Stocking your Dam With Yabbies
When you have a dam on your property there is nothing better than wandering down to
your waterhole, often with a coldie
in one hand a net or two in the
other returning with a feed of
delicious blue claw yabbies
Ensuring a continued supply of these delicious critters depends on the stocking density you started with, bearing in mind it wont only
be you snacking on these delicious morsels.
Water rats, eels, cormorants, herons, turtles, carp etc also have the humble yabby on the top of their menu
.
How Many Yabbies do I need?
The number of yabbies you will need is based on a number
of factors such as m2 size of dam, existing fish eels etc,
feed ie vegetation, bird life etc.
Adding 1 female and 1 male to a 1000 m2 dam is
pointless as they will never likely meet up.
1. Dam Stocking Rule of thumb
To ensure a sufficient mix of males and females we
recommend a minimum of 1 yabby per 10m2
or 100 whichever number is greater
to build a sustainable population.
Better results are achieved at stocking rates of up to 3 yabbies
per 10m2, bearing in mind that dams need to have
sufficient food sources available for
your yabbies to thrive.
Yabbies are not a schooling critter like fish and
require area not water volume.
For this reason for dams less than
200m2 we recommend you call
us for advice.
Yabbies are not suited to aquaponic setups ie IBC containers
as there is insufficient surface area available and
they'll just end up eating each other
2. Food availability in the dam
Yabbies are detritus feeders able to metabolise meat and vegetable protein meaning grasses, hay, bugs decaying leaf matter,
vegetable scraps are all ideal food sources.
Supplementary feeding with chicken or pig pellets
can also be of benefit.
WE DO NOT RECOMMEND FEEDING UNCOOKED
SEAFOOD TO YOUR YABBIES.
Recent outbreaks of white spot virus in Queensland Prawn farms have been attributed to the use of raw eating grade prawns
being used as bait.
For newly dug dams you will need to add a food source food such
as lucerne hay, meadow or mulch hay even
sugar cane mulch as soon as practical.
Hay is used by most commercial yabby farmers as a base food source. Lucerne hay is best however any hay is sufficient.
For small hay bales stake bale in dam until water logged them cut the ties and spread through out. Hay should be added at a minimum of 6 small bales per year per 1000m2.
3. Predators
If you have fish/eels in your dam you should double
the Rule of Thumb number of yabbies.
4. Harvest Expectations
Stocking density also depends on how many and how
often you want to feed on these delicious critters.
If your idea is to have them as a main course rather than a garnish for a rib eye or scotch fillet we recommend double the minimum.
To give you an idea, commercially we stock our ponds
at 50 to 60 yabbies per 10m2.
Remember if you stock at a greater density you will need to increase feeding rates accordingly.
Questions?
Call us 02 4997 5415 or email us
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