Amazing Advantages of Snail Farming

March 16, 2023 Agric4Profits

Snail farming business also referred to as snail rearing is a very lucrative business to venture into when properly managed and maintained especially for snail farmers venturing into commercial snail farming system.

One good thing about snail farming business is that it is very easy to understand meaning that snail farming for beginners is not really very hard to understand. It is also not too much time demanding and requires no huge capital to get started making it a very good business to start your farming business with.

Today we are going to be discussing about how to build a snail house. There are some basic factors that needs to be considered when constructing / building your snail house (snail pen) which include the following:

The scale of the snail farming enterprise you want to establish.
The type of snail farming you choose to operate i.e. In-door or Out-door;
The stage of development as well as habits of the snails.

Below are some of the basic amazing advantages of snail farming business in agriculture:

1. Snail shells serves as calcium used for animal feeds.

2. Snail farming require little land or space.

3. Snail feeds are cheap and readily available.

4. Snail farming in Nigeria is not capital intensive.

5. Snail farming is easy to run.

6. Snail doesn’t require too much attention like other agricultural practices or livestock thereby making it easy to run part time.

7. Snail farming requires little or no man power or labor.

8. Snail farming doesn’t constitute nuisance to the environment which is usually the case for other livestock farming in terms of noise and animal waste.

9. Quick growth, Snails are highly productive, can produce over 300 eggs over a year.

10. Snail meat is rich in protein, and its low level of cholesterol and fat.

11. Snail farming can easily be combined or incorporated with other farming practices.

12. Snails are basically harmless creatures.

13. Snail farming is a good source of income for the family.

14. Snails have Low mortality rate engaging best management practices.

Meanwhile, as a snail farmer or an intending snail farmer who want to venture into snail farming business, there are some basic mistakes that almost every snail farmer neglect maybe because they feel that it does not matter for the business but sincerely, they do matter a lot in the business.

Today, we are going to be discussing about those basic common mistakes in snail farming below:

1. Lack of requisite knowledge

There is this popular saying that knowledge is power and snail farming business is not left out of this category because snail farming is a knowledge-based venture. It is quite unfortunate that many people view it a goldmine and dabble into it without first attempting to acquire sound knowledge of this creature.

The brunt is high rate of mortality, consequent frustration and eventual abandonment of the venture which am certain that no snail farmer or intending snail farmer will want to go through this bad experience.

2. Lack of Mentorship

Snails are wonderful creatures of various species passing through series of events in their life cycles. Various life stages possess special features and pose different challenges.

Going into snail farming without a mentor, you may have to pay the learning price dearly. To succeed in a snail farming business, you need a mentor, at least a successful snail farmer who you can take after.

Someone that can be able to guide you properly especially when you start experiencing some challenges in your snail farming business as a beginner.

3. Choosing wrong snail species as foundation stock for a commercial snail farming

Most times, newbies complained of high fertility and high mortality incidences at their farms, in most cases these budding snail entrepreneurs might have chosen AF or AA as their foundation stocks.

It is highly advisable you start your snail farm with AM as these giant snails are mainly recognized for commercial purpose in our dear country, though not as prolific as others but they grow bigger faster than those mentioned above.

4. Poor daily practice and farm management

Many acclaimed snail farmers perform poorly when it comes to daily practice in a snail farm, some mulch their snail with wet plantain leaves, some don’t know how to wet their snail farms during dry season, poor feeding system, ineffective pen, poor planning, to mention a few.

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