Breeding today grape snails quite a lot of people are involved. There are several reasons for this: despite the fact that their breeding costs almost nothing, you can make good money on such an occupation. Grape snails are a delicacy found in most high-end restaurants. And in order to breed them, you need a small garden plot.
Grape snails: breeding
For the first time grape snails appeared in southern Europe. They began to spread both on their own and with the help of people and spread throughout the world over several centuries. During the Roman campaigns, this delicacy was used by legionnaires as canned food. In the Middle Ages, their breeding became possible - at first, monks bred snails in their garden.
Who are grape snails?
Grape snail is considered one of the largest in our country. Its body is protected by a strong spiral shell measuring 5 cm both in height and in width. This mollusk is a favorite delicacy of birds, mice, hedgehogs and even predatory insects.
As a rule, the color of a snail shell directly depends on its habitat. So, for example, if a mollusk exists in a dry place, its shell will have a light shade and strength. If, on the contrary, he chooses a humid environment as his habitat, the shell will become darker and softer.
The head of the mollusk consists of two horns that act as its sense organs. The role of the eyes is performed by the horns located on top, and the lower ones are the sense of smell and taste. On the soles of the grape snail there is slime which allows her to move smoothly.
Snails, as a rule, do not like the heat, at this time they hide in their "houses" and move little. In hot weather, they are saved by a special film with which they shield your body. This film allows the mollusk to retain vital moisture for it, perfectly passing fresh air. During rain or heavy dew, when the humidity is high outside, the snails begin to actively crawl.
Habitats of grape snails:
- meadows;
- ravines;
- thickets of bushes;
- deciduous forests;
- shaded gardens.
Snails prefer chalk or limestone soil- it is a prerequisite for their existence. During the daytime, mollusks sleep, and at night they are actively awake. It is at night that they prefer to feed.
Mollusks eat quite diversely: cabbage, strawberries, dandelions, raspberries, horseradish, sorrel stalks and many other plants. Snails will be happy to eat both ripe fruits and slightly rotten ones. Even fallen leaves are suitable for their nutrition.
Such snails live long enough, on average 8 - 9 years. In the autumn-winter period, they hibernate, waking up only by April. With the onset of early autumn cold weather, they begin to dig into the soil to a depth of 10 cm. If their habitat is characterized by severe frosts, this depth can be as much as 30 cm.
Breeding grape snails at home
If snails attack your garden with a large army, they will inflict he's hurt a lot. However, this should not be feared, because in the natural conditions of central Russia, despite their fertility, they reproduce extremely slowly. How do they reproduce in nature?
Grape snails are hermaphrodites, they reproduce sexually. This is happening in a very interesting way. The mollusks are located opposite each other, touching the soles, and shoot at each other with a sharp calcareous formation. After 2 weeks, they can already lay eggs. To do this, they dig a shallow hole in the soil - about 3 cm and equip a nest there. It takes the mollusk about two hours to do this. laying eggs, the snail covers them with earth. About three weeks later, her offspring is born.
At home, breeding snails is distinguished by the methods of cultivation:
- extensive;
- intense;
- semi-intensive.
The extensive growing method involves growing completely in an open area. The advantage of this method is a low budget, the disadvantage is long growing period. Growing in natural conditions is suitable for a private arboretum, botanical garden or park. It is in such conditions that it is possible to exclude the main enemies of the mollusk: rodents, birds, wild boars. In addition, existing in a closed area, individuals will not crawl.
The intensive method involves breeding indoors such as a greenhouse. At the same time, it is necessary to create an optimal microclimate for mollusks and intensive feeding. In this way they grow much faster and ripen (about a year and a half).
Advantages of the intensive method: obtaining a high number of individuals and their eggs, which are called "white caviar". Cons: high initial costs and high labor intensity. The method is optimal for industrial breeding.
The semi-intensive method is characterized growing individuals in an open garden, creating additional shading and moisture, as well as a good organization of feeding. Thus, snails grow and mature in two to two and a half years, based on growing and keeping conditions.
