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(see photo in text) is a member of the Helicidae family, which includes more than 300 genera of terrestrial mollusks. The genus Helix is one of the most widespread. These snails live in Australia and in temperate countries, including southern Russia.
In nature, grape snails prefer to settle in meadows, in small degrading forests with dense ground cover, in gardens with chalk or limestone soil that has an alkaline reaction. In dry weather, snails hide under stones, in the shade of plants or in damp moss.
The winter rest period of the grape snail lasts up to 3 months. In the natural conditions of Belarus - at least 5 months, while mollusks with an anabiosis period of less than 60 days under the experimental conditions were characterized by reduced fertility or did not give eggs at all.
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Preparing for wintering, the snail with the lower part of the leg - the sole - is attached to the substrate, after which it curls up inside the shell. Still holding onto the surface with the tip of its foot, the snail covers the space between the surface of the substrate and the edges of the shell mouth with a film of mucus, after which it removes the rest of the foot, closing the hole with folds of the mantle. The film hardens, turning into a hard cap.
During hibernation, the snail loses about 10% of its weight, which is restored after 4-6 weeks after waking up. In spring, when the air temperature rises to +6-8"C, the animal wakes up and leaves its winter shelter. The grape snail can tolerate low temperatures, for example, temperatures of -7"C for several hours.
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The rounded, almost spherical limestone shell of the grape snail reliably protects the soft body of the mollusk from enemies. The shell whorls twisted into a spiral are convex, their outer part is smooth. The last coil is large and swollen. The shell is uniformly colored, usually orange-yellowish. The head of the snail stands out noticeably and bears two pairs of tentacles; the eyes of the mollusk are located on the tips of one of the pairs.
The leg is large and muscular. The grape snail moves with the help of this leg. With the help of muscle contractions, the animal, sliding, repels itself from the surface. When moving, mucus is released, softening friction, facilitating movement on the substrate. The glands that secrete mucus are located in the front of the body. The average speed of movement is about 1.5 mm per second. It can settle down both on a horizontal (for example, on the ground under a stone) and on a vertical (on the walls of buildings, on the side glass of a mollusk at home) surfaces.
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The natural enemies of the snail are hedgehogs, shrews, lizards, moles and some other animals. They are also different kinds beetles that can crawl into it through the respiratory hole, and some types of predatory snails. This animal is the enemy Agriculture, primarily because it feeds on young shoots of agricultural crops, in particular grapes. In a number of countries it is intensively exterminated, and in some, in particular, the countries of the North and South America, the import of these mollusks is prohibited.
Grape snails have been bred since ancient times. According to Pliny the Elder, Fulvius Lippinus was the first to breed them. Now in a number of countries there are so-called "snail farms", on which these gastropods are bred in large quantities, for subsequent preparation or export, creating favorable conditions for them.
Their meat contains 10% protein, 30% fat, 5% carbohydrates, as well as vitamins B6, B12, iron, calcium, magnesium. In the air-dry matter of meat grape snails, according to the Institute of Fisheries of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, contains 60-65% protein, about 5% fat, the rest is low molecular weight organics and mineral compounds - ash.
In Spain, France and Italy, these mollusks are often eaten. In France, they are cooked in a shell in vegetable oil flavored with parsley. It is believed that its taste is superior to that of other edible snails. In France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, it is considered rare and protected by law, imported from Greece and other countries where it is collected, or specially bred on farms. Even in Russia, in the Kaliningrad region, snails are widely bred for sale in restaurants, for pharmaceutical industry, for sale in stores.
Grape snail - content.
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Recently, some hobbyists have begun to keep in their home terrariums instead of the already familiar amphibians or reptiles, more "exotic" animals - such as invertebrates.
