Detailed Explanation of Key Technical Points for Flow-Through Bullfrog Farming

With the continuous development and improvement of today's farming industry, farming techniques are also constantly being updated and improved. Therefore, if you want to gain the wealth you desire in the farming industry, besides putting in a certain amount of hard work, you must also constantly pay attention to the pace of social development and learn about some new farming techniques.

Flow-Through Bullfrog Farming Technology  

1. Choosing a Site  

Farms generally require: an adequate water source and convenient drainage and irrigation; water quality free of pollution that meets fishery water quality standards; warm winters and cool summers, away from noise; convenient transportation and adequate power supply to facilitate farming production. Among these, the quality of the water source conditions is the key to success or failure in frog farming.  

2. Building Frog Ponds  

Take every 100 sq m as one large pond, then divide each large pond evenly into four small ponds. Enclose the pond edges with 40-mesh silk bolting cloth netting; the silk bolting cloth should stand 1 m above the pond bottom, and the bottom of the silk bolting cloth should be buried 20—30 cm into the soil; the pond ridge should be 40 cm high with a slope of 1:3, the water level should be maintained at 30—40 cm, and the water layer depth must not be less than 20 cm, otherwise the water storage capacity is too small, the water easily becomes turbid, and bullfrogs easily become diseased; rectangular ponds are preferable for ease of operation; use plastic pipes with a diameter of 10—12 cm as the water supply and drainage pipes, and the inlet and overflow holes should be positioned at the diagonal corners of each large pond; place 4 pieces of 80×40 cm buoyant white foam plastic boards in each small pond as resting platforms for the bullfrogs; shade the top of the pond with black sunshade netting to prevent exposure to the sun in summer.  

3. Stocking  

Before stocking the fry, disinfect the drained pond with 50—75 kg of quicklime or 10—15 kg of bleaching powder per mu (with an effective chlorine content of about 30%). Generally, 10 days after pond clearing and disinfection, the fry can be stocked. Before stocking, juvenile frogs can be soaked and washed in a 20 ppm potassium permanganate solution for 10—20 minutes. Personnel must be present to observe during soaking, and if any abnormality is found, the frog fry must be removed immediately. The stocking density during the juvenile frog stage is 60—80 per sq m, and as individual differences change, grading and pond division for stocking should be carried out; the stocking density during the adult frog stage is 30—40 per sq m.  

Feeding and Management of Bullfrogs  

1. Pond Inspection  

Inspect the pond once each in the morning, at noon and in the evening every day, checking whether there are holes in the silk bolting cloth netting; if there is damage, it must be repaired immediately to prevent the bullfrogs from escaping, ensure a continuous 24-hour water flow, and achieve a water exchange rate of at least 300% per day; at the overflow outlet, the water level can be controlled by raising and lowering a plastic insert pipe, generally keeping the water depth at 30—40 cm and maintaining fresh water quality. Attention should also be paid to observation; if there are abnormal phenomena in the bullfrogs' feeding and activity, corresponding treatment measures should be taken promptly.  

2. Feed Feeding  

Mainly use floating compound feed. Half an hour before feeding, soak the compound feed with clean water to slightly soften and expand it; this can prevent the feed from absorbing sewage from the pond, eliminate gastrointestinal diseases in bullfrogs after eating, and also promote the bullfrogs' absorption of nutrients. The daily feeding amount should be maintained at 7—15% of the frog's body weight. In addition to being calculated according to frog body weight, the feeding amount should also be adjusted as appropriate according to climate, water quality and residual feed conditions, following the principle of small amounts fed multiple times. The feeding amount should be such that it is eaten within half an hour.  

3. Graded Rearing  

During the bullfrog rearing process, to prevent cannibalism, individuals with relatively large size differences should be screened and graded promptly at regular intervals, and bullfrogs of the same size should be transferred to the same pond for rearing, preventing large frogs from eating small frogs, while also paying attention to controlling the rearing density.  