Advantages of the semi-intensive method: low initial costs, the possibility of growing on a small area, rather low labor intensity. The disadvantages of the method: relatively slow growth and development of individuals (slower than with the intensive method). This technique is quite universal - suitable for breeding both in industrial production as well as in private farms.
In the case of growing mollusks by the semi-intensive method in a private subsidiary farm, you can significantly save on feeding them. Dandelions, nettles, burdocks, gout, horse sorrel and other wild plants are suitable for feeding individuals. Also Can you use food waste?, processed fruits and vegetables, leaves. Thus, the semi-intensive method is best for home breeding- the cost of food will be virtually eliminated.
so named because of the harm that causes, feasting on grape berries. Snails have been eaten since ancient times, not considering them a delicacy, but rather the opposite, since they were available to any segment of the population.
Appearance of a grape snail
The body of a snail is, roughly speaking, a large leg and head. It is very flexible and elastic, the color is beige-gray, whitish-brown or yellowish-gray. There are many folds on the body, which, when moving, increase the area of \u200b\u200bthe lower surface of the leg, helping to overcome long distances. The leg of an adult, under natural conditions, can stretch up to 9 cm, however, home-grown grape snails grow to gigantic sizes.
On the head are located: a mouth opening and two pairs of antennae-tentacles. One pair, the front, is intended for smell, the second, located behind, is the eye, on the tips there are blind eyes that do not distinguish between colors, but see the outlines of objects at a distance of one centimeter. The tentacles of snails are very sensitive and at the slightest touch they immediately retract inside. The shell of snails completely accommodates their body, twisted in a counterclockwise spiral. The shell color is usually yellow-brown or white-brown, and the ribbed surface allows the snails to store moisture.
Features of the life cycle of a grape snail
Snails are active in the warm season: from April, May until the first frost. With the onset of cold weather, they fall into suspended animation (hibernation), burrow into the soil, digging a depression up to 30 cm, where they wait out the cold. Usually in nature, snails do not change their “burrow”. For the period of wintering, mollusks close the “entrance” to the shell with a mucus damper, leaving little access for air. In the spring, snails push out the protective film and begin active life and search for food. Various plants and their fruits, berries are what the grape snail eats, although they often also eat the soil. For example, immediately after leaving hibernation, snails, eating a small amount of earth, restore the microflora of the digestive system so that coarser food is easier to digest.
In the daytime, mollusks prefer to sit out in damp places, under large stones or in dense thickets, under a pile of leaves. The activity of snails is manifested mainly in rainy weather and after it. On dry and hot days, individuals cover the mouth of the shell with a thin film and wait out uncomfortable conditions. Some members of the family stick to the bark of trees, waiting out the period of drought. How long do grape snails live? On average, up to eight years, but if not eaten by natural enemies, such as hedgehogs, it can live up to twenty years.
Did you know? snails- fantastic creatures, because their ability to regenerate surpassed lizards. If the latter is able to grow only a tail bitten off by a predator, then mollusks can grow both tentacles and part of the head in a maximum of a month.
The use of snails
Growing snails is aimed at eating them. Snail meat today is considered a great delicacy and has certain beneficial properties: it contains calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, copper, zinc; a large amount of protein and B vitamins, in addition to them vitamins: E, K, A, PP. Snails are useful for pregnant women, being a source of calcium and magnesium, children for growth, religious fasting people, as a source of protein. France and Italy are especially famous for their snail dishes.
The breeding of snails is also associated with medicine. In particular, snails are used to obtain broncho-relaxants and lectins. Of the beneficial substances in the composition of snails, pharmaceuticals produce drugs that increase immunity, anti-inflammatory drugs and wound healing, as well as sedatives for the treatment of nervous disorders. Doctors recommend eating snail meat for people with diseases of the gastrointestinal tract.
Grape snails are a small cosmetology clinic, so their breeding at home is often associated with orders to various beauty salons. Recently, facial massage with snails is gaining popularity. The mucus secreted by mollusks nourishes, softens and disinfects the skin. Glycolic acid, which forms collagen, smoothes wrinkles (with regular procedures), moisturizes dry skin and helps to cope with irritation or inflammation.
