How can I set up a free range snail farm? What i am really curious about is how to prevent the snails frm escaping the vicinity where the free range is located.
I will really appreciate pictures and tips from fellow nairalanders. Thanks

BELEXYFARMS:
How can I set up a free range snail farm? What i am really curious about is how to prevent the snails frm escaping the vicinity where the free range is located.
I will really appreciate pictures and tips from fellow nairalanders. Thanks

What type of housing? Free range?

For free range on a large scale (pasture method), all you need is an electric snail tape (it depends on your financial power mainly) . But with it, not one small newly hatched will escape the "openess" of the pasture method.

Might post up pictures of a few examples later if time permits.

lordhugo:


What type of housing? Free range?

For free range on a large scale (pasture method), all you need is an electric snail tape (it depends on your financial power mainly) . But with it, not one small newly hatched will escape the "openess" of the pasture method.

Might post up pictures of a few examples later if time permits.

Thank you. Yes its free range and on a half plot of land. Please i will appreciate the pictures you spoke about. Also are there alternatives to the electric snail tape that will not require too much financial commitment in setting up?

BELEXYFARMS:


Thank you. Yes its free range and on a half plot of land. Please i will appreciate the pictures you spoke about. Also are there alternatives to the electric snail tape that will not require too much financial commitment in setting up?

In that case, what you need is an 'Australian styled pasture system' (forget the oyibo). Its relatively cheap to construct for a parcel of land.

You will need steel bars and angle bars (most construction i see online make use of steel pipes...not advisable because total sealing of minute spaces wont be possible) .
A specified number of aluminum sheets for external barrier, nets, imported seeds (seeds are far better than transplanting seedlings) for forage and shelter plants. You could budget less than a million excluding land for half a plot of land. Forget about '6 months', in 18 months you will be diving into money.

For a piece of land measuring 50X100 ft., you could have 30beds for ,
180 Giant breeders
6000 mediums in holding/maturing beds.
4200 newly hatched /juveniles.

There is a plan akin to crop rotation. I call it snail rotation. Lol.

Lets discuss further on whatsapp. I am always on the move. 08030964896

Is the snail thread dead?

C'mon guys, share your experiences!

As the OP once said, "we can make this work".


Pragmatistm
Belexyfarms
Neduzze5
Onuwaje
Holar97

How market?

And even oga seun .... how far those A. Achatina in your backyard? Got them a pen?

lordhugo:
Is the snail thread dead?

C'mon guys, share your experiences!

As the OP once said, "we can make this work".


Pragmatistm
Belexyfarms
Neduzze5
Onuwaje
Holar97

How market?

And even oga seun .... how far those A. Achatina in your backyard? Got them a pen?

onuwaje:

I want to learn from you sir.

lordhugo:
Is the snail thread dead?

C'mon guys, share your experiences!

As the OP once said, "we can make this work".


Pragmatistm
Belexyfarms
Neduzze5
Onuwaje
Holar97

How market?

And even oga seun .... how far those A. Achatina in your backyard? Got them a pen?

You promised posting some pictures of how i can set up a free range snail farm. I would prefer something inexpensive and probably something i can construct myself. I intend to experiment on abt a quarter of a plot and if its worth the stress, i can use the whole plot for it.

BELEXYFARMS:


You promised posting some pictures of how i can set up a free range snail farm. I would prefer something inexpensive and probably something i can construct myself. I intend to experiment on abt a quarter of a plot and if its worth the stress, i can use the whole plot for it.

Skipped my mind.
Though, you need to first do a feasibility study .

What type of soil is the land composed of? Loamy?
Can you notice any snails in the area on a wet evening?
Are there shade plants such as banana or pawpaw in the land?
Any windbreaks (buildings, larger trees , fencing) ?


I am sure you get the drift now. It would be hard to raise "free range " snails in a site that is unfavorable.

BELEXYFARMS:


I want to learn from you sir.

I'm yet to establish mine due to non availability of space

BELEXYFARMS:


You promised posting some pictures of how i can set up a free range snail farm. I would prefer something inexpensive and probably something i can construct myself. I intend to experiment on abt a quarter of a plot and if its worth the stress, i can use the whole plot for it.

Experimenting on snail farming won't really be an easy stuff because of the long time it takes before they can mature to table size.

lordhugo:
Is the snail thread dead?

C'mon guys, share your experiences!

As the OP once said, "we can make this work".


Pragmatistm
Belexyfarms
Neduzze5
Onuwaje
Holar97

How market?

And even oga seun .... how far those A. Achatina in your backyard? Got them a pen?

We still dey here ooh... Lolz.

The thing is that the journey through snail farming is a long long tortuous ride.

Sometimes, you might be unable to feed them which leads to one or two cannibalistic tendencies. Other times, they just give up the ghost on their own. You can't really decide if it is caused by their feed or by unfavourable climatic conditions.

Currently, some of my snails are going into hibernation/aestivation. I hope they survive it though.

Neduzze5:


Experimenting on snail farming won't really be an easy stuff because of the long time it takes before they can mature to table size.

Well not an experiment per se, but rather let me call it a pilot project on a quarter plot. Im also into catfish farming so its not as if the snail farming is the main stuff.

lordhugo:


Skipped my mind.
Though, you need to first do a feasibility study .

What type of soil is the land composed of? Loamy?
Can you notice any snails in the area on a wet evening?
Are there shade plants such as banana or pawpaw in the land?
Any windbreaks (buildings, larger trees , fencing) ?


