(Part TWO)… A GUIDE TO QUALITY LOCAL CATFISH FEED PRODUCTION

QUALITY LOCAL CATFISH FEED PRODUCTION MADE EASY.. .(Part TWO)

Having stocked your fingerlings or juvenile catfish as the case may be, feeding the fish is a major activity that both takes your time and consumes your money. Before now, this was not too much of a concern but as of late, it is not only a major concern. It has become a serious threat to the once thriving industry and all those that are engaged in it. The reason being that the price of feed and feed stuff has not only gone up exorbitantly, the feed itself has become also very scarce. The alternative and the current quest now is for farmers to look inward for locally available feedstuff and personalized feed. While this quest is both necessary and noble, there is a need for better understanding of what it takes to feed catfish locally and how to go about making the feed available, affordable and in the right condition suitable for rapid growth and overall wellbeing of the catfish.

FEED PRODUCTION

Producing your own feed is a matter of choice. It has both advantages and disadvantages. As part of the advantages, you will be sure of the quality of feed you are giving to your fish. It will also help to reduce your cost of feeding. You can take advantage of locally available ingredients in your environment and you can produce the feed at your convenience

However, the disadvantages are equally much. The feed do not float as such, you cannot be sure if they are being consumed. They easily disintegrate, leading to feed wastage. If you do not have access to commercial feed mill, you will have to spend money on equipment: such as grinding machine, pelleting machine and dryer. This of course will increase your initial cost of operation. Besides, most of the key feedstuff may not be available at times in which case you may not have feed for your fish for a while or you may need to improvise. In the final analysis, self-feed production is relatively cheaper but much more challenging.

DRY FEED STUFF AND THEIR ESTIMATED DRY MATTER FOOD VALUE

	CARBOHYDRATE %	FAT %	PROTEIN %
CARBOHYDRATES
maize	60	4	10
wheat	60	2	11.5
Brewery waste	46	6.4	20.5
millet	48	4	10
PROTEINS
Danish fish meal	1.5	4	72
Soya cake	28.2	6	48
Soya meal	28	3.5	42
Blood meal	1.5	1.3	78
Local fish meal	1.5	19.5	65
Groundnut cake	27.3	7.6	45
FATS & FIBRE
Palm kernel cake	53	6	18
Full fat soya	28	17	42
Wheat offal	58	3.5	17

HOW TO CALCULATE THE CRUDE PROTEIN CONTENT OF ANY FEED FORMULATION

Every complete dry feed formulation should consist of complete diet, chiefly amongst which is protein which is needed by fish for tissue development and growth. The crude protein content is one of the main factors that determine the quality and by extension the feed conversion ratio, FCR, of every dry complete feed – pelleted or extruded. It is therefore important for you to know how to determine and calculate the crude protein content of every feed formulation before using or recommending them. Following is how to do it.

1. Determine the quantity of feed in kilograms that you want to produce.
2. Use that quantity to divide the quantity of each feed ingredient that contains protein
3. Multiply the answer with the protein value of that feed – see table ,,, for feed types and their protein value
4. Continue this until you are through with all the feed stuff that has protein in the formular
5. Add all the figures obtained. The sum is the crude protein value of the formulation

Example: a farmer intends to produce 20kg of feed with the following formulation

Feed type	% of feed type  in formulation	% of feed type x qty of feed to produce –20kg equals Quantity of feed type in kilogram
Danish fish meal	20	4kg
Groundnut cake	15	3kg
Soya cake	20	4kg
Maize/ wheat	35	7kg
fat	8	1.6kg
Vitamin premix minerals	2	0.4kg
TOTAL		20KG

To calculate crude protein value of fish meal, it is: 4/20 x 72 = 14.40

To calculate crude protein value of groundnut cake, it is: 3/20 x 45 = 6.75

To calculate crude protein value of soya cake, it is: 4/20 x 48 = 9.60

To calculate crude protein value of maize/wheat, it is: 7/20 x 10 = 3.50

The crude protein content therefore is: 14.40 + 6.75 + 9.60 + 3.50 = 34.35%

PROCEDURE FOR PERSONAL FEED PRODUCTION

1. Buy the various feed condiments from feed mills or feed ingredients marketers

2. Grind them separately, using a hand driven (manual) or mechanical (diesel/electricity) powered machine.

3. Mix the grinded condiments (feed concentrate) together in accordance with the recommended percentages relative to the desired quantity (in kilogram) you want to produce at a time.

