring.

Sources of acquisition of cancers can be very different:

independent fishing in the river;
supermarket;
specialized farm.

Naturally, it is preferable to buy arthropods from specialists. They can advise which species would be preferable for your region, conditions of detention and breeding purposes (by the way, crayfish have excellent caviar that can be salted). They will also tell you what kind of care should be in the first months.

Such industrial types of crayfish are popular:

Blue Cuban (can withstand temperatures only up to 26 C o, grows quickly, omnivorous).
Australian crayfish (suitable for aquariums, capricious in care and nutrition, is the most fleshy type of crayfish).
Marble (requires a stable water temperature and large areas - 20 adults per 100 cubic meters of water, reproduces by parthenogenesis (that is, it is a female and a male in one individual).

Feeding

Being herbivorous animals, crayfish do not disdain in natural conditions various organic remains and even carrion.

Crayfish feed mainly on:

earthworms;
greenery;
compound feed;
insect larvae;
small snails and bottom fish.

In the case of artificial breeding, the diet of crayfish includes:

steamed crushed grain;
meat;
boiled potatoes;
fish;
shredded carrots.

The daily norm of food is 2% of the weight of the individual.

You can buy food for crayfish in companies associated with the fishing business, feed mills, greenhouses, and specialized markets.

reproduction

Mating of arthropods occurs in autumn - from September to October.

Male crayfish are able to fertilize two females in a row, they simply eat the third.

That is why the ratio of individuals of different sexes in one pond / aquarium should be 1: 2.

The eggs are initially placed under the shell of the female crayfish, and after laying, they are attached with ventral legs under the tail. Females often wash the eggs with water, thereby cleaning them and allowing the embryos to develop properly. After 2 months, the larvae hatch.

Rachikha protects them for another 21 days, sheltering them from dangers under the tail. It should be noted that in the natural environment, females grow 12 crustaceans, but no more than 20 offspring annually. In the case of breeding crayfish at home, this figure reaches 60 crustaceans annually.

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Features of growing at home

It is important to take into account such features:

Cancers are different, respectively, their commercial value as well. Before starting a business, it makes sense to understand in detail the types of these freshwater arthropod creatures.

Equipment

For breeding crayfish you will need the following equipment:

Aquariums. It is desirable that they be equipped with heaters for incubation of eggs, a filtration system, and compressors. Water quality control will allow the larvae to develop quickly and correctly.
Pools. Should be separate for juveniles and independent juveniles. As they grow older, crayfish are necessarily sorted. This allows them to develop properly, as well as vary in weight/size, age and cost, respectively.
Ponds. The more of them, the better. It should be borne in mind that the minimum size of the pond is 25 m 2. It is desirable to give it an oval shape, which contributes to proper gas exchange. There should be shelters at the bottom (fragments of plastic pipes, snags, stones). It is worth equipping at least a couple of covered ponds (in them, underyearling crayfish are grown, the broodstock is settled).

Implementation

To be able to legally sell goods, a business must be registered (OKVED codes 01.21; 52.23). This gives customers confidence that the product is of high quality and safe.

Crayfish sorting before sale

There is always a demand for such products. Preference in the implementation of crayfish should be given to wholesale trading enterprises. It is important to establish sales in such establishments as beer pubs, fish restaurants, saunas, baths.

Financial calculations

Regardless of what you choose as a dwelling for crayfish (a pond or an aquarium), the starting capital will be about 200 thousand rubles. With this money you will need to purchase:

individuals (200 will be enough);
aquarium (dig a hole for a pond and equip it);
food and medicines.

You will also need to hire staff (1-2 people). The annual cost of feeding the crayfish and replacing the water will not exceed 100 thousand rubles.

Crayfish pond

It makes no sense to rent a pond. It is usually rented for 1 year. At the same time, the rental rate is growing every year. Crayfish grow for about 4 years, so it makes sense to make your own pond.

Today in Russia, prices for crayfish fluctuate between 400-450 rubles. / kg and for adults; 200-250 rub. / kg and juveniles. You can sell goods by the piece. With the right approach, from a pond of 50 m 2, where 50 females are launched, you can get in a year:

3.5 tons of young animals (up to 13 thousand individuals);
up to 80 kg of breeding stock.

Cancer farming is an easy job. Even a pensioner can cope with it. The only downside is the length of the project. Such a business does not pay off quickly, in about 2 years. After that, the business will bring a stable profit - up to 450 thousand rubles. / year. A tangible income appears in the 6-8th year with a tendency to a constant increase.

Business plan

Breeding crayfish, like any other business, requires a responsible approach.

A carefully thought-out business plan will allow you to understand the budget of the project, correctly allocate funds at each stage.

Also, this document acts as a kind of reference summary, which reflects all the important steps and nuances that you can later simply forget.

In a business plan, it is important to focus on:

project start time (preferably bookmark in early April);
competition (monopoly coverage of the market/region or the presence of similar farms);
purpose of the goods (sales on the market, wholesale, processing, sale for breeding stock);
sales markets (preferably wholesale buyers - retail chains, restaurants, individual entrepreneurs);
method of breeding crayfish (natural aquatic environment, aquarium, artificial reservoir);
cost of breeding stock (200-1000 rubles / kg);
type of farm (for cold regions, aquarium breeding of crayfish is necessary, but growing in a pond is more economically profitable).

In general, growing crayfish as a business is a moderately laborious and long process, but at the same time profitable. The farmer will receive a hundredfold for his labors. In addition, cancer rarely gets sick, and the pleasure of watching your pets is still something!

Buying a ready-made business is a way out for those who do not want to deal with the preparatory stages, but immediately have a ready-made, well-established production and client base. Buying is a great decision, as there are a lot of offers.