What are the advantages of stocking hairy crab seedlings in winter?

In recent years, hairy crab farming has developed very rapidly, and many farmers naturally assume that spring is more suitable for stocking hairy crab seedlings, but this is not the case. The advantages of stocking hairy crab seedlings in winter are mainly reflected in the following aspects.

Low price

Every year from mid-October to mid-November is the period when large numbers of crab seedlings are harvested, transferred to ponds for concentrated overwintering and sold. During this period, buying seedlings is cheap, generally about 1 yuan each, while in spring, crab seedlings sell for 2 yuan to 3 yuan each.

Safe transport

Newly harvested crab seedlings have rich fat reserves in their bodies, are strong and robust, and have strong adaptability and resistance. Moreover, at this time the temperature difference between north and south is only 5°C to 10°C, and the air humidity is high, making handling easy, management simple, and transport safe and reliable. In contrast, crab seedlings after overwintering are weak and have poor resistance; combined with the large temperature difference between north and south, they are prone to many diseases, the transport survival rate is low, and the transport conditions required are relatively demanding.

High survival rate

In winter, because the water quality is clean, the activity of bacteria and viruses weakens, and the stocked crab seedlings have fewer opportunities to be infected by various pathogens. In spring, however, crab seedlings suffer invasion by many kinds of pathogens that cause disease, lowering the survival rate.

Long growth period

Crab seedlings stocked in spring have a growth period of only more than 6 months, and after subtracting the adaptation period, the growth period is even shorter, so small individuals and low yields are unavoidable. Stocking crab seedlings in winter generally extends the effective growth period by 1 month to 2 months, with notable effects on increasing size, raising yields and increasing profits.