What is the market price of leech breeding stock per jin?
The leech is a traditional special medicinal aquatic animal in China. Historically it was mainly caught in the wild, but due to the abuse of pesticides and chemical fertilizers in recent years and the pollution of the environment by the "three wastes" of industry and agriculture, wild natural resources have sharply declined. With the in-depth development of its medicinal value, its market demand potential is huge, and the development of artificial breeding is imperative. Let's take a look below at how much leech breeding stock costs per jin!
How much is leech breeding stock per jin?
The price of leech breeding stock is about 150 to 180 yuan per jin, but prices vary greatly depending on the variety, quality, place of origin and market of the breeding stock. The quality of leech breeding stock is the most crucial step in the success or failure of artificial leech farming. Do not easily believe the breeding stock promoted online, and do not be easily deceived by virtual illusions. When introducing breeding stock, you must be very cautious and careful, and strive to reduce blindness and unnecessary economic losses.
How to select leech breeding stock
1. Breeding stock: Choose breeding stock that is large, robust, uninjured, lively, bright in color, with clear stripes, and that forms a ball when picked up by hand.
2. Egg cocoons: Choose egg cocoons that are bright in appearance, complete in cocoon shape, without injury or marks, preferably about 800 cocoons per kilogram.
3. Young leeches: Choose young leeches that are highly active, with a shiny body surface, no injuries or marks, and a robust build. Do not buy those with external injuries or poor vitality.
How to stock leech breeding stock
1. Purchasing and catching breeding leeches: It is best to buy breeding leeches from professional farms. You can also catch wild leeches and domesticate them as breeding stock. You can catch them directly by hand in the early morning or evening, or use a small net, or place tiles or bamboo tubes as traps.
2. Selecting breeding leeches: Choose adult leeches that are robust and thick, lively and active, that quickly shrink into a ball when touched by hand, and that are more than three years old (having already gone through two winters).
3. Disinfecting breeding leeches: Before putting breeding leeches into the pond, they can be soaked and disinfected with 8 to 10 mg/L bleaching powder solution or 10 mg/L potassium permanganate solution at a temperature of 15 to 20°C for about 15 minutes.
4. Stocking time: Breeding leeches can be stocked in spring, summer and autumn. It is best to stock them on a sunny day. Generally, each leech should weigh 20 to 30 grams, and 300 kilograms of breeding leeches should be stocked per mu.
How to farm leech breeding stock
1. Feeding bait: Artificial leech farming mainly involves putting in river snails, with 25 kilograms of river snails put in per mu at one time to let them reproduce naturally for the leeches to feed on freely. When bait is insufficient, feed some earthworms, insects, etc., and at the same time feed animal blood once a week.
2. Water quality regulation: Although leech pond farming has a relatively large body of water that is not prone to spoilage, attention should still be paid to water quality. Yellowish-brown or light green water is better, with a water depth of 60 cm, water transparency of 10 to 20 cm, and a pH value that is neutral or slightly acidic.
3. Egg laying and hatching: During the leech egg-laying period, keep things as quiet as possible and do not disturb the adult leeches that are laying eggs, so as to avoid empty cocoons. During hatching, avoid walking on the platform to prevent crushing the egg cocoons, and keep the platform surface moist.
4. Rearing young leeches: Young leeches have poor adaptability to the environment, so the water temperature should be kept between 20 and 30°C. At the same time, their digestive organs function poorly, so attention should be paid to the nutritional value and palatability of the feed, and the water should be changed frequently.
5. Graded rearing: During the leech rearing process, large, medium and small leeches should be separated in a timely manner. Small leech ponds, medium leech ponds and breeding leech ponds can be set up. The breeding leech pond should be placed between the medium and small leech ponds, and filter nets should be installed on the pond walls to let them filter and separate on their own.
6. Overwintering management: When the temperature drops below 10°C, leeches stop feeding and burrow into the soil or leaf litter to hibernate. Choose large, robust individuals to keep as breeding stock, generally keeping 25 to 30 kilograms per mu, and put them together into the breeding leech pond to overwinter.
7. Disease prevention and treatment: Leeches are prone to bacterial infectious diseases, especially in autumn. First the skin at the head and tail becomes red and swollen, and then they die one after another. Splashing 0.2 to 0.3 mg/L of dibromohydantoin over the whole pond once every 7 to 10 days can effectively prevent and treat this disease.
8. Catching and harvesting: Leeches can be harvested twice a year. In mid-to-late June, take out the breeding leeches that have already reproduced for two seasons, process and sell them. In mid-to-late October, those generally stocked in early spring have already grown, so part of them can be considered for harvest, but most should preferably be harvested in the second year.