Grape snails are herbivores, feed mainly on living plants, causing significant damage to them. Decaying vegetation makes up only a small part of their diet. The diet of vine snails in captivity may be limited to vegetables and fruits, which must be added to the terrarium as they are eaten. Mollusks have a very long digestive tract and rarely suffer from lack of appetite. It is necessary to give food in small portions, cut into thin slices, and rotting, decaying food should be removed immediately. Grape snails love bananas, apples, zucchini, cucumbers, pumpkins, carrots, potatoes, radishes, cabbage, beets, dandelion leaves, sorrel, horseradish, burdock and nettle leaves. A special delicacy for snails is soaked bread, but it is more suitable as a feed.
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For keeping at home, a glass or plastic container with a large bottom area, with good ventilation, can be used. A mixture of moist (not wet, because snails can drown) earth and granular activated carbon is placed at the bottom in a ratio of 6.5: 1. Constant cleaning of glasses, walls and other objects from mucus is necessary. The recommended daytime temperature is 20-22"C, nighttime - 19"C. When the temperature drops below 7 "C, the snails hibernate.
The terrarium is equipped in such a way as to recreate the natural habitat conditions. You can decorate it with green twigs or live plants, on which the snails will crawl, and if desired, they will be able to feast on them. And do not forget to put a shallow pond in which they will swim. It would be nice to build a hill of limestone, which will become the top dressing for the snails, which they need to strengthen the shell. You can also add some damp moss to the terrarium. The terrarium must be covered tightly with a lid so that the snails cannot crawl out, but it must contain small holes for air to enter. It is important to constantly moisten the habitat of grape snails, this can be achieved by spraying the inner surfaces of the terrarium from a spray bottle once or twice a day.
Grape snail - breeding.
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Grape snails are hermaphrodites, therefore, for breeding at home, it is enough to have two sexually mature individuals. The desire to mate can be determined by behavior. The animal crawls slowly, as if looking for something, often stops and stands in one place for a long time, slightly raising the front of the body. If two such snails meet, they immediately proceed to " love game". They stretch upwards one against the other and take a position characteristic of reproduction, touching with areas of the sole, and feeling each other with tentacles. These movements stop after a short time, the snails fall and, tightly pressed against each other with their soles, remain motionless for 15-30 minutes. After a period of rest, the game resumes again. This whole process lasts about two hours, until the snail, which has reached greater arousal, sticks a love arrow into the body of its partner, which also enhances his arousal. After a short pause, the act of copulation takes place, in which each snail simultaneously plays the role of both male and female. Only after the exchange of spermatophores do the snails spread in different directions.
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Commercial snail farming requires a temperate climate of 15-24 degrees Celsius with high humidity (75%-95%), although most species can tolerate a wider range of temperatures. The optimum temperature for many species is 21C. At 12C, the snails become inactive, and at 10C, they stop growing. When the temperature rises to a little over 26 C or conditions become too dry, the animals hibernate.
The wind is also bad for them because it accelerates the loss of moisture, and the mollusks need to keep it, they need a humid environment. But although snails need high humidity, excess water must be removed. Snails breathe atmospheric air and can die in excessively humid environments. The most favorable soil moisture content is 80%. At night, air humidity of more than 80% enhances the vital activity and growth of snails.
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After mating, the grape snail can retain spermatophores for a year. For laying eggs, she digs a hole or uses natural shelters (the bases of plant stems). After a hole of the required depth is dug, the snail begins to carefully finish the walls of the nest. They are compacted, the soil is thrown to the surface through the intestines. The clutch contains about 40 pearly white, shiny eggs (diameter 4-7 mm). After the masonry is completed, the hole is filled up.
After the breeding season, about one third of the producers die. From the laid eggs, small snails hatch, outwardly very similar to adults. Young snails have a small, smooth, transparent shell with only one and a half coils. After 8-10 days, young snails leave the nest and crawl to the surface in search of food. Under favorable conditions, snails grow very quickly - within a month they can become four times larger than at birth. Of all snails born, only about 5% reach sexual maturity.
Cooking grape snails.
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Well, for a snack, here are a couple of recipes for making grape snails. It should turn out approximately the same as in the photo.