4. Disease Prevention and Control  

In the bullfrog farming process, the principle of “prevention first, combining prevention and treatment” must truly be followed. Before stocking, clear the pond and disinfect it, using quicklime or bleaching powder to disinfect and kill harmful organisms and pathogens; and regularly sprinkle bleaching powder or strong chlorine essence over the whole pond for disinfection; after dividing ponds, promptly disinfect the frogs' bodies with 20 ppm potassium permanganate to prevent the spread of pathogens through mechanical injuries; when diseased or dead frogs are found, promptly identify and isolate them; in addition, tools should be disinfected with high-concentration bleaching powder or potassium permanganate solution. Control a reasonable rearing density. Feed feeding should follow the “four fixeds”, namely fixed location, fixed time, fixed amount and fixed quality. When rearing to the adult frog stage, if individual cases of head tilting and red legs appear, promptly pick out and isolate the head-tilting bullfrogs, disinfect continuously with 15 ppm strong chlorine essence for 5 days, and at the same time increase the water exchange volume. 

Nutritional Value of Bullfrogs  

Many people love to eat bullfrogs, which also shows that bullfrogs have high nutritional value, and they are also very simple to prepare. When eating them, we should also pay attention that their preparation is important; different preparation methods result in different retention of nutritional elements in bullfrogs, and also have different effects on improving various aspects of bodily development. Therefore, good choices should also be made in preparation.  

The nutritional value of bullfrogs has many aspects, and they also have relatively many effects. For people who eat them regularly, they have very good promoting effects on various aspects of the body, and the effect on strengthening physical fitness is also very good.  Bullfrogs also have the effect of nourishing and detoxifying; people with poor digestive function or excess stomach acid, as well as people with weak constitutions, can use them to nourish the body. Bullfrogs can promote vigorous qi and blood in the human body, full energy, nourish yin and strengthen yang, and have the effect of calming the heart, soothing the nerves and supplementing qi, which is beneficial to the recovery of patients.  

The internal organs and scraps of bullfrogs are rich in protein, which upon hydrolysis generates composite amino acids. Among them, arginine and lysine are relatively high in content and are good food additives and nourishing products. The hydrolyzed composite amino acids, after separation and purification, are used in the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries. The endocrine system of bullfrogs secretes various hormones, which after extraction can be used in medicine, industrial production and scientific research, such as pituitary hormones used as artificial spawning agents for fish and amphibians, which is beneficial to artificial breeding.  

The gastric glands, intestinal glands and pancreas of bullfrogs are rich in digestive enzymes, especially high in enzymes that hydrolyze proteins, and can be extracted for use. Bullfrog bile can be extracted and processed for medicinal use. Frog skin can be made into an excellent raw material for surgical sutures. Frog oil can be made into high-grade lubricating oil.

Key Points for Bullfrog Farming in Summer  

1. Increase the Feeding Amount  

As the temperature rises, the bullfrog's food intake increases, reaching its highest peak in July-August, and the feeding amount should also gradually increase to avoid the phenomenon of the strong eating the weak in the rearing pond. At this time, the feeding amount should generally reach about 20% of the frogs' total body weight.  

2. Strengthen Water Quality Management  

Summer temperatures are high, and water quality easily deteriorates. To keep the water quality of the bullfrog pond fresh, new water should often be added according to water quality conditions.  

3. Do a Good Job of Shading and Cooling  

The most suitable temperature for bullfrog growth is 18-28°C. Therefore, shading and cooling work should be done well in summer. Some aquatic plants such as water caltrop and lotus can be cultivated in the pond, and some vine plants such as grapes and loofah can be planted beside the pond to promote rapid growth of bullfrogs.  

4. Do a Good Job of Preventing Escape  

There is a lot of violent wind and rain in summer, and bullfrogs, when startled, will climb over barriers or dig holes to escape. Therefore, special attention must be paid to escape prevention in such weather.  

5. Do a Good Job of Removing Natural Enemies  

Snakes, rats, cats and others are all natural enemies of bullfrogs. These natural enemies are especially rampant in summer, so an inspection system must be established and removal measures taken.  

6. Do a Good Job of Disease Prevention  

Summer is a season when bullfrog diseases occur frequently. The feed platform must be cleaned every day, and spoiled and deteriorated bait must be removed promptly. Disinfect the whole pond with bleaching powder once every half month, so that the pond water concentration reaches 1 ppm. Once bullfrogs are found to be sick, treatment measures should be taken early to prevent the disease from spreading.

Bullfrogs are a relatively common and frequently eaten delicacy in our lives. Bullfrog meat is very nutritious and tastes very good, which is why many people cannot put bullfrogs down. Therefore, the market demand for bullfrogs is gradually increasing every year.