Did you know? The largest land snail weighing 2 kg was found in 1976 in France. The largest sea snail is considered to be the Australian sea snail with a body length of up to 30 cm and a weight of up to 40 kg.
Types of cultivation of grape snails
Snail breeding technology is divided into three types, each of which is good in its own way. What unites them is the breeding of molluscs and the ease of caring for them.
Extensive type
The extensive type is a method of breeding snails as close as possible to the natural conditions of their life. This method of keeping grape snails at home is ideal for small farms, in the absence of natural enemies of mollusks: hedgehogs, mice, lizards and large beetles, frogs, shrews and moles. The advantage of this method is in the minimum financial costs, the minus is in the maximum time spent to obtain the result. Such cultivation is suitable for the conditions of private arboretums or botanical gardens, since the appearance of predators is excluded here.
Intensive
The intensive method is suitable for breeding snails on a large scale. At the same time, grape snails are kept in greenhouses and their care requires constant attention. In greenhouse conditions, a certain temperature and humidity are maintained, intensive nutrition is carried out. Snails in greenhouses grow much faster, so the intensive method of growing has a significant advantage - a quick result: both growth and production of "roe". Minus - this method is not for a small farm, it requires an initial financial injection and physical costs.
semi-intensive
The semi-intensive method is characterized by rearing shellfish in open pens. Shading conditions and additional moisture are created for them, as well as moderate feed intake. This is one of the most acceptable options for how to breed grape snails at home. Its advantages are meager spending on food: herbaceous plants (burdocks, dandelions, nettles, etc.) and food waste (cutting vegetables and fruits) can be used for food. The disadvantage of this type is a slower growth than with the intensive method, but at the same time savings in the area of \u200b\u200bkeeping mollusks, nutrition and physical effort.
How to breed snails at home
You can grow a grape snail at home and carry out simple care for it in open-air cages in the fresh air and indoors - in terrariums and aquariums. Growing indoors will be expensive, but in this case, the molluscs are not threatened by predators and the breeding cycle lasts all year. Growing in greenhouses also gives more results, and you can adjust the conditions (temperature and humidity) of the snails, which increases the chances of a good result.
Where to get snails for breeding
Important! For reproduction, adult mollusks are needed, which can be determined by the size of the shell: its diameter should reach up to 5 cm. The best option-several pairs from different sellers.
Do not puzzle over the sex of the purchased snails, because grape snails reproduce in a very peculiar way. Mollusks are hermaphrodites, in order to produce offspring, two individuals touching the soles of their feet shoot a certain calcareous substance at each other. After laying eggs, which will require your care.
Asking the question "How to grow grape snails at home?", first decide where you will keep them. There are several options: in open areas, you can make a container with low side walls and a mesh stretched on top to protect against birds. It is better that the shape of such a corral is rectangular, since it will be easier to care for the mollusks. You can put snails in an aquarium or terrarium, it will be both practical and convenient.
The grape snail is a gastropod mollusk from the large Helicidae family. They live in the countries of the temperate zone: North, South America, Australia, other countries, including the southern regions of Russia.
Grape snails are quiet, very interesting creatures, whose life is quite entertaining to watch. Therefore, many keep them at home as pets (you can buy them at the pet store). It is easy to care for them, as mollusks are very unpretentious creatures, and there is enough space for them to live even in the smallest room. With good home care, they can live up to ten years.
These molluscs have been used in cooking since antiquity. Their meat is considered very useful, and the mucus they produce is used in cosmetology for active skin rejuvenation. Of course, eating pets is not necessary at all. For this purpose, you can buy frozen or canned snails in the store. Well, slime can be used for home cosmetics.
Today we will talk about these interesting creatures. We will also find out how grape snails are useful, we will discuss breeding at home, and consider the content of these gastropods. We will also talk about their culinary virtues and prepare clams according to the simplest recipes. Well, let's start our conversation with home maintenance and breeding of snails:
Grape snails - keeping at home
Clam house
Keeping a grape snail at home is not a difficult task, but a responsible one. Therefore, before you bring them home, you need to decide where they will live. To make pets feel good and comfortable, you can use an aquarium or a transparent plexiglass box as a house. Be sure to need a lid with holes so that they do not spread around the apartment and can breathe normally. Snails definitely need enough space to move around, so don't put them in a jar or small box.