Snails in Burgundy
100 snails, 1 liter of white wine, 200 g of three percent vinegar, 3 tbsp. tablespoons of flour, 2 carrots, 2 large onions, parsley, bay leaf, thyme, salt, 800 g of snail oil.
Prepared grape snails put in a saucepan, pour cold water, bring to a boil and boil for 5-6 minutes. Rinse them with cold water, dry them with a clean cloth or towel, remove the snail from the house with a tailor's pin (in France there is a special “tool of labor” for this, it resembles a tailor's pin) and cut off its black tip. Rinse the snails cleaned in this way again and put in a saucepan, pour dry white wine and the same amount of water so that all the snails are covered with liquid. Add 2 chopped carrots, chopped onions, thyme, parsley root, celery branch, green onion. Salt at the rate of 10 g per liter and cook for 4 hours. Then remove from heat and leave to cool in this broth. While the snails are cooking, wash and boil the shells in soda water. Then rinse them with clean water and dry.
Snail oil: cut very finely (can be grated) 100 g of onion, 3 large cloves of garlic, add 80 g of chopped parsley, 25 g of salt, 5 g of ground pepper, 700 g of butter, soft, but not melted. Mix everything well in a bowl.
Put a nut of cooked oil on the bottom of the shell, then a snail, covering the top with a good portion of the same oil. Put the stuffed shells with butter up on a dish and put them in a hot oven for 7-8 minutes before serving. Serve this sizzling aromatic dish immediately.
Snails a la Limousin
6 dozen Burgundy snails, 1 cup vinegar, 300g peeled walnuts, 200 g butter, 1 clove of garlic, a few sprigs of parsley, salt, pepper.
For the broth: 0.5 liters of dry white wine, 1 carrot, 1 onion, bay leaf, celery, parsley, salt, pepper.
Grape snails, prepared in advance, as indicated above, dip into water acidified with vinegar. During this time, peel 1 carrot and onion, chop them, cook greens. Now transfer them to a spacious saucepan, pour white wine and water so that they are completely covered. Salt, pepper, add chopped carrots and onions, herbs and cook for 3-4 hours. While they are cooking, prepare snail oil, for which peel the nuts and garlic, wash the parsley, chop everything finely; skip the crumb rye bread through a meat grinder; put butter in a bowl, add chopped nuts and other greens and bread crumbs, pepper and mix everything well to get a homogeneous mass. When the snails are cooked, drain the broth, remove the snails from the shells with a pin, cut off the black dots on the tip of the body. Stuff the shells in the same way as in the previous recipe: put a piece of snail oil the size of a nut on the bottom of the shell, then a snail and, finally, again a piece of cooked butter.
Put the stuffed snails in a refractory dish, butter side up, add a few drops of white wine to each of them and put in a hot oven for 10 minutes. Serve immediately.
Rabbit and chicken farms have long been part of everyday reality. Today, non-standard business ideas related to animal breeding are gaining more and more popularity. For example, such an exotic and promising direction as the cultivation of snails. The main advantages are the demand for the product and small initial investment. It is also important to note that in our country this is a relatively underdeveloped industry, and this fact only increases the attractiveness of the business idea.
Grape snails, familiar to everyone, were eaten back in Ancient Rome. In Europe and Asia, they are part of the usual diet. If we talk about global trends, then snails began to be considered a special delicacy in the 20th century. The breeding of this type of molluscs was started in the Mediterranean countries (France, Italy, Spain, Greece) and received the sonorous name "helicoculture". In Russia snail dishes are classified as gourmet and are mainly present on the menu of French restaurants, although in recent years, semi-finished products can also be seen in supermarkets.
Giant African snails or Achatinas are famous for their extraordinary size, their body length can reach 25–30 cm. This type also bred and used in cooking. Their taste qualities are slightly inferior to grape snails, but this is made up for by a large body weight.
