INTEGRATED AQUACULTURE UNIT IN FARMING | FISH | SNAILS | PIGS



            There are three (3) sub sections in the integrated system of aquaculture in ARAC.
1.         Snailary section
2.         Arable section
3.         Piggery section (here we have fathering breeding)
Snilary section
            Snail farming is also known as Heliculture.this is the process of farming or raising snails for commercial purpose or for food.

There are different breeds of snails.
1.         Helix pomatia
2.         Helix aspersa
3.         Achatina achatina
4.         Achatina marginata
            Snails vary in size, colour, adaptability and performance. They are invertebrate, which they lack backbone. The belongs to large highly diverse group of invertebrates know as phylum mollusca. They are multicellular and are heterotrophs (they feed on organic materials present in other organism living or dead) the soft body is protected by a hard shell, which the snail retreats into when alarmed. They are found worldwide in sea in fresh water and in moist areas on land.
Locomotion
Snail move by crawling, swimming or floating with current, land snails crawl on the ground. Creeping along on their large flat foot, a special gland in the foot secretes mucus (slimy fluid that helps the snail move)
Predators of Snail
Many animals eat snail, including birds, fish, frogs, snakes, turtles, beetles and people.
Sources of snail to your farm
Snails can be sourced from different places  
1.         By gathering wild snails directly from the bush.
2.         By purchasing from snail farmers


How to select a healthy snails for rearing
1.         Select a fully grown sexually matured medium sized snail which can produce egg.
2.         Chosen snails of the same species.
3.         Select live and active snails
4.         Avoid snails with broken shells and those whose shells have been drilled for passing in ropes for carrying or hanging at road side for sale. The type of snail we have in ARAC is Achatina achatina. Only those land snails which are acceptable for consumption in your area should be farmed and there are referred to as “edible” land snails. In southern part of Nigerian where snails are more common the two species usually available for consumption and which are recommended for farming are  Achatina achatina (tiger lands snail)
Archchatina marginata
Housing
There house is built in hutches filled with sawdust and covered with carved plank with net for ventilation and to avoid predator. The sawdust is mixed with soil .soil the major part of snail’s habitat .soil composition, water content and texture are important factors to consider in site selection. The soil is sprinkle with water always in order to sustain the snail. A soil with organic matter support good growth and development of snails.

TEMPERATURE AND HUMIDITY
            Snails are cold-blooded animal. They are sensitive to changes in their atmospheric humidity and temperature. The coastal areas are extremely wet and humid with up to 2,000 mm of rain falling in two rainy seasons (May and June and again in October) when humidity falls below (75% in the care during dry season October and mid March) Achatina becomes inactive seals itself to it shell with a white calcareous layer (Mucus) in order not to loss water form the body.



Harvesting
There are two main snail-harvesting season
1.         in September and may/June. The harvesting season coincide respectively with the major rainy season of September/October. Snails are abundant during the major rainy season.
Breeding of tiger land snail (Achatina achatina)
            The life cycle of the snail start from Egg-----juvenile (baby snail) -------adult. The eggs will start to hatch from 24 hours onwards in some species. But it is genus and dependent on the species and soil temperature. Eggs do not necessarily hatch uniformly and it noticeable in species that have a long gestation period (4 week) the first to hatch can be 10 days or more in front of the main groups. When the egg hatches the removal of the egg shell delays earth growth because new hatched snails will often stay burrowed for up to 14days presumably while they process and exist on the sustenance the shell and egg albumen provided. From this point on, young snails behave almost exactly like the larger ones. They quickly grow .new shell are appended to the shell lip and the shell grow spirally with the body.
            The species breeds form April to July which coincides with the major rainy season than in the minor rainy season which occurs from September to November. The biggest factor in Achatina achatina breeding is an increase in humidity. The snail have less than four month to develop before the next dry seasons. They will refuse to eat normal food for at least few days. Young snails live in the same way as adults and require the same care.

Food and feeding
It feeds mainly on green leaves tuber, fruits and flowers. Unlike other snails, it prefers leaves and fruits, which are detached from the main plant and also wet leaves rather than dry leaves. In ARAC we feed the snails with.
1.         Unripe pawpaw fruit-cut in smaller size
2.         Water leaf-we use to feed the baby snail
3.         Bone meal – to supply calcium dried plantain leaves which is used to cover the snails in order to create a natural enviroment and provide shelter

Feeding
            Snails can feed at any time of the day specially when they are offered their preferred feeds unripe paw-paw fruits. They can once or twice daily depending on the rate of food consumption. Remaining of the previous day’s feeds should first be removed before putting in any new feed. Water should be sprinkled in the hutches from time to time.

Activities carried out in the unit.
I cleaned the snail pens by removing the used food items and arrange the snails. After which I feed them with unripe paw-paw fruit and covered them with dried planting leaves. After covering them. I sprinkled water on the snail depending on the whether condition.

ARABLE SECTION
The arable section comprises of banana, pineapple and pawpaw-orchard.
            The pineapple orchard is made of species know as Queen Pineapple. There are thongs just at the tips of the leaves.
The queen pineapple is divided into 2 namely
1.         Ratune sucker
2.         Crown sucker
Activities carried out
The major work I did was that I participated in weeding of pineapple orchard.


PIGGERY SECTION
The piggery section is made up of fattening and breeders fattening are young pigs Breeders are adult pigs for reproduction.