When a container for living is selected, evenly pour garden soil on the bottom, or a special soil bought in a store. Such a coating is necessary so that if a snail falls from the aquarium wall, it does not break the shell. In addition, the presence of land brings home conditions closer to natural ones. In addition, during reproduction, snails lay their eggs there.
You can put leaves, soft grass, small twigs on the surface of the soil - snails will crawl along them with pleasure. Do not put stones and dense heavy branches in the snail house, as they will need to be constantly cleaned of accumulated mucus. When the conditions for keeping are created, you can settle pets.
Grape snail at home - care requires daily
The walls of the aquarium where pets live should be regularly wiped from mucus. They are very fond of water, so you need to install a small bathing container. It should not be deep, as snails cannot swim. In nature, they prefer sun-protected, moist grass, where they actively crawl from evening to morning. Therefore, protect the aquarium from the bright sun and spray the walls, soil, and the pets themselves from the spray gun daily.
Feeding
At first glance, it may seem that these small gastropods eat practically nothing, and if they do, then only soft, grated food. However, this is not so - grape snails are very voracious and gladly consume plants, the pulp of fresh vegetables and fruits. Since they have a semblance of teeth, they independently gnaw and grind plant food.
Grape snail at home eats apples with pleasure, gnaws vegetables, loves fresh, juicy, young dandelions, and other edible plants. In winter, you can use frozen vegetables, previously thawed. In addition to plant foods, pets need calcium. Therefore, periodically put them dried eggshells.
In general, in winter, if you remove the aquarium in a cool room, the snails will hibernate until the very spring and you do not need to feed them. If you leave them in a warm room, they will not sleep, but you should still feed them.
Do not leave uneaten food for a long time, remove it from the aquarium in a timely manner so that flies do not start. For convenience, put a special saucer for feeding on the bottom and periodically throw away the remnants of the old food.
How to breed grape snails?
Breeding grape snails is a simple matter. To start increasing the number of snails, it is enough to purchase two adults. Mollusks are hermaphrodites and one pair is enough. To start breeding, it is necessary that the snails first hibernate for several winter months.
In the spring, when the pets wake up, carefully observe them. Their behavior indicates their readiness for breeding: they slowly crawl along the walls of the aquarium, often stop, stay in one place for a long time, while slightly raising the front of the body. Then there is mating and fertilization.
After that, the snails dig small holes in the ground, where they lay their eggs. After the laying is completed, adults are temporarily deposited. After about a month, small molluscs will hatch from the eggs and climb out to the surface of the soil. After six weeks, when the snails have grown up, adults can be returned to the aquarium.
Newborn snails feed on the shell of the egg from which they hatch. While getting to the surface, they feed on substances in the soil. Then the kids are fed with fresh fruits, vegetables, only finely grated. They also need mineral supplements, which can be purchased at a pet store.
What are grape snails valued for, what are the benefits of them?
As we already mentioned at the beginning of our conversation, grape snails are a very useful product for human health. In many Asian and European countries, they are considered a delicacy and they know how to cook wonderful dishes from them.
If you want to taste them, you don't have to use your pets. It is better to buy frozen shellfish in the store or fresh in the market or from farmers. It is quite easy to cook them, the dishes are very tasty, and most importantly, healthy, because the dietary meat of grape snails is considered healing.
Meat contains a large amount of useful, easily digestible protein, a large amount of amino acids that are very important for the body. In addition, it is rich in trace elements, it contains a lot of iron, calcium and magnesium. Contains collagen, alontoin and elastin - substances necessary to maintain youthful skin. The meat of grape snails is hypoallergenic, so it can be consumed even by allergy sufferers.
Separately, you need to dwell on the healing properties of mucus, which mollusks secrete in large quantities. This thick liquid contains no less amino acids, vitamins, biologically active substances than meat. It also contains natural antibiotics.