Marketed Product Facts and Business Legitimation
Snail meat is the most useful protein product with a unique piquant taste and a number of remarkable properties. First of all, it is necessary to note the low-calorie content: in 100 g only 85-90 kcal. The body of a snail is almost 70% protein, the rest is carbohydrates and fats, including polyunsaturated fatty acids, the consumption of which has a very beneficial effect on the human body.
In addition, the product is rich in vitamins (A, B, E, PP), micro and macro elements (iron, magnesium, zinc, phosphorus, potassium, copper, magnesium). Does not contain cholesterol.
Snail caviar (“white”) is also in great demand; many gourmets appreciate it for its exquisite taste, often reminiscent of mushrooms. Like meat, caviar contains a lot of useful substances - vitamins A, B, C, E, D, folic acid, iodine, iron, potassium, zinc and copper.
In order to organize a snail farm you need:
- Complete the registration process legal entity or individual entrepreneur(registration, opening a current account). OKVED code - 01.25.81.
- Contact the veterinary service to obtain permission to breed and subsequently sell snails.
When calculating the costs for the production of 500 kg of the finished product, the following items of expenditure should be taken into account first of all:
Purchase snails. The wholesale price of one adult individual (producer) is 2–3 dollars for a grape snail and 3.5–4 dollars for an Achatina. The initial broodstock should be 350–400 pieces (7.5–8 kg);
Feed. On the food 400 snails will require 20 kg of compound feed (feed mixture), 4.8 kg of chalk, 0.7 kg of milk powder. The average cost of a kilogram of compound feed is 300 rubles;
Room. For breeding snails you need free area at least 20 sq. m;
Equipment. Includes special glass terrariums for snails (4-5 pcs.), boxes for winter time (15-20 pcs.), plastic terrariums for offspring and eggs (50 pcs. each) and boxes for products for sale (4-5 pcs.). The cost of one glass terrarium with a volume of 250 liters is 9-13 thousand rubles, prices for small plastic terrariums start at 700 rubles.
Purchase, furnishing
You can buy snail-producers from suppliers from Poland, Tunisia, Moldova, the Czech Republic, Germany and Lithuania, their offers are posted on the Internet. For example, the Moldovan company HelixExporter offers its services, all detailed information with a description of the goods, certificates and contacts is available on the website helix-exim.eu. In Russia, you can also find experienced snail breeders, engaged in wholesale sales, mainly residents of the Republic of Adygea, Krasnodar Territory and Crimea.
Snails are extremely unpretentious, and the rules for caring for them are quite simple, but still there are a number of specific features:
A place where shellfish are kept must be well ventilated. Wherein big role humidity plays a role, this indicator should be at least 85-90%. Recommended air temperature: for grape snails - 20–22 °, for Achatina - 25–30 °. You need to take care of the stability of temperature and humidity, their abrupt change can adversely affect the growth of snails. In such a case, thermal mats and humidifiers will be a good help.
Adults and young animals (up to 3 cm) are kept strictly separately. To do this, space should be provided in the room for glass terrariums with snails-producers and for small plastic containers with growing offspring. Immature cubs in a limited space find food faster, and they are not in danger of being crushed by their larger relatives.
Snails should be fed 2-3 times a day with a special feed mixture, which consists of ground cereals, seeds and herbs, providing good development and growth (flaxseed, oats, wheat, barley, hempseed, buckwheat, millet, corn, pumpkin seeds, soybeans, psyllium, milk thistle, pine nuts, sunflower seeds). Such mixtures usually contain useful protein complexes.
Also in the terrarium there must be a shallow container with fresh water and pieces of chalk, which is required for mollusks for strong shells that protect internal organs.
Powdered milk is an excellent top dressing for snails; you can supplement the diet with boiled vegetables.
The breeding process is as follows: after mutual fertilization (the phenomenon of hermaphroditism), two adult snails are separated and placed in separate containers with soil, where they lay eggs (20 to 50 eggs), after which they are returned to the common terrarium. After 3-4 weeks, offspring appear. The first days, small snails are in the ground and feed on the remains of their own shells. From the moment of birth to the moment when the individual is ready for sale, an average of 12-16 months pass.
