How to Raise Fish and Ducks Together? Practical Farming Experience Shared

Fish-duck polyculture is mutually beneficial and is a new way to increase farmers' income. Ducks moving in the water can eat frogs, tadpoles, aquatic insects and other organisms harmful to fish; fish can make use of duck manure, leftover feed and other waste produced by the ducks, keeping the water clean and the environment good. Polyculture can eliminate the unfavorable factors of fish and duck farming. The following main techniques should be mastered for fish-duck polyculture. 

1. Construction of the fish pond and duck house. The fish pond should be located close to a water source, with good water quality and no pollution. The pond should run east-west, with a water storage depth of more than 1.5 m, a wide and sloped pond bank, and an area of around 5 mu. The duck house should be built on the north slope of the fish pond to maintain sunlight. In front of the house, enclose a fence about 0.7 m high with netting or bamboo strips and other materials, with the underwater part about 0.5 m, separated from the fish pond surface, as an activity area for the ducks.

2. Stocking combination of fish and ducks. Fish species should be mainly large-size filter-feeding and omnivorous fish, with few or no herbivorous fish. Generally, silver carp and bighead carp account for 45%, common carp and crucian carp account for 50%, and grass carp and bream may account for 5%. The stocking rate per mu is between 1500 and 2000 fish, adjusted flexibly according to pond conditions and management. About 120 ducks can be raised per mu of fish pond, with a duck house of 25 sq m built alongside. 

3. Daily management. Persist in patrolling the pond every day, observing the feeding and activity of the fish and ducks. Usually add and change water frequently to keep the water fertile, lively, tender and fresh. In summer and autumn, prevent fish from oxygen deprivation, floating at the surface and pond-wide die-offs. Duck feed should be kept fresh and not moldy, fed 3-4 times a day. According to the fish stocking rate, feed fish feed as appropriate. The duck house should be cleaned frequently and kept clean. Excess duck manure can be piled and fermented, then splashed into the pond in batches depending on whether the water is rich or lean. 

4. Disease control. For fish and duck diseases, adhere to the principle of prevention first. Before stocking fish, excess mud should be removed from the fish pond, and quicklime dissolved in water should be splashed over the whole pond for disinfection. Fish should be soaked and disinfected in 2.5%-4% salt water before being put into the pond. From May to September, splash quicklime over the whole pond once every 15-20 days. Before the fish disease season, feed bait mixed with oxytetracycline, furazolidone and other drugs for 5-7 days. The duck activity area should be covered with straw and frequently sprayed and disinfected with bleaching powder solution and the like. Young ducks should be injected with vaccines to enhance disease resistance. Regularly add norfloxacin, erythromycin, furazolidone and other drugs to the duck feed to prevent duck intestinal diseases.