Research on crocodile health breeding technology
Crocodile is a wild animal with high scientific research value, ecological value and economic value. It belongs to the class Reptilia, order Crocodiformes, and family Crocodileidae. There are 23 species of crocodiles in 3 families, 8 genera and 3 groups. The whole body of the crocodile is full of treasures, such as crocodile meat, bones, nails and internal organs, which are rich in high-quality protein and essential amino acids, unsaturated fatty acids, vitamins and various trace elements. Crocodile gallbladder has the functions of detoxifying, calming heat, removing nebula and promoting metabolism, and can be used to treat bone cancer, liver cancer, bladder cancer, central retinitis and food poisoning. It is especially effective in treating fatty liver and cirrhosis. Thailand, a major crocodile breeding country, values ??crocodile gall very much. It is regarded as a panacea for treating women's infertility and irregular menstruation. Crocodile liver has the functions of nourishing the brain, generating new blood, removing moisture, nourishing yin and nourishing the liver, and improving eyesight. It can treat senile cataracts, vision loss, etc. Crocodile Heart, combined with Panax notoginseng and Salvia miltiorrhiza, nourishes the heart and calms the mind, activates blood circulation and removes blood stasis, and can treat angina pectoris, myocardial hypoxia, coronary heart disease, etc. Crocodile bone can treat and prevent rheumatic bone pain. Crocodile bone powder contains a large amount of active calcium and phosphorus, and can be used to treat osteoporosis in the elderly and calcium deficiency in children. Crocodile tail glue not only nourishes the liver and kidneys, replenishes qi and strengthens the essence, enhances cell vitality, but also protects the skin, increases skin elasticity, reduces and delays the early appearance of wrinkles, and has a satisfactory effect on allergies. Crocodiles have always been loved by consumers. However, due to the low requirements for the growth environment of crocodiles, the breeding water in some farms is polluted, the water quality is not good, and the feed quality is problematic, resulting in poor growth of crocodiles, affecting the quality of crocodile meat, and some have odor, seriously affecting the quality of crocodile meat. Crocodile Reputation. In response to this situation, we have been conducting research on crocodile health breeding technology at the Zhenshan Crocodile Breeding Base established by Guangdong Zhenshan Crocodile Breeding Co., Ltd. and Sihui Science and Technology Demonstration Field since 2002. The purpose is to explore technical measures for healthy crocodile breeding. , methods and effects, providing healthy, pollution-free food to the society and ensuring the health of the people. Practice has proved that the effect is obvious and the method is feasible and worthy of vigorous promotion.
The crocodile breeding base is located in Zhenshan Tourist Area, Sihui City, Guangdong Province, covering an area of ??400 acres. During the implementation of this research project, all crocodiles were fed self-cultured, fresh feed fish (Tilapia tilapia) (fish, silver carp, bighead carp), the fish pond should be filled with new water regularly. Raise feed fish (tilapia, silver carp, bighead carp) by yourself, implement unified feeding and unified management. The results show that the commercial crocodile meat is delicious, sweet and crispy, and has been tested to meet epidemic prevention standards, food hygiene and safety standards, and international pollution-free food requirements. Moreover, the crocodiles grow quickly, have high yields, and have good economic benefits.
1. Method
1. Correct site selection The crocodile breeding base is located in Zhenshan Tourist Area, Sihui City, Guangdong Province. Zhenshan Tourist Area is the only provincial tourist attraction in Sihui. Scenic area, the entire Zhenshan tourist area is mainly focused on tourism and ecological agriculture. Agriculture is mainly pollution-free vegetables, flowers and pollution-free aquaculture. The factory has no "three wastes" emissions. The environment in the entire area is excellent and there is no industrial pollution. , pesticide pollution and domestic pollution. The water source is sufficient, the water quality is good, the air is fresh, and the soil is pollution-free. The fish ponds in the crocodile breeding base have fertile soil, hygienic environment, and fresh air. The new water is the spring water from Zhenshan Mountain. It is absolutely pollution-free and has fresh water quality. It fully meets the requirements for pollution-free and pollution-free breeding.
2. Fish pond facilities
(1) Crocodiles are cultured in earth ponds with a total area of ??225 acres, each pond has an area of ??1-2 acres, the bottom of the pond is flat, and the silt is ≤20CM. The water depth is 1-1.5 meters. There is a 1 meter high fence around the fish pond to prevent crocodiles from escaping and outsiders from entering. The ratio of water surface to land area within the enclosure is approximately 1:1, which is conducive to the growth of crocodiles.