Snails do not bring much concern and are little susceptible to various kinds of diseases. It is very important to clean up leftover food in time, otherwise the rotting process can provoke the appearance of fruit flies (drosophila), which can subsequently destroy the larvae.
Occasionally, there are cases of diseases due to bacteria, infections and fungi that enter the body of snails through contaminated food or soil, as well as from new compatriots. They manifest themselves in different ways: loss of appetite, apathy, fragility of the shell, excessive mucus secretion, and even falling out of the "house". There is only one way out - carefully observe all sanitary and hygienic standards.
Sales market
Before you plunge headlong into the snail business, you should soberly assess the demand for the product. For example, you need to read that not in all regions of our country such exotic will be a success. The main sales channel for snail meat and caviar is public catering, namely various restaurants and cafes, shops and supermarkets.
You can also arrange the supply of the product commercial enterprises engaged in the manufacture of delicacy canned snails. It is important to note that in recent years, cosmetics containing the mucus of this mollusk have become very popular, so this direction should also be borne in mind.
With the right approach, a snail farm can become a real "gold mine". On average, the offspring from one adult per year is 800–900 gr. The figure is impressive, especially considering that the broodstock has several hundred snails. 500 kg of snail meat per season (1.5 years) is a very real result.
Breeding snails will be possible for almost any person: it is not so difficult to create comfortable conditions for mollusks, they actively breed, and daily care takes no more than an hour. The main point to remember is keeping the terrariums clean and tidy, this simple rule will help to avoid natural epidemics and additional costs for the treatment of snails.
The breeding and keeping of snails is discussed in the video.
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 an individual entrepreneur or company 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 molluscs.
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.
Related videos
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.
There are many seafood lovers among people, especially octopus, squid - cephalopods, or shrimps, mussels, crayfish and crabs. Gastropoda mollusks are much less consumed, and snail farming is currently only a help to those who cooperate with restaurants offering Greek, Spanish, Italian or French cuisine.
snail as food
Gastropod molluscs carry a shell on their back, there are a great many species of them, but people call them all the same - snails. In many European countries, this is not even a delicacy, but a daily meal, which it became in the distant Middle Ages, and certainly not from a good life. However, now the most fastidious gourmets regale themselves with them. There is evidence that even in ancient Greece, breeding snails was a common profession. It is much easier than growing vegetables, wheat or cattle.
In Russia, this food is still exotic; in Russian cuisine, the meat of not only snails, but also "sea reptiles" is practically not used. But restaurants of certain cuisines of the world appear more and more often in our country, including those with such delicacies, and therefore there is a demand for breeding snails. Today, one can easily buy a one-kilogram bag of gastropod meat, although it cannot be said that the demand for it is completely satisfied. For those who want to occupy this almost empty niche, this article is intended.
Start
Snail farming has a huge advantage over any other food business. They can be grown both in a rural house or in a country house, and in a city apartment. To start breeding edible snails, you need to register a subject entrepreneurial activity, where to indicate code 10.20 (OKPD 2) - "Canned and processed fish, molluscs and crustaceans".
Then you need to get advice from the veterinary service with subsequent permission. It's not free, so you need to have at least fifty thousand rubles in your pocket for all kinds of paperwork. Breeding and raising snails belongs to regulated production, where there are various technical regulations, since water resources are used. Legislative acts in this case can differ significantly by region - somewhere this activity is limited, somewhere it is encouraged. But additional permits will certainly be needed, since snail breeding is supposed to be a business.
Kinds
Most likely, the meat of the first batches of shellfish will have to be sent to the laboratory, where it is carefully checked, and based on the results of this check, a permit will be issued. It is this practice that exists in our country, regardless of the region. The most interesting thing is that most often they sell snails alive. They are not fed for several days for purification, then they are offered to the buyer in the same way - alive. Breeding edible snails is not too difficult, because this living creature is unpretentious. Yes, and you can keep them with almost no hassle.