Mucus has a pronounced healing, regenerating effect, as it is a natural antiseptic. Therefore, it is still used for the speedy healing of skin lesions: wounds, cuts, burns, etc. Moreover, after treatment of the wound, its inflammation stops and no longer resumes.
Tibetan medicine doctors use ashes from shellfish shells to treat tumor diseases.
Grape snail in cosmetology
Snail slime in cosmetology
Since snail mucus contains natural antioxidants, highly effective anti-aging cosmetics are made on its basis: creams, lotions, tonics, masks, etc.
Snail slime for face
For skin rejuvenation, it is quite possible to use domestic snails. For example, Eastern women simply plant the mollusk on the cleansed skin, after which the snail crawls slowly, leaving a trail of mucus. After 15-20 minutes of such exposure, the snail is removed back to the aquarium, the skin is washed and a cream is applied. For a sustainable effect, three months of daily procedures are required.
If you are not very pleased to feel a live mollusk on your face, make a mask based on the mucus collected in the aquarium.
Face mask with snail mucus
In total, you will need 0.5 tsp of the substance. Put it in a cup, add 2 tsp of clean, not cold water. The mucous secret does not dissolve well, so mix everything well with a fork for several minutes. Now pour 1 tsp. powder cosmetic or green), mix again. Apply to clean, exfoliated skin. Wash off after 20 minutes.
The result is noticeable after the first application. To get a pronounced anti-aging effect, you should use a snail mucus mask 3 times a week. In a month, the skin will noticeably tighten, wrinkles will smooth out, the skin will become smooth, tender, velvety.
Cooking grape snails at home
As a culinary product, grape snails have been used since Ancient Rome where they were part of the normal diet of ordinary people. Only in the last century they began to be considered a delicacy, and dishes from them are included in the menu of expensive restaurants.
Large individuals are prepared in various ways and served directly in shells with garlic sauce, onions and parsley. Of the smaller ones, soup is often boiled or stews are cooked.
Residents of our country can buy fresh-frozen snails in supermarkets or buy live shellfish in the markets southern regions. They are easy to cook at home and enjoy the pleasant taste of tender meat. Here are recipes that even a novice cook can handle:
Cooking frozen fillets
The simplest thing you can do is put the finished semi-finished product on a baking sheet sprinkled with salt. Sprinkle with your favorite seasonings, then bake in an oven preheated to 200-230ºС, just 5-10 minutes.
If you want a gourmet meal, cook snails in Burgundy:
Recipe will need: half a kilo of clams without a shell. If you bought them in shells, pre-boil them for a few minutes. Let cool and then remove the fillet with a toothpick. You will also need a piece of softened butter (100 g), 50 g. For flavor, you need to take 2 cloves of garlic, ground nutmeg, finely chopped fresh parsley, salt to taste.
Cooking:
Combine oil with parsley, nutmeg, salt. Mix well until smooth. Divide the snail fillets into small cupcake tins. Place a spoonful of butter mixture on top, sprinkle with chopped parmesan. Put in an oven preheated to 200-230 degrees, bake for 10 minutes. It is customary to serve with a fresh baguette and a glass of dry wine.
However, true connoisseurs advise cooking live clams. These are the dishes served in expensive restaurants. So, if you want to cook a real delicacy from live snails, do the following:
Cooking fresh snails
Before cooking, they should be cleaned of toxic substances that are harmful to humans. To do this, place the clams on flour mixed with bran and aromatic herbs for 10 days (any will do, for example, thyme, marjoram or fennel with basil).
After the set time, wash them well, and then fill them with water.
Remove dead clams. They cannot be cooked. Boil the rest together with the shells (3 minutes), cool and rinse again. Now you can cook, for example "in Maltese":
We'll need: half a kilo of blanched snails, a glass. We also need aromatic herbs: basil and marjoram, well, and salt to taste.
Cooking:
Fry the clams along with the shells on a well-heated. Pour wine, salt, sprinkle with herbs. Reduce heat, simmer covered for 10 minutes. Serve on serving bowls, basting with the remaining sauce. Take out the meat with a special fork or use toothpicks.
