Raising stone frogs deep in the mountains: ready for market in three years and a path to wealth

Original title: The "stonefrogdad" deep in the mountains

In Huangchengkeng Village, deep in the mountains of Xinzha Town, there is a stonefrogfarm covering about 5 mu and fitted with more than 10 breeding sheds. Walking into the farm, the reporter met the person in charge, Tang Zhuofeng, who was inspecting the growth of the stone frogs. As soon as he lifted a slate, quite a few small frogs scrambled to jump into the water. "These are young frogs just born earlier this year, and they are all very healthy," Tang Zhuofeng said with a smile, pointing at the stone frogs.

Water quality for breeding is key

Raising stone frogs is not easy. Stone frogs are amphibians: they can swim in water and also jump around on land; their larvae, the tadpoles, breathe through gills like fish and cannot live out of water. Therefore, water is the primary condition for stone frog farming, and there must be an abundant, high-quality, pollution-free water source near the farm.

Tang Zhuofeng explained that he had been raising stone frogs for 5 years. For the first two years he raised them in Guzhuyuan, but because the water quality there did not achieve the expected results, the water flow was insufficient and the site was not large enough, he later chose to move to Huangchengkeng Village. "For raising stone frogs, water quality is very important. I came to survey this place 6 years ago; the water quality here is exactly what I wanted. There is not much farmland, and the water I now use for farming is mountain spring water piped directly down from the mountain. It is clean and pollution-free, and the young frogs like it very much," Tang Zhuofeng said.

In addition, raising stone frogs in the open air also requires guarding against natural enemies such as birds and rats. Around the breeding sheds, Tang Zhuofeng has placed tools such as mousetraps. "This winter I also plan to rebuild the breeding sheds to keep birds out."

Gradual exploration finally brings success

After choosing a new site, Tang Zhuofeng continued his "frog-raising chronicle." With the water quality problem solved, the next issue was technique. Tang Zhuofeng admitted that he had never studied professional techniques for raising stone frogs. "Before raising stone frogs, I had raised fish and ducks for 10 years, all creatures that swim in water, so I thought the farming methods should be about the same." But only when he actually put it into practice did he understand that it was not easy. When the technique was not up to standard, the tadpoles were prone to illness; for example, if they ate too much or took in unclean water, they easily got gastroenteritis and gill rot disease.

"Turning tadpoles into small stone frogs requires passing the critical 'metamorphosis stage.' In the first two years of farming, the survival rate of tadpoles at the stage when they grow legs was very low, and my losses were quite large." While exploring on his own, Tang Zhuofeng also consulted professionals, and gradually found the techniques for raising frogs. "Now, when tadpoles turn into small frogs, the survival rate has improved a great deal." Tang Zhuofeng said that as long as you choose a good environment and master the techniques, stone frog farming can still succeed. Although he suffered considerable losses before, relying on experience accumulated little by little, in recent years the number of surviving young frogs has reached several tens of thousands, and there are also fifty or sixty thousand tadpoles.

It takes three years to see results

"Raising stone frogs is not like raising pigs, which can go to market in six or seven months. You have to take it slowly; the whole process from tadpole to adult frog takes 3 years. For stone frog farming to succeed, the key is persistence." Tang Zhuofeng analyzed that the reason many stone frog raisers fail is that they do not persist. Some people are short-sighted and see only immediate benefits, wanting returns in the second year after investing; some give up as soon as tadpoles die in large numbers, and as a result they lose their capital and also miss business opportunities. "Raising stone frogs is actually like raising children; you cannot rush it. I treat these stone frogs all as my own children. As long as you get through this '3-year itch,' the economic benefits are still quite good." Tang Zhuofeng said with a smile that he currently sells stone frogs at about 100 yuan per jin, and during the Spring Festival period the price can be a bit higher.

Each of Tang Zhuofeng's stone frog breeding sheds contains stone frogs of different ages; the youngest are only a few months old, while the larger ones have been raised for one or two years. "These stone frogs basically eat only the yellow mealworms I raise. They are very demanding about food; as long as the yellow mealworms show slightly weak signs of life, they refuse to eat them." Talking about his future plans for stone frog farming, Tang Zhuofeng said that since he has already started, he will not give up easily, and next he will continue to look for high-quality farming sites to expand the scale of his operation. (Reporter Chen Xinlu, Correspondent Chen Yangzi)