Traditionally, the cultivation of grape snails - Helix pomatia is in demand. This is the most common species, spreading everywhere in the central and southern territories. Russian Federation. They are quite large and nutritious, and they have been eaten since antiquity in Western countries. Achatina fulica is a different species, and breeding Achatina snails is much more difficult, unlike grape snails. These are inhabitants of the southern latitudes, and natural survival in our harsh climate is absolutely impossible for them. If she lived in the nature of European countries with a mild climate, the locals would not be happy - this is an exceptionally fruitful pest of agricultural plants.
Differences
It is not difficult to distinguish these species from each other. Achatina is much larger, but grape meat is more nutritious and healthy. In terms of complexity, the farm for breeding Achatina snails is no different from the one that specializes in grape snails, at least initially, in terms of cost and content, they are almost equivalent. The only and cardinal difference is that if snails are kept in the open air, then Achatina, like Africans, will not survive our winter, but grapes will hibernate, and therefore they are not afraid of any frost.
Most often, both of them are bred on farms, this diversifies the assortment. This can also be attributed to the cultivation of ampoule snails. There are many other species that are quite suitable for food: Sphincterochila candidisima, Theba pisana, Cepæa nemoralis, Iberus alonensis, Otala vermiculata, Otala lactea, Archelix punctata, Helix lucorum, Helix hortensis, Helix aperta, Helix adanensis and many others. However, all of them are quite difficult to mine, some are generally exotic. And since a rare buyer in Russia understands the types of snails, demand may not appear. However, if the opportunity arises, farmers also breed rare species.
Time
The snail is a leisurely creature, and this is manifested in everything. She not only moves without haste, but also matures extremely slowly. That is why its transformation into an edible individual will have to wait. You will especially need patience when watching how snails breed. Egg laying can be delayed up to a year or more if the conditions of detention cause the snail to have any suspicions and uncertainty about the future. After fertilization, she will safely carry the biomaterial inside herself for an arbitrarily long time.
In the best case, if everything goes according to plan, you need to wait six months before the offspring. At worst, up to three years. Artificial content slightly speeds up this process: the snail becomes edible after a year and a half. Breeding grape snails in natural conditions will certainly require all three years. That is why wise farmers immediately buy sexually mature, adults, and almost immediately get offspring. Snails are hermaphrodites, and therefore every single individual lays eggs, and this is the most interesting thing about how snails reproduce.
Purchase
The grape snail produces about sixty eggs a year. Achatina are more profitable in this regard - their clutch is up to one hundred and sixty eggs. If the farmer has decided to breed grapes, then he needs at least eight hundred pieces. Today - about fifty rubles per individual, mature ones are more expensive. However, it is better to buy the entire batch in bulk - a whole uterine tribe. Akhatinov will only need two hundred pieces to start a business.
A grape snail weighs about fifty grams, and Achatina - all seventy, so it is better to take snails not by the piece, but by weight. Professional breeders trade this way, but amateurs usually sell in small batches and individually. Many give away snails for nothing because they have overbred in the aquarium, but such a purchase has little prospect: it will take a lot of time to grow, and snail food is not free.
Collection
Clams can be collected in the garden, spending one to two months on it. The garden, of course, must be very large, and even better - a vineyard. This will require remarkable patience, since eight hundred grape snails are needed to start a business, and they do not live next to each other. They are still hiding! You will have to walk and crawl, bow and jump, which, in principle, is good for health, but extremely tiring.
And, of course, Achatina wild nature and you will not be able to find any garden in Russia - not a single copy. Therefore, it is better to spend some time looking for a wholesaler, find a good supplier, buy adult selected snails, and then all that remains is to watch their mating games. It is unlikely that more than ten thousand rubles will be needed for the purchase, but the hassle of collecting can be avoided. As a result, time is saved, which is also money.