Well, if you are not going to eat snails, but prefer to keep them at home as ordinary pets, you can use them to find out your future. For example, here is how in some countries girls use shellfish for divination:
In the evening, put the snail on a dish sprinkled with a thin layer of flour, close with a volumetric lid. In the morning, remove the mollusk, and according to the pattern of the paths that she left during the night, read your future, or, for example, the initials, or the name of the future husband.
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Sometimes the most incredible idea of earning money can bring good profits and stable income, for example, which we talked about in a previous article.
Very often, entrepreneurs complain about the occupancy of niches and great competition, but as they say, whoever seeks will always find. I bring to your attention another fresh idea of earning - growing grape snails as a business at home.
Snail Fashion
It is worth noting that there are quite a few types of snails, but only grape snails are considered suitable for consumption. In many European countries, snails are in great demand among the population, which cannot be said about Russia. In the CIS countries, this exotic product is served only in the most expensive restaurants, the cost of the dish is quite high, but, despite this, unlike, for example, France, in our country, snails are not very popular, most likely due to slightly different flavors. people's preferences.
The benefits of snail meat
Before we talk about how to open your own snail breeding business, it is worth noting the benefits of these products.
- The medicine. Oddly enough, but snail meat is in incredible demand in the medical field, as a raw material for the creation of many drugs. For many years, extracts from snails have been used in the production of anti-aging drugs, aphrodisiacs, as well as in medicines to restore metabolism.
- Cooking. Snail meat contains a large amount of vitamins. This delicacy has a lot of protein, iron, calcium and vitamins that help saturate the body. useful properties. This dietary product is desirable for the elderly and pregnant women. Snail meat is quickly absorbed by the body, improves the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract, fills the need for calcium.
Business registration
If you decide to open your own business, you will need to register as individual entrepreneur or companies with limited liability. In addition, it is necessary to obtain permits for activities from the sanitary and fire service. Without a product quality certificate from the veterinary service, you will not be able to sell it, do not forget about it.
Breeding grape snails at home
First of all, you need to buy snails. The approximate cost of one adult is from 4 dollars. To begin with, it is worth buying about 300-400 pieces, it will cost you $ 1200-1600.
You can buy snails for breeding from foreign suppliers from Poland, Tunisia, the Czech Republic, Germany. It is worth giving preference only to trusted shellfish suppliers who have been operating on the market for more than one year and guarantee product quality.
feeding. On average, for 300 snails, you need to purchase about 20 kg of feed. The average price per kilogram of compound feed is from 300 rubles.
Shellfish care
Snails are unpretentious creatures, their care is simple, but it is still worth understanding the whole process of breeding and growing mollusks.
room
Choose well-ventilated areas for shellfish breeding. Pay special attention to humidity, it should be at least 85%. The optimum temperature for breeding grape snails at home is from 20-23 degrees with a plus sign. The room temperature must be stable, this will ensure the rapid reproduction and growth of mollusks.
Feeding
Snails feed on a special feed mixture (ground cereals, herbs, chalk).
Snail breeding
The process of reproduction of snails occurs on its own, the main thing is to provide individuals with comfortable conditions at the optimum temperature. Mollusks are placed in separate containers in pairs for breeding. Despite the fact that mollusks are hermaphrodites, the mating process is necessary for fertilization. After mating, the eggs are placed in an incubator. Young mollusks can be transferred to an adult aviary already 6 weeks after the appearance.
Approximately one adult is capable of laying about 50 eggs per year. The maturation period of mollusks is from 6 months to 1.5 years.
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Sales market and profit
The demand for snail meat is quite large. As a rule, most of the products are sold abroad, but you can find sales options in Russia. Basically, your customers can be elite restaurants on the menu, which, there are dishes from shellfish.
The cost of a kilogram of shellfish is about 2-5 euros. Thus, we can conclude that with the mass cultivation of snails, you can earn good money.
I wish you success in all your endeavors. I hope this article will be useful to you. Also, we recommend reading about another non-standard form of earnings -. Be sure to tell us about your achievements in the comments.
Breeding snails is an unconventional business idea for Russia, however, with the right arrangement of activities, a farm for growing them can bring stable regular income. Grape snails (in Latin - Helix pomatia) are considered suitable for food.