(2) Feed fish (tilapia, silver carp, bighead carp) are cultured in earthen ponds with a total area of ??165 acres, each pond has an area of ??8-10 acres, the bottom of the pond is flat, the silt is ≤20 cm, and the water depth 1.5--2 meters.
3. Selection of crocodile species. The main species of crocodiles raised are Siamese crocodile, Nile crocodile and Gulf crocodile.
4. Clear the pond and disinfect it. After drying the bottom of the fish pond, use quicklime to clear the pond to disinfect and adjust the water quality before releasing seedlings.
5. Water body monitoring The base has a quality control working group responsible for quality and safety monitoring.
In particular, strict control measures are implemented for the environment around the breeding waters of the base. Base quality control team members must pay close attention to whether the spraying of pesticides in the surrounding farmland, water sources, and changes in water quality will harm the base's breeding production. The fishery administration and environmental protection departments will actively cooperate to ensure that once a pollution accident is discovered , take remedial measures in a timely manner to prevent impact on base production. We entrusted the Guangdong Provincial Fisheries Quality Supervision and Inspection Center to conduct an "Evaluation Report on the Environmental Quality of the Origin of Pollution-free Agricultural Products" on the base's water body and its surrounding environment. The report concluded that the water quality of the breeding water in this base complies with the "Water Quality of Freshwater Breeding Water for Pollution-free Food" ( NY5051-2001) requirements.
6. Selection of fry ① Choose crocodile fry that are healthy, disease-free, and have passed inspection and are self-bred or imported from Thailand for stocking. ② Select healthy and disease-free tilapia, silver carp, bighead carp and other seedlings for stocking.
7. Stocking density: 200-300 crocodile fry with a body length of 30-100 cm (3-10 kg) per acre. The stocking density of feed fish (tilapia, silver carp, bighead carp) should be carried out as usual. , the implementation of catching the big and leaving the small.
8. Feeding methods
① All crocodiles are fed fresh feed fish (tilapia, silver carp, bighead carp) that are self-cultured, and the fish ponds are regularly filled with new water. It is implemented to catch the big ones and keep the small ones, that is, if the crocodiles reach more than 30 kilograms per tail, they will be captured, processed and put on the market. Those that have not reached the market specifications will continue to be graded and cultured.
② The feed for tilapia, silver carp and bighead carp is mainly mixed feed, corn, wheat hulls, etc., and is scientifically fed. Quicklime, beneficial microorganisms and water quality improvers are regularly used, and they are equipped with aerators, The water pump adds oxygen and changes water. The practice of catching the big ones and leaving the small ones is to catch the crocodiles that meet the feed specifications and provide them as feed, while those that do not meet the specifications will continue to be cultured in different grades.
9. Daily management measures
All crocodiles in the base are fed with self-cultured and fresh feed fish (tilapia, silver carp, bighead carp), and the feed is put in uniformly and managed uniformly. Business model. We are responsible for training base staff on technical regulations for healthy crocodile breeding and production, providing technical guidance services, focusing on key aspects such as water quality control, seedling selection, feed use, and use of disease prevention and control drugs. Daily management measures include:
a) Regularly monitor the quality of breeding water. The water quality of the water source is tested every 10 days, and the water quality of the breeding pond is tested every 15 days. The NY5051-2001 standard is adopted, which requires a pH value of 7-8.5 and a transparency of about 30CM. Dissolved oxygen is above 4MG/L. The water quality of this base was sampled and tested at the water inlet and pond by the Guangdong Provincial Fishery Quality Supervision and Inspection Center. The 12 items tested included color, odor, taste, total coliform bacteria, mercury, cadmium, lead, chromium, arsenic, copper, Fluoride, petroleum, BHC, Didi, etc., all meet the requirements of "Water Quality for Freshwater Breeding of Pollution-Free Food" (NY5051-2001).
b). Production personnel should insist on keeping the "Aquaculture Production Record" to record the culture species, seed sources and growth conditions, feed sources and feeding conditions, water quality changes, etc., and formulate scientific breeding plans. , Promote the healthy growth of breeding objects.
