How to Raise Crayfish? A Complete Guide to Breeding Techniques and Methods

Techniques for Breeding Crayfish

Choosing a Pond

The water source should be fresh, well-oxygenated and free of pollution. Loamy clay is preferable, with pond embankments more than 3 m wide, a slope of 1:2.5, a water depth of 0.8-1.5 m, and a pH of 7.5-8.5. The pond area should not be too large; generally 3-8 mu is suitable, rectangular and oriented east-west. When adding new water to the pond, filter it through 20-40 mesh gauze to prevent wild fish and fish eggs from entering the pond with the water flow. Following the layout of high-level irrigation and low-level drainage, build the inlet and drainage channels properly so that water can flow in and drain out. Crayfish have a strong ability to escape, so escape-prevention facilities must be well constructed. Usually plastic film, netting, calcium-plastic boards or cement boards are set up around the pond embankments to prevent harmful organisms from entering and crayfish from escaping.

Pond clearing and disinfection can effectively kill harmful organisms in the pond (catfish, loach, snakehead, snakes, rats, etc.), wild and miscellaneous fish that compete for food (common carp, crucian carp, etc.), as well as pathogens. Quicklime and bleaching powder can be used; they are economical, affordable and safe. The specific procedures are: 1. Quicklime disinfection. Dry method: use 70 kg of quicklime per mu, dissolve it in water and splash it over the whole pond; if conditions permit, rake it over, then after one week of drying the pond, fill it with new water; wet method: based on a water depth of 1 m per mu of water surface, use 130 kg of quicklime dissolved in water and splash it evenly over the whole pond. 2. Bleaching powder disinfection. After fully dissolving bleaching powder containing 30% available chlorine, splash it evenly over the whole pond at a rate of 25 kg per mu.

Planting Aquatic Plants

“Whether crayfish are good depends on whether there is grass in the pond. Whether crayfish are big depends on the grass in the pond.” Aquatic plants play a decisive role in crayfish farming. First, aquatic plants can make up for insufficient food intake by crayfish and supplement a large amount of vitamins; second, they can prevent wind and waves, absorb some harmful substances in the water, purify water quality, and balance the water environment; third, they can provide concealed and perching places for young shrimp and molting shrimp, reducing bullying by the strong against the weak. Generally, the area planted with aquatic plants should be about half of the total pond area. Species can include: short-stemmed reeds, wild rice stem, Elodea, Hydrilla, etc. If conditions permit, some empty cans, bamboo tubes, tree roots and other discarded items can also be placed at the bottom of the water body; these are the favorite habitats of crayfish.

Fertilizing the Shrimp Pond

What are the methods for breeding crayfish? Some people think it does not matter whether the crayfish pond is fertilized or not. In fact, before stocking crayfish, applying an appropriate amount of organic fertilizer to the shrimp pond to cultivate food organisms can directly provide natural food after the shrimp are put into the pond. Use 400 kg of fermented organic fertilizer per mu to maintain the corresponding fertility of the pond water. During the rearing process, as the water level gradually deepens, apply decomposed organic fertilizer as a top dressing; the amount and timing should be chosen according to whether the water is rich or lean, generally not exceeding 80 kg each time. The transparency of the pond water should be maintained at about 35 cm.