SNAIL FARMING, ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW

SNAIL FARMING
Snail meat "Escargot"in French is a special delicacy across the cuisines of the different culture across the world from Africa,to Europe to America and East Asia as the only culturally and religious restricted areas area the Muslim and Jewish nations.Snail meat is a cheap source of high quality protein,rich in iron and of low fat.It is blessed with many rich nutrients like omega fatty acid which is beneficial for mental health,heart functions,healthy vision and foetus and child development,Vitamin A,E and K.It contains important minerals like iron,magnesium,phosphorus that are necessary for healthy living and selenium,an important antioxidants.The Shell is a rich source of Calcium and the snail slime is used as the base product of many beauty product.So valuable is its contribution to healthy body,that it is widely used in folk medicine to treat diseases such as whooping cough,anemia,ulcer,asthma,stroke,sexual impotency and many more.Snail is high demand across the world but in Africa,until recently had been left to roam the wild and thus subjected to supply fluctuation in response to season and human encroachment on their habitats.The need to balance the wide demand-supply gap in Africa is the basis of commercial snail farming-Heliculture as widely practised in Europe,North America and Far East Asia.
Heliculture is a cheap capital,low labour intensive and steady income generation business that needed a well planned and detailed strategy to practice and profits from.
The strategy are:
STOCK CHOICE
CHOOSING OF SITE
HOUSING SYSTEM
FEEDING
BREEDING MANAGEMENT
STOCK CHOICE
Snails belongs to the molluscs phylum of invertebrate(animals without backbone).They are identified with their prominent shell enclosing a fleshy mass of body.Members of this phylum include oysters,clam,clams etc.Snails belong to a Class named Gastropoda and family named Achatinidae,which is made of 14 genera:Achatina, Archachatina, Atopochochlis, Bequeartina, Burtoa, Columna, Callistpepla, Lignus, Limicollaria, Limicolariopsis, Lissachatina, Metachatina, Periderriopsis and Pseudachati. They mostly live in jungles in tropical countries,but some may live in grassland. They primarily feed on fruits and leaves.Generally, they are quite easy to care for, being able to put up with a range of conditions.
Tropical Africa species that are good to be reared in Nigeria are the GIANT AFRICA LAND SNAIL,which is made of 3 species Achatina achatina,Achatina fulica and Achatina marginata.They have there various marked differences for easy identification
ACHATINA ACHATINA:known in Nigeria by local names such as katantawa(hausa),ilako,isan(yoruba).Their shell conical tip is fairly pointed and it has a stripped colorationGrowing conditions The species prefers warm conditions, 25-30 °C and a relative humidity of 80-95%. A. achatina is said not to be the easiest species to farm because of the very steady conditions it is used to in the wild:Even in the most humid areas of West Africa the snail, in its natural habitat, buries itself for aestivation during the drier months.But in a favorable condition(rainy season),it breeds by self fertilization and lay eggs in clutches of 30-300 eggs in a hole of about 4cm.The eggs are hatched in 2-3weeks and has a high hatching rate of >90%.The hatchlings may even live the next few days even without food.In the 2nd week,they enter into the juvenile phase which varies between 14-20 months,then the Adult phase of >20 weeks that is of full sexually maturity and can start reproducing.They have a life span of 5-10years.The live weight of a matured A.achatina is 100-400g.
ACHATINA FULICA[foolish or garden snail].The yoruba people call them [eesan,ipere].Their shell is a shade of brown with a pointed end.It is highly adaptable to any growing condition.It breeds by copulation,lay eggs in clutches of 10-400eggs within 2-3weeks of copulation.The hatchlings eat their own egg shells to come out and remain in their holes for 1-2weeks feeding on organic detritus or coming out in the dark to feed on leaves and in less than 1 year reach full maturity.It's live weight is an average of 250g.
[This species serves as vectors for rat lungworm which causes meningoencephalitis in human]
ARCHACHATINA MARGINATA:igbun[yoruba] and ejuna[ibo]:It has a less pointed shell with a striated shell,it body is darker above while its feet is of a lighter shade.The eggs are bigger and are in a batch of 4-18 eggs and their holes are deeper to a depth of 10cm.The eggs are hatched in 4weeks and reach maturity in 40-52 weeks.Their life weight is an average of 250g.
