Detailed Explanation of Leech Farming Techniques: Teaching You How to Raise Leeches Well

AbstractTo farm leeches, you need to build a pond 3m wide and 1m deep, with unlimited length. A small number of stones can be placed at the bottom as a habitat for the leeches. Select robust, uninjured, large, wide-bodied high-quality varieties as breeding leeches. During the farming period, you can feed them field snails, insects, earthworms, as well as coagulated cow blood, sheep blood, pig blood, etc. as bait. The suitable water temperature for growth is 15-30°C. Before winter arrives, the pond water can be drained, and then straw can be spread over it for insulation. They can be caught and sold in September-October.

I. Building the Farming Pond

The leech farming pond can be built in front of or behind a house, by digging a pond 3m wide and 1m deep, with unlimited length, for farming, or by using ponds, ditches, low-yield fields, and other plots, digging ditches and raising ridges to form a connected-ditch farming pond. The ditch is 3m wide, the ridge is 40cm wide and 80cm high, and the water depth should be kept at 60cm. A drainage outlet and an water inlet should be built at the two ends respectively. A small number of stones or branches should be laid at the bottom of the pond as a habitat for the leeches.

II. Catching and Selection of Breeding Leeches

1. Bamboo tube catching method

Use a knife to split a bamboo tube into two halves, cut off the middle nodes, smear livestock blood on the inside of the bamboo pieces, then tie them back together in their original shape, insert them into the corners of a paddy field, and let the water submerge them. Then use branches to stir the field water so that the fishy smell of the blood gradually spreads. After the leeches smell the fishy odor, they will enter the bamboo tube to suck blood. Then take out the bamboo tube the next morning, and the leeches can be caught.

2. Bamboo sieve catching method

Place internal organs or animal blood wrapped in gauze inside a bamboo sieve, tie the bamboo sieve to the end of a bamboo pole, hold the other end of the bamboo pole with your hand, and push the bamboo sieve to move slowly through the paddy field. When the leeches smell the fishy odor, they will enter the bamboo sieve. At this point, lift the bamboo sieve, and the leeches can be caught.

3. Selecting breeding leeches

Select robust, uninjured, large, wide-bodied golden leeches, about 120-150 per kilogram, as breeding leeches.

4. Harvest period

Leeches are hermaphroditic, and each one can reproduce. Leeches lay eggs in the soil, producing about 1-4 egg cocoons each time, and each egg cocoon contains about 15-35 young leeches. Hatching generally begins in July, and within 30 days they can grow to more than 2cm. They can be caught for processing in September-October.

III. Farming Management

1. Leeches mainly eat snails. About 25kg of field snails or golden apple snails can be stocked per mu of farming pond as food for the leeches. Insects, earthworms, etc. can also be fed. Animal blood needs to be fed about once every 7 days. Coagulated cow blood, sheep blood, and pig blood can be cut into small pieces and fed.

2. During the farming period, the water quality needs to be kept clear and unpolluted. Especially in July-August, when the temperature is relatively high, the water should be changed frequently. The suitable water temperature is between 15-30°C. Below 10°C or above 30°C will affect the healthy growth of leeches. When the temperature is relatively low, leeches will stop feeding.

3. Before winter arrives, the pond water can be drained and then straw can be spread over it, which helps keep the soil moist and allows the leeches to overwinter safely in the soil. The water in the pond can also be deepened to prevent the pond water from freezing.

4. For the stocking density per mu of pond, about 20kg of seedlings put in during early spring is appropriate. By autumn, more than 1000kg of fresh product can be harvested.

III. Catching and Processing Leeches

1. Drown the caught leeches in limewater, remove the blood from their bodies, and dry them in the sun or by heat.

2. Insert a thin, pointed bamboo stick into the tail of the leech, then turn the head to the tail, remove the head, wash off the blood, dry it until 80% dry, pull out the bamboo stick, and then dry it again. Dried leeches are prone to moisture and insects. If they cannot be sold for the time being, they can be put in cloth bags or paper bags or wrapped well and stored in a dry place.