c). Correct use of fish feed, feed additives and aquaculture drugs. All crocodiles are fed fresh tilapia, silver carp, and bighead carp cultured in the base, and the amounts required for each growth stage of the crocodiles are reasonably and evenly fed, so that the activities of the crocodiles, changes in water quality, and weather conditions can be flexibly determined every day. The amount of feed should be put in every day to ensure that the crocodiles eat well and there is no waste. It is prohibited to put in spoiled fish meat. It is forbidden to use "three noes" feed and feed additive products in tilapia, silver carp and bighead carp breeding at this base. Prevent feed from deterioration and expiration; do not use illegal drugs for fish disease prevention and treatment. Disease prevention and control adopts the policy of “prevention first, combined with prevention and treatment”, focusing on biological agents and reducing the use of chemical drugs. Comprehensive measures to prevent fish diseases include: ① Select healthy, disease-free, and inspected fish that are self-bred and cultivated or imported from Thailand. Crocodile seedlings are released for stocking. ② Select healthy and disease-free tilapia, silver carp, bighead carp and other seedlings for stocking. Disinfect and sterilize the fry before entering the pond; choose high-quality feed; regularly use biological agents such as photosynthetic bacteria and water quality improvers to control water quality.
At the same time, the crocodile pond is constantly filled with new water and recycled water, that is, the crocodile pond is continuously filled with new water to ensure that the water is fresh, and the old water in the crocodile pond is discharged to the breeding areas for tilapia, silver carp, and other animals. Bighead Carp's fish pond makes full use of the breeding wastewater from the crocodile pond to ensure ecological balance and environmental sanitation.
d) Pay attention to keeping warm during the winter. Crocodiles are not cold-tolerant and will stop moving when the water temperature drops to 15°C. During the cold weather in winter, we cover the crocodile pond with a film and inject warmer water from deep wells into the pond to ensure that crocodiles and other fish survive the winter safely. At the same time, the crocodiles are more active and open to eat, so that they can grow even in winter. development.
II. Results
After more than three years of breeding, crocodiles and other feed fish (tilapia, silver carp, bighead carp) are growing well, with basically no disease and high yields. , good quality and high economic benefits. At present, the entire base breeds more than 20,000 crocodiles of various sizes. In 2004, the number of commercial crocodiles harvested reached more than 30 tons (more than 1,000 crocodiles, each weighing more than 30 kilograms). The meat is delicious, sweet and crisp, and is exported to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Dalian and other places are deeply loved by consumers. The crocodiles produced in this base have been inspected by the Animal Epidemic Prevention and Supervision Office of Zhaoqing City, Guangdong Province. The animal epidemic prevention conditions are qualified, comply with food hygiene and safety standards, and meet international pollution-free food requirements. At the same time, according to the Guangzhou Import and Export Food Inspection and Research Center, crocodile meat is rich in high-quality protein and essential amino acids, unsaturated fatty acids, vitamins and various trace elements, such as 21.28% protein, 46 mg/kg calcium, and 5 mg/kg iron. , zinc 10 mg/kg, vitamin A 532ug/100g, vitamin E 1.79mg/100g, amino acid analysis 15.2%.
3. Discussion and Analysis
During more than three years of breeding, crocodiles have grown well, faster than other farms, with good quality and good taste, mainly We have the biggest and unique feature: all crocodiles are fed fresh feed fish (tilapia, silver carp, bighead carp) that we raise ourselves to ensure the quality of the feed fish; while other crocodile farms at home and abroad purchase them from off-site Feed fish, it is unavoidable that feed fish will have problems, which will seriously affect the quality and taste of crocodiles. At the same time, we have four good things, namely, good breeding grounds, good water quality and environment, good seed quality, and good daily management. With superior geographical environment, good water quality, healthy and disease-free seedlings, high-quality feed, and strict management measures, the commercial crocodiles raised are naturally superior food with good quality and taste.
1. Good breeding site. The crocodile breeding base is located in Zhenshan Tourist Area, Sihui City, Guangdong Province. The entire area has excellent environmental conditions and is free of industrial pollution, pesticide pollution and domestic pollution. The water source is sufficient, the water quality is good, the air is fresh, and the soil is pollution-free. The base was recognized by the Guangdong Provincial Ocean and Fisheries Bureau as a pollution-free agricultural product base in Guangdong Province.
2. Good water quality and environment. The new water injected into the base is spring water from Zhenshan Mountain. It is absolutely pollution-free and has fresh water quality. It fully meets the requirements for pollution-free and pollution-free breeding.
3. The fry are of good quality. The fry chosen for stocking must be healthy, disease-free and pass the inspection.
4. Good daily management. Strictly implement water quality control and management measures to prevent contaminated water from entering. Feed and disease prevention and control drugs are used correctly. All crocodiles are fed fresh tilapia, silver carp, and bighead carp cultured in the base, and spoiled fish meat is prohibited. The use of "three noes" feed, Feed additive products. Prevent feed from deterioration and expiration; do not use illegal drugs for fish disease prevention and treatment.