Pests
Breeding snails in an apartment and in the natural environment is very different. Farmers usually set aside a separate, absolutely fenced area (otherwise the inhabitants will slowly but irrevocably crawl in different directions). Fifty square meters is enough. This site is equipped as an ordinary garden. In addition to the danger of snails spreading in case of insufficient separation of their habitat, there are many others.
In the natural environment, there are a lot of inhabitants who are not averse to eating snails. First of all, they are birds. A scarecrow is unlikely to completely secure this business, but a canopy will definitely help, you can just tarpaulin. Birds are afraid of everything that looks like human habitation. Many species of large beetles also feed on snails. If you fight them with pesticides, you can poison the snails, so beetles are perhaps the most serious enemy on the way to becoming a business.
Animals
If the fence is made with high quality, there will be no main natural enemy on the site. This is a hedgehog. However, moles appear from under the ground, who also consider snails a delicacy. It is impossible to cover the ground with anything, since the snails themselves need soil, and moles will have to be fought in some other way, of which, in principle, there are many.
The fence at the top should be rounded inward so that lovers of verticals - snails - never get out to freedom. Some farmers instead enjoy more effective method- a weak electric current is supplied (no more than ten volts, otherwise the snail will have to be eaten immediately, it will be fully cooked). The clams crawl to the top of the fence, get a small shock and fall back down.
Terms
Fresh air is only suitable for grape snails, since Achatinas cannot withstand temperatures below 3-4 degrees Celsius, they are not trained in suspended animation by nature, and therefore simply die. Grape snails, on the other hand, tolerate the cold absolutely well.
True, three months of hibernation is a loss for a businessman, since snails sleep buried in the ground and do not breed. But in warm weather, everything is fine with them. But we must remember that allocating a site for them and protecting them from pests is far from everything. They definitely need plants on the site, a special composition of the soil, regularly updated and dug up.
What to feed snails?
You should not hope for a fruit harvest from this site, because the snail eats literally everything with appetite. Let weeds grow there, mollusks eat them with pleasure, and the best thing is to plant wild grapes, they are unpretentious and are the best food for snails. What else to feed snails? Fertilizing the soil, freshly cut weed grass is thrown into the aviary, not forgetting about mineral fertilizers - shell formation does not occur without calcium. It is imperative to moisten the site and avoid direct sunlight (again, a tarpaulin canopy to help).
In the apartment
Of course, in an apartment, mollusks grow almost twice as fast, and they don’t sleep in winter either. Achatina will generally feel at home in Africa. However, breeding snails in an apartment on initial stage will cost significantly more. Firstly, you need a fairly spacious room, at least twenty square meters, where the mollusks will be located (terrariums are used, but with self-made filling).
Here you can create conditions for the reproduction of any kind of snails, even African ones. Temperature environment should be at least twenty-three degrees Celsius, humidity should also be kept at high level. The soil must be saturated with calcium and mud (mollusks readily eat it, since it contains the nutrients necessary for their organisms). Food must be of plant origin - again, leaves and weeds. Two or three times a week, cleaning is done in the molluscaria with detailed digging of the soil, otherwise the snails will die, suffocating in a rotting environment.
Caviar
Home breeding is good because it is much easier to get valuable snail caviar. Entrepreneurs usually take one out of ten mollusks for mating games in order to freely get masonry, which snails dig into the soil, and not disturb the rest of the inhabitants. Collecting caviar is a rather laborious process, but it sometimes gives more money than shellfish sold to restaurants.
By the way, you can sell snails not only to restaurants. They are willing to buy pharmaceutical companies, and any, even small and complete illiquid assets. Gastropods are used in the production of the drug helicidin - the basis for cough medicines. Also, some chemical industries are interested in such a purchase - they need shellfish to extract lectins from them, which are used in industry. If you are lucky enough to get such orders, the farmer (entrepreneur) will receive a guaranteed income (and even somewhat more substantial than when working with restaurants).
Highly interesting business can become such an unconventional type of management for Russia as snail breeding. We are talking about grape snails (from lat. Helix pomatia), which are also called large, apple, moon, edible, lid, etc.
