How Do You Keep Crayfish in Winter So They Survive the Cold Safely?

Crayfish are a food we often eat in daily life. On a hot summer night, a glass of ice-cold beer and some spicy, tangy crayfish are worth more than gold. Although crayfish are a delight to eat, farming crayfish is no simple matter, especially in winter. So how do crayfish overwinter?

1. How Crayfish Overwinter

In the natural environment, crayfish mainly survive the cold winter by entering burrows they dig themselves. In artificial farming, steps such as adjusting water temperature, fertilizing the water, and changing the feed are also needed. Crayfish burrows are generally 0.8-1 m long and 4-6 cm in diameter. The burrows are mostly concentrated on the “sunny side” more than 10-20 cm above the water surface, and their shapes vary.

Crayfish have a fairly strong ability to adapt to temperature. They grow when the temperature exceeds 10 degrees, gradually stop feeding below 10 degrees, and begin digging burrows to prepare for winter when it is below 16 degrees. The crayfish body contains astaxanthin, and the astaxanthin content is positively correlated with its ability to resist harsh external environments. In other words, the higher the astaxanthin content in the body, the stronger its ability to resist harsh external environments. However, in winters when the temperature is too low, try to put some algae into the pond that can make crayfish produce astaxanthin.

2. Winter Precautions for Crayfish

1. Water level: During overwintering, keep the water level in the pond above 1.5 m to maintain the water temperature. If the water level is too shallow, replenish water in good time to prevent the crayfish from being frostbitten or frozen to death;

2. Water body: When the water quality is too fertile, change the water in good time, keep dissolved oxygen in the water body above 4 kg/L and transparency above 40 cm, to prevent crayfish from dying of oxygen deprivation and suffocation.

3. Regular pond patrols: Patrol the pond 2 times a day, and take countermeasures promptly if anything abnormal is found. Focus on preventing and treating frostbite in crayfish.

4. Disinfection: During overwintering, every 10-15 days, broadcast 20 kg of quicklime per mu over the whole pond to disinfect the water body, supplement calcium, and prevent disease.

The above is some knowledge about crayfish overwintering. Farmers engaged in crayfish farming must patrol the pond more often in winter and try to avoid incidents of mass crayfish death.