Selection and Use of Fattening Feed for Rice Field Eels

    In winter each year, the market sales of rice field eels are relatively high, especially large-sized eels, which are in strong demand. May to November is the golden period for fattening rice field eels. Select good fattening eel fry; supply sufficient and nutrient-rich feed; carry out routine management tasks such as water quality, temperature control, feeding, and disease prevention. After about 6 months of fattening, rice field eels can gain 3 to 5 times their weight, and the eels generally reach a size of over 150g. Their market selling price is high, and the economic benefits are very significant.

    Rice field eels eat relatively little, but they have high protein requirements and a particular preference for earthworms, fly maggots, and similar foods. Make extensive use of pig manure, cow manure, chicken manure, and other livestock and poultry manure, add EM microbial agent and ferment it, then breed large numbers of earthworms and fly maggots. The sterile earthworms and fly maggots produced not only cater to the feeding habits of rice field eels and provide good animal bait for taming them to eat, but also increase the supply of cheap high-protein feed. This can greatly reduce fattening costs and increase fattening profits. Other animal bait options include small fish and shrimp, river snails, river mussels, animal offal, and so on.

    The fattening feed should use a combination of animal bait and fish feed. Do not use only a single type such as earthworms or fly maggots as animal bait for fattening, otherwise the feed conversion rate will be low, the fattening cycle will lengthen, and the fattening effect will be affected. The mixed feed uses 50%-60% animal bait, 40%-50% fish feed, with concentrated feed accounting for 1% of the fish feed. Add animal bait such as earthworms, concentrated feed, and a binder, and process into soft balls or soft strips of feed. Specific method: crush the fish meal, add minced animal bait such as earthworms and concentrated feed, then add an appropriate amount of binder and water, mix well and put it into a machine. Use a meat grinder (3 to 5 mm die holes, chosen according to the size of the rice field eels) to grind it into thin strips of soft feed. Let it dry briefly, then gently turn it by hand so the longer strips break naturally. For small-scale eel farming, the ball-mixing method can be used: add chopped animal bait such as earthworms to crushed fish feed, then add concentrated feed and a small amount of binder, and add an appropriate amount of water to mix into balls. You can also mince the animal bait, add binder, concentrated feed, and an appropriate amount of water to make a paste, then directly pour in pelleted fish feed and mix it into a ball-shaped mixed feed. The mixed feed should be prepared and used immediately, and it is not easy to store. If animal bait is relatively scarce, you can use the limited bait to tame the eels to eat, then gradually add fish feed until fish feed is being fed entirely.

    To reduce labor intensity when feeding rice field eels, we can first use animal bait for taming, then gradually add fish feed for taming, and eventually reach the point where fish feed can be fed directly. In this way, we can first take pelleted fish feed, add concentrated feed and a small amount of binder, then pour in an appropriate amount of water, and directly scatter it into the eel pond to feed the eels. The amount fed should be moderate, preferably eaten within 10 minutes. After the eels finish the pelleted feed, then feed animal bait such as earthworms or fly maggots.