Five key points for autumn river crab farming

As the saying goes: “When the autumn wind blows, the crab's legs itch.” This saying indicates that once autumn arrives, crabs begin to come ashore, and coming ashore is generally a sign of sexual maturity. Therefore, this is a critical period in the year's crab farming, and a small detail can determine the success or failure of the farming. I personally believe that at this time one should start with the following details to ensure that the hard work of more than half a year pays off with a good harvest.

First, strengthen pond patrol management: insist on patrolling the pond every morning and evening, carefully check the escape-prevention facilities, increase the intensity of nighttime patrols, pay close attention to the weather, watch the situation of crabs coming ashore, and capture them at the right time for temporary holding and sell them at the right time;

Second, aquatic plant care: in autumn, many aquatic plants will rot and should be removed promptly to avoid the rotting plants spoiling the water quality and breeding bacteria; you can transplant some water hyacinth, water lettuce, etc., and enclose them with ropes or bamboo poles, covering no less than 1/3 of the pond surface, to provide a good habitat environment for the crabs.

Third, do a good job of water quality improvement: after the beginning of autumn the temperature drops, the difference between day and night temperatures is large, and water quality is prone to deterioration, so you should change the water once every 7-10 days, each time no less than 10cm, keep the water depth at 1.2m, control the transparency at 35cm, and adjust the pH value of the water well; every 10-15 days you can splash the whole pond with 10-15ppm quicklime to promote the growth of the river crabs.

Fourth, rational feeding: after the beginning of autumn is the key period for river crabs to fatten up for market, so you should appropriately increase the feeding of high-protein bait, such as soybean cake, soybeans, small miscellaneous fish, snails, etc., to help the crabs accumulate physical strength, twice a day, with the daily feeding amount being 5%-8% of the crabs.

Fifth, do a good job of disease prevention and control: after the beginning of autumn, the difference between day and night temperatures is large, which can easily cause colds and indigestion in river crabs; usually pay attention to deepening the water level, the water temperature difference when changing water must not be greater than 3 degrees C, and the area of floating plants on the water surface must not be greater than 1/2; provide high-quality protein feed and nutrients to enhance the crabs' constitution.