Main consumers of this delicacy product such countries as France (annual import of about 6 thousand tons), Sweden, Belgium, Greece, Spain, Italy. According to research results, the total annual product need is more than 100 thousand tons. At the same time, the demand is satisfied by producers only by 60-70%.
In the conditions of our country, it is undeniably difficult to claim a high demand for this product, but the less there is demand, and manufacturers could become regular suppliers for Escargot French restaurants and for industrial enterprises, producing semi-finished products for markets, having interrupted in terms of price French and other foreign farms, for which transport and customs costs are a mandatory item of expenditure.
In addition, there is such a little-known line of business as sale of snail caviar, which has unique taste qualities (mushroom taste) and has recently become a delicacy after the development of the salting method (Fr. D. Pierre).
Another effective way to sell products is medical industry. Snails serve as an effective raw material base for the production of medicines of various spectrums of action from restoring metabolism, rejuvenating the body, bronchorelaxants to eliminating problems with potency (very strong aphrodisiacs are produced from snails). Snail meat promotes the regeneration of bone and cartilage tissue, helps with diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, it is recommended for pregnant women as a natural source of calcium.
Snail meat contains protein (10%), fats (30%), carbohydrates (5%), vitamin B6, B12, calcium, magnesium, iron.
In general, for those interested, we will describe the main points of building and maintaining a snail farm.
The composition of the main fixed and variable costs for organizing a snail farm per 1 ton of output:
- Registration of a legal entity or individual entrepreneur, including opening a bank account, registration, obtaining all permits (described in detail earlier);
- A land plot with suitable vegetation (above 10 cm) of a quadrature proportional to the planned release volumes (with natural feeding 1 sq. m = 30-40 snails (approx. 1 kg), and with artificial feeding 1 sq. m = 200 snails) on ownership or lease;
- Premises for young animals (18 sq. m) and broodstock (4 sq. m);
- Shelving for snails (4-5);
- Boxes for snails for sale (8 pcs. 1x0.5 m);
- Cuvettes for young animals (150 pieces, 0.1 mg each);
- Cuvettes for laying eggs (200 pcs. 12x8x6 cm);
- Aviary for young animals (400 sq. m.);
- 750 adult queen bees (15 kg);
- Feed (powdered milk approx. 15 kg, compound feed approx. 1350 kg or greens; chalk approx. 300 kg). For 40 snails, the consumption is 2 kg of compound feed.
Technological process very simple.
For reproduction, the snails are placed in pairs in an appropriate container.
Snails are hermaphrodites, but mating is necessary for fertilization. It usually occurs from March to May (after hibernation). Then comes the laying of eggs by both individuals of the pair, after laying, the mother individuals are transferred to the aviary, and the eggs are placed in the incubator. After 6 weeks, the young can already be transferred to an adult aviary. The whole process of reproduction and cultivation takes place practically without the participation of the breeder. The only functions of a snail farm owner are feeding, protection from “predators” (e.g., worms, insects, shrews, lizards, moles, hedgehogs), as well as container-enclosure movement of individuals, depending on the stage of the reproduction and rearing processes.
Productivity grape snails is about 40-60 eggs from each uterine individual per year.
Growth cycle approximately 1.5 years (from April to August of the next year).
There are varieties of snails with a much shorter maturation cycle. For example, Helix Aspera Maxima (Tunisia) ripen in 6 months.
For implementation individuals weighing 20 g with a size of 5 cm arrive. Selling price 3-5 euros per kilogram. Prices are dictated by the exchanges of such countries of "snail giants" as France, Spain, Italy. But you need to be prepared for the fact that at the start-up stage it will be difficult to break through to this level (in terms of output, first of all) and therefore it may be necessary to sell snails to buyers at bargain prices of 1.5-2 euros per kg.
Generally, payback period project is approx. 1.5 years.
Yield from 100 kg of broodstock about 4 tons of product for 1.5 years, in terms of price 360 thousand rubles. This is subject to the achievement of effective marketing arrangements.