4. Add water to the feed mixture to wet it.

5. Usea hand powered or mechanical (diesel / electricity) powered pelleting machine with the         appropriate gauge; 3mm, 4mm, 6mm or 8mm, depending on the growth stage.

6. Dry the pellets in the sun and thereafter keep them in a cool dry place.(See fig. 6 & 7 for manual and mechanical pelleting machine).

7. Better still, you can use the dry pelleting machine to pellet the feed and spread it on a mat away from sunlight, to dry out the remaining moisture in the feed, before storage and use.

 

IMPORTANT NOTE

In compounding your feed there should be a balance between protein content and energy content. If the protein content is very high and that of energy is low, the fish will metabolize protein and use it for its energy requirements. By so doing, the growth of the fish may not correspond with your expectations. Likewise, if the feed energy content is too high, the fish may eat much feed and grow less because the protein requirement for growth is less in the feed

 SAMPLE FEED FORMULATIONS FOR STARTER 2 - 3 MONTHS AND FINISHER 4 - 6 MONTHS

FORMULA: A, STARTER FEED (Per kilogram)	FORMULAR:B,FINISHER FEED (Per kilogram)
Danish Fish Meal 25%	Danish Fish Meal 15%
Soya cake 18%	Soya  cake 17%
Ground Nut Cake 12%	Ground Nut Cake 13%
Wheat Offal 10%	Wheat offal 10%
Maize or Spent Grains 13%	Maize or Spent Grains 23%
Palm Kernel Cake 5%	Palm Kernel Cake 4%
Wheat Offal 10%	Wheat Offal 11%
Dialcium phosphate 3%	Dicalcium phosphate 3%
Bone Meal 2%	Bone Meal 2%
FishPremix 1%	Fish  Premix 1%
Lysine 0.3%	Lysine 0.3%
Methionine 0.3%	Methionine 0.3%
Vitamin C, 0.025%	Vitamin C 0.025%

 

YOU HAVE A CHOICE

Sourcing feed to feed your fish is a matter of choice. You may choose to buy floating (extruded) feeds, locally produced pelleted feeds or buy the various condiments, and mill them by yourself. Furthermore, you can visit any feed mill with your formulation or use their in-house formulation. All you need to do is pay for the ingredients and milling services and they will mill, pellet and dry the feed for you. In this case, you will be rest assured of the quality of feed you are giving to your fish; unlike when you buy already pelleted ones whose formulation and quality, you cannot absolutely vouch for. Even if you insist on using  pelleted feed to feed your fish, it is advisable to start  them with the granulated 0.5, 0,8, 1.2 feed series or 2mm and 3mm floating feed at least for the first month of stocking until they can eat the pelleted feed comfortably.

PLEASE NOTE THAT 
The information as contained herewith is based on the climatic and environmental conditions in Nigeria, which is a tropical country. Meanwhile, I will be quick to add that this article is an excerpt from the operational manual for commercial catfish farming titled AN ILLUSTRATED STEP BY STEP GUIDE TO COMMERCIAL CATFISH GROW OUT FARMING, also written by the author since 2003 now updated up to 2015. It will be useful to you; a beginner or an experienced farmer as a working and reference document. The soft copy (to be sent via email) COST 4,000 NAIRA, while the hard copy (to be sent via courier) goes for 6,500 naira. If you are interested please call: 08023620926; 09030301242 or send email to: festus.okpako88@gmail.com; festus,okpako@yahoo,com or foodscience.ng@gmail.com

PAYMENT DETAILS: Festus Okpako, first bank current account number 2006146470

Other available manuals:

#  AN ILLUSTRATED STEP BY STEP GUIDE TO COMMERCIAL CATFISH HATCHERY FARMING.  PRICE: 6,000 naira (soft copy); 8,000 naira (hard copy)

#   A COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO COMMERCIAL CATFISH DISEASE MANAGEMENT   PRICE: 4,000 naira (soft copy); 6,000 naira (hard copy).

Please be reminded that all SOFT COPIES will be sent via email is available for now