It is characteristic that countries that are traditionally consumers of an exotic delicacy have an annual need for the product of about 100,000 tons. But the demand is satisfied only by 60-70%. The main consumer of snails is France, whose inhabitants annually eat about 6 tons of snails. Many countries willingly include snail dishes in their diet, in particular Greece and Belgium, Italy, Sweden and Spain.
The mentality of the Russian population does not leave hope that the snail will be in demand, however, the product may be in demand by the chain of French cuisine restaurants "Escargo" and enterprises that manufacture semi-finished products. An entrepreneur who decides to take up this business can interrupt pricing policy of foreign suppliers in the direction of cheaper prices, since in this case the costs for obligatory items of expenditure - transport and customs are excluded.
This business has another little-known direction - snail caviar is in good demand, because it has a unique taste that has a special mushroom flavor. After developed by the Frenchman D. Pierre original way salting, snail caviar belongs to exquisite delicacies.
About the benefits of snail meat
The medical industry uses snails as a raw material base for the production of effective drugs that are successfully used to treat many diseases. Extracts from snails are included in the composition of bronchorelaxants, drugs that restore metabolism, rejuvenating complexes, and also as aphrodisiacs are included in the composition of remedies for restoring potency. In its pure form, snail meat is recommended for people with problems of the musculoskeletal system, it gives positive results in diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, as a source of calcium it is recommended for pregnant and elderly people. The composition of grape snail meat has 10% protein, 5% carbohydrates, 30% fat, it is rich in vitamins, in particular B12 and B6, iron, magnesium, calcium. The benefits of meat are obvious, with the sales market everything is more or less clear. Consider the concept of building and running a farm for those who decide to consider snail breeding as a business.
Key organizational points and equipment
When organizing a snail farm, it is necessary to take into account fixed and variable costs per 1 ton of output product.
- registration of an individual entrepreneur or legal entity;
- the presence of a land plot with vegetation of at least 10 cm. Per 1 sq. meter, 30-40 snails are grown with natural feeding, with artificial feeding - 200 pieces. Costs increase if the site is used on a leasehold basis.
- utility room for the broodstock with an area of 4 square meters and for young animals - 18 meters;
- 4 - 5 racks;
- 8 boxes measuring 1x0.5 m for selling snails;
- 150 cuvettes for young animals, 0.1 mg each;
- 200 cuvettes for laying eggs measuring 12x8x6 cm;
- aviary for young individuals - 400 square meters;
- uterine specimens in the amount of 750 pieces (15 kg);
- feed at the rate: 40 snails consume 2 kg of compound feed. Required amount: powdered milk - 15 kg, greens or compound feed - 1350 kg, chalk - 300 kg
Breeding snails at home
In the appropriate container, the snails are placed in pairs for breeding. Despite the fact that snails are hermaphrodites, mating is necessary for fertilization and occurs during the period when they wake up after hibernation - from March to May. Clutch is produced by both paired individuals. When the laying is over, the queen bees are transferred to the aviary, and the eggs are placed in the incubator. The young are transferred to the adult enclosure after approximately 6 weeks.
The processes of breeding and growing snails at home do not require the participation of a breeder. Care functions are reduced to feeding and protection from various predators - insects, worms, shrews, moles, lizards, hedgehogs. Also, depending on the stage of the process, the owner must move individuals from containers to enclosures in time and vice versa.
Productivity: one uterine individual lays 40 - 60 eggs per year. The approximate growth cycle is about 1.5 years. There are varieties that ripen in 6 months.
Because growing snails for restaurants is market driven, there are some standards to be aware of. At a price of 3 - 5 euros per kg, snails weighing 20 g, 5 cm long are sold. At the start-up stage, it is difficult to reach prices dictated by the foreign market, in particular in terms of volume, so you need to be prepared at this stage for lower prices - 1, 5-2 euros per kg.
The payback period of a snail farm is 1.5 years. Profitability - 100 kg of broodstock give 4 tons of finished product in 1.5 years. This is 360 thousand rubles, subject to advance agreements regarding the sales market.