CHOOSING OF SITE
The best site to choose a place of temperature 30-35oc,humidity 75-95% and experience sunlight of up to 12hours daily,that is protected from wind or trees can be planted to break wind and the Soil composition, water content and texture are to be considered too.it is essential that the soil be loose,has high organic matter and has high calcium and water conten.A rule of the thumb is a soil that support cocoyam,tomato and vegetable is good for heliculture.A good soil is necessary for snail growth and contributes calcium for their diet too.Snail needs to be protected from direct sunlight during the day,so semi-dried plantain leaves can be placed in the snaileries to do that.
HOUSING SYSTEM
Depending on the capital and the number of snails to be reared.There are three system to be considered with their modified housing types depending on capital or size intended.
Extensive system: outdoor, free-range snail pens.
Mixed/semi-intensive system: egg laying and hatching occur in a controlled environment; the young snails are then removed after 6-8 weeks to outside pens for growing or fattening or both.
Intensive:closed systems,buildings with controlled climate.
Regardless of the size and type of your snail farm, the housing system must meet the following conditions. It must be:escape-proof; spacious considering the population density and well-protected from insects, predators and poachers.Snaileries can be constructed as Hutch boxes,Trench pens,Mini-paddock pens, and Free-range pens using timber,bricks,Galvanized sheets, polythene sheets,chicken wire for protection and mosquito nets for covering the pens as protection against insects.
Materials like car tyres, oil drums and old water tanks can also be improvised to serve as snaileries.Three or four tyres are placed on top of each other, with chicken wire and mosquito mesh between the topmost tyre and the second one from the top.
Oil drums should have some holes in the bottom for drainage and be filled with soil to a depth of 7-10 cm, and fitted with wire plus mosquito mesh on top.
Hutch boxes are square or rectangular,single or multi-chamber wooden boxes with lids, placed on wooden stilts above the ground at a suitable height for easy handling. The stilts should be fitted with plastic or metal conical protectors, to prevent vermin from climbing up the stilts to attack the snails in the boxes. In the middle of the lid is an opening covered with wire netting and nylon mesh.In the floor of the box are a few holes through which excess water can drain out. The boxes are filled with sieved black soil to a depth of 18-25 cm.Hutch boxes are useful in a semi-intensive snail breeding system.
Trench pens are adjoining snail pens of 0.6 × 0.6 m to 1 × 1 m, either dug into the ground (which must be very well-drained), or raised 4050 cm above the ground. Outside walls and inner partitions consist of bricks in.The pens are filled with suitable soil to a depth of 10-15 cm. They are covered with wooden or steel frame lids with chicken wire plus nylon mesh.
Mini-paddock pens are small square or rectangular pens, usually within a larger fenced area. They are built of bamboo and nylon mesh or of timber, chicken wire and nylon mesh as protector.
Free-range pen are large mini-paddock pens: a fenced area of up to 10 × 20 m, planted with plants, shrubs and trees that provide food and shelter from wind, sun and rain.Just like in a mini-paddock pen, the vertical fence must be extended inwards, to prevent snails from escaping. The fence must be dug at least 20 cm into the ground. The free-range pen might even be completely enclosed and roofed.
FEEDING
Depending on their housing type,snails are either fed with natural feed or specially formulated feed.Extensive and semi-intensive are cost efficient as natural feed like tubers,fruits: paw paw, mango, banana, eggplant, pear, oil palm, fig, tomato and cucumber and peels of fruits and any household waste that does not contain salt.
But for the intensive type,special formulated feed is required,though it might be mixed at home in kg/100kg to save cost .The Ingredients include Maize 31.3 Groundnut cake 10,Soy bean meal 25, Fish meal 4,Wheat offal 16,Palm kernel cake 4.2,Oyster shell 8.05,Bone meal1.2, Premix vitamins & minerals 0.25.
BREEDING MANAGEMENT
In semi-intensive or intensive snail farming the farmer will actively manage the snails during the successive stages of their life cycle. Management activities proceed in line with their life cycle, which in turn follows the seasons with their periods of snail activity and of dormancy.
Farmers must obtain breeding stock to start their snail farms.These may be sourced directly from the bush, markets, from other snail farmers, or from research institutes.
It is recommended to start breeding with sexually mature snails, weighing at least 100-125 g. Breeding should preferably start at the onset of the wet season, because that is the most favourable season.
Daily management involves
Snails should be fed after sunset. The feed must not be stale or mouldy. Leftovers should be removed the following morning. Water should be replenished.
Regular cleaning and repairing of the pens
Keep the soil moist by mulching and watering if necessary in the dry season.Change soil in the cages every three months.
Remove any dead snail immediately. Avoid using insecticides or herbicides in your snailery.wash the snails with water from time to time.