TYPE OF SPECIES OF PIGS
The species of pigs reared are;
1.         Land durrock
2.         Large white
            We have both male (Boar) and female (sow) pigs.
Housing
       In ARAC the pig pen both breeding and fattening are built with cement. Intensive system is used of which research was to be profitable.
            In the pig pen, we have a feeding trough and drinking trough. The drinking trough is large in size than the feeding trough for cooling of its body as well. Dumps of the pigs are swept out and are used in fertilizing the banana and pineapple orchard.

Reproduction in pigs
The gestation period of pig is  quite short 114 day (3 months, 3 week and 3 day) the estrus (heat behaviours) of pig occur for 2-3 day averring 60 hours in mature sows but is only about 48hours long in gilt. Ovulation occurs during the last third of estrus. When a sow goes into heat together and conceive together, they will furrow their piglet together in groups which make all in flow possible.

Sign of the heat period in pigs
The valve lips are swollen and red with a thin, mucous discharge; there is depression appetite, restlessness, alertness, pacing grunting and chopping of the jaws. The most reliable sign of the heat behaviour is “standing” while another sow or boar mounts many female will start for the back pressure test.
Feeding of Pigs
Pigs feed on vegetable matters and formulated feeds.
            In African regional aquaculture centre (ARAC) we feed the pigs with formulated feeds.
Ingredient                                                                 kg
Palm kernel cake (PKC)                                          50kg
Groundnut cake (GNC)                                           10kg
Wheat brain                                                              50kg
Vit perimx                                                                 500g
Bone meal                                                                 75%
Soybean                                                                                 10kg
The ingredients are mixed with water before the feed is served.
Activities carried out in the unit
I swept the is pen and I participated in feeding the pigs and cleaning of the pens.

HATCHERY UNIT
Hatchery Unit is a place where fish fingerlings are produced and rear through their early life stage of finfish.
Method of fish spawning
1.         Induced spawning without hormone (Natural breeding)
2.         Hormone induced spawning
3.         Artificial spawning [Artificial breeding]  
Induced spawning without hormone (Natural breeding):
This is achieved in captive enclosure (pond or tank) by creating environment conditions that is suitable for fish spawning. The breeder has no or little contribution in its success rather nature takes care.
Hormone Induced spawning:
Here the male and female are injected. You induce the fish and send them back to the water. You pay little attention on the activity like 50-60% for it success.

Artificial spawning:
In the type of breeding the female fish is injected with a hormone and the male is sacrificed in order to extract the milt. The eggs and milt of spawner are extract and fertilized manually.
Steps to artificial breeding fish selection
The selection is done very early in the morning. During the selection you should take into consideration the sex, age, weight, stress control and age deduction. You should void virgin fish rather use fish that has been used before for clarias gariefinus eight (8) months of age is good for breeding while for heterobranus if it is les than 2 years it won’t be good.
The weight of fish should be from 800g-2000kg.
Hormonal substances used in fish breeding and their recommended doses.
1.         Pituitary extract at 4 ml/kg
2.         Ovaprim at 0.5ml/kg
3.         Ovatide at 0.2ml/kg
Equipments of artificial breeding
1.         Towel
2.         Syringe
3.         Basin
4.         Sharp knife
5.         Hormone
6.         Tissue pepper
7.         Locally made physiological salt solution (0.9 of common salt)
How to known egg that is good
            A white colour of egg means that the egg is still at developmental stage. If the egg is used like that hatchability is not going to be successful.
            A good egg for breeding is one which is not gummy.
Hypophysation
This is the ingestion of hormone to mature fish to achieve breeding.
There are two type of hormone that can be administered to fish for breeding.
1.         Natural hormone: these are the fish pituitary that is extracted.                                                                
2.         Synthetic hormone; these are the artificial hormones that are purchased from the market example ovaprim,ovatide and ovryprin. The injection of the hormone is below the dorsal fin and above the lateral line at the angle 45o. After this wait for the latency period for 7-8 hours.
Method of Stripping
            The following are the method we used in achieving stripping in ARAC.
1.         We catch the injected female carefully with a net from a water holding facility.
2.         We gently dry the body surface so as to avoid water contact to the egg.
3.         The female fish is held with two persons tightly with wet towel to avoid jumping.
4.         We strip the fish by gently pressing the abdomen with a thumb from the pectoral fin toward the genital papilla to cause gradual release of the eggs into a clean dried bowel. We stop stripping when blood is notice. After stripping the spent fish is kept gently in a tank where a maximum care will be given to them for the next breeding.
Fertilization of stripped egg
After the egg have been stripped the milt are spread on the eggs and mixed together. The fertilized eggs are ready for incubation. The eggs are spread out on the floating incubation “Kakabban” (mesh size lmm) within a few minutes, the fertilized egg absorb water and become sticky. Hatching take place after 24 hours.

Larvae/Fry Rearing
            At this stage, the fry depend entirely on its yoke sac for 3 days after hatching. After this days the fry is fed with artemia for 2 weeks during feeding, the inflowing and out flowing waters are both stopped to avoid feed wastage and enhance proper feeding. Also uneaten feeds are first removed in the morning through siphoning method before feeding commences proper. They are stocked in nursery pond to attain fingerling stage.

Activities carried out in the unit
1.I participated in washing the pond and disinfecting the pond with Nacl (Common salt) I appreciated in siphoning of dirt in the pond. I participated in sorting and grading of fingerlings.

Share on Google Plus

Declaimer - MARTINS LIBRARY

The publications and/or documents on this website are provided for general information purposes only. Your use of any of these sample documents is subjected to your own decision NB: Join our Social Media Network on Google Plus | Facebook | Twitter | Linkedin

READ RECENT UPDATES HERE