I am sure you get the drift now. It would be hard to raise "free range " snails in a site that is unfavorable.

Yes, the environment is perfect for snails. I have lots of snails here already which come out when ever it rains. We do pick them to cook. Lots of banana, plantain and mango trees within the premises. A few pawpaw trees are there too.
Sand is loamy and very good for vegetation. Infact the place is a haven for snails. I just need a way of containing the snails so that i can feed them with supplements in addition to what they will eat as free range, thereby making them grow bigger and faster and making them available all year round on a larger scale.

Neduzze5:



We still dey here ooh... Lolz.

The thing is that the journey through snail farming is a long long tortuous ride.

Sometimes, you might be unable to feed them which leads to one or two cannibalistic tendencies. Other times, they just give up the ghost on their own. You can't really decide if it is caused by their feed or by unfavourable climatic conditions.

Currently, some of my snails are going into hibernation/aestivation. I hope they survive it though.

You should never allow them aestivate my brother . By fire , by force they should be up and eating.

Provide adequate cover (no direct sunlight) and make sure it is always moist.

One more thing is we tend to overfeed. Feeding should not be over plenty as this would rot, invite fungus, ants, insects , rodents and lizards.

Moist and clean.

God bless you my brother.

onuwaje:

Rough estimate for someone who wants to start with 50

Budget N200 per medium sized snail or N150 each for small ones.

momasenny:
Happy Sunday to you all, I started rearing snail in a used tire about a 2months ago and am enjoying it.
I feed them on vegetables and water melon, I ve about 40 of them and they've started laying eggs. I fleet d surrounding with fleet after covering them
I only accounted for one lost since I've started thou I don't know d cause.

Very nice and clean enclosure you have there, well done.

Freshwater Snails As Bioindicator For Heavy Metals In Abakaliki Metropolis

A total of fifty snails comprising of Bulinus natalensis and Bulinus forskalii were used as bioindicators in this research work for heavy metals like Zinc (Zn), Copper (Cu) and Iron (Fe) in five study areas within Abakaliki metropolis which included Unagboke stream, Ituma stream, Oni stream, Ngele stream, and Amike–aba stream. The obtained result using an Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS) showed that the concentration of Iron (Fe) was highest in Ngele stream (0.289mg/l) while the concentration of Zinc (Zn) was the same at Amike-aba and Ngele streams (0.105mg/l) while being a little bit lower in concentration at Oni (0.023mg/l), Ituma (0.029mg/l) and Unagboke streams (0.002mg/l) with Copper (Cu) having the lowest concentration at all the five study areas. The result still showed that the bioindicators used in this research work were intermediate hosts of the Schistosoma parasite.

The term "heavy metals" was in use as far back as 1817, when Gmelin divided elements into non-metals, light metals and heavy metals (Habashi, 2009). Over the past two decades, the term “heavy metals” has been used increasingly in various publications and in legislation related to chemical hazards and the safe use of chemicals (Duffus, 2001). Criteria adopted to define heavy metals have included density, atomic weight, atomic number, or periodic table position (Duffus, 2002). Density criteria range from 3.5 g/cm3 to above 7 g/cm3. Atomic weight definitions start at greater than 22.98 to greater than 40 (Hawkes, 1997).

http://www.joeyarticles.com/freshwater-snails-bioindicator-heavy-metals-abakaliki-metropolis/

onuwaje:

Rough estimate for someone who wants to start with 50

You can budget between #150-#250 per snail as you need only small or medium size to start and not large ones.

@pragmatism And Neduzze5, Snails Go Into Hibernation At A Particular Time Of The Year, It Is Normal, And It Is Called Drought..There Is A Kind Of Practise One Imploys When They Are On Hibernation That Keeps Them Alive Till They Come Out Of It...

I hope to kick off this snailry next year!

lordhugo:


You should never allow them aestivate my brother . By fire , by force they should be up and eating.

Provide adequate cover (no direct sunlight) and make sure it is always moist.

One more thing is we tend to overfeed. Feeding should not be over plenty as this would rot, invite fungus, ants, insects , rodents and lizards.

Moist and clean.

God bless you my brother.

how many times should someone feed them daily or weekly to avoid overfeeding

W3xy1:
how many times should someone feed them daily or weekly to avoid overfeeding

Sorry for the late reply sir,

You should feed only when feed is exhausted in the pens.

You should also remove rottening foods and replace with fresh feeds.

Its best to understand them and give them a day's worth of feed at a time.

Calcium helps for their shell,how do u prepare ur calcium,is it from egg shell? Do u roast or dry d egg shell b4 grinding? What is ur grinding method

Can I use plastic tanks as housing? I have two large ones I used for catfish before.

Vallyview:
Calcium helps for their shell,how do u prepare ur calcium,is it from egg shell? Do u roast or dry d egg shell b4 grinding? What is ur grinding method

i usually dry mine before grinding it to a powdered form. I mix the powdered egg shell with little drop of water before feeding them and it seems they enjoy it.. They always finish it before any other meal... I also found out they like this moringa leaves..they eat moringa leaves as well.

Thanks a million @ wy3x,

Any further advice, update, etc on this type of farming?

good morning, the space I have is my backyard where I normally keep my generator, no tree but a storey building which shed light. I want to know if the noise from the gen will affect them?

JustOzito:
good morning, the space I have is my backyard where I normally keep my generator, no tree but a storey building which shed light. I want to know if the noise from the gen will affect them?

The noise and the smoke will surely affect them.

Neduzze5:

The noise and the smoke will surely affect them.

but I pick snail from there during d wet season