Management practices in snail rearing.

The soil must be moistened but not water-logged but deep enough so that the snails can burrow and lay eggs. The management of hatchling are different and should be handled with care. The pen must be in a dark place shielded from the sun,as exposure to sun at this time will kill them. The feeding is done in the dark as well,because moving out to sunny zones to get the feed will result in their death . 

They need more calcium at this level,failure to provide will result in slow growth and development. The best way to ensure they have this supplement is to grind the calcium source e.g chalk ,mix in water and spray the hatchlings directly. 

The uptake of the calcium by absorption gives a 100% assurance that each hatchling has a portion. 

 Cleaning of the snail is also important,this is done by soaking a piece of clean cloth or foam in water and gently wiping the shell clean. 

Handling with care is important as rough handling can lead to cracked shells and subsequent death of the snails. This cleaning can be done on a 2 weeks interval basis especially when changing soil. Feeding time Snails exploring their pen

How to start a profitable egg supply and distribution business.

Starting an egg distribution business,could be a full time or part-time business. Starting an egg business is easy and profitable and you can start today. The first phase is to identify your customers,then find a reputable source,that will provide high quality eggs and at reasonable price. Eggs are of various sizes and grades,and its better to have a mix of large,small and medium to cater for different clients. The ideal place will be to register with a farm, and sort out arrangements about frequency of collection and delivery. Eggs can also be collected at egg depots for further distribution to retailers and consumers. The targeted clients will determine your entry point to the business, you can be a big time player or small to medium player . You don't need a lot of money to start the business, its a low capital startup that you can venture into with 30,000,and expand your capital base as you progress.The key to success is marketing,vecause if you cant network you cant sell. The challenge is not money or the products{eggs} your ability to do great networking. I was amazed to find out that the demand for egg is huge. H Farm owners and bulk distributors, prefer having 30 customers who buys from them regularly than having 3 or 5 major buyers. The logic is with about 30 customers , at least 15 will be available on every sales day,thus creating a steady income. Major egg suppliers comes from outside Lagos. The bulk of eggs consumed in Lagos comes from Ogun, Ondo and Oyo. The farms in Lagos are attached to notable merchants, but smart business people prefer to get their supply outside Lagos because its cheaper. When you factor in cost of fuel, stress and unnecessary roadblocks,sourcing in your locality makes better business sense. Egg crates are important for the success of your business, plastic,paper or decorative seal- able crates are some of the options. The crates could be small or big depending on your egg sizes.While purchasing your egg crates, make arrangements for both the large size and small sizes. If you are transporting it over along distance, the use of big crates are advisable, because with big crates,the eggs will have space and you will experience lesser damages. When delivering eggs to retailers use the small ones,because when you use the big crates for delivery, the eggs look very small but with a small crate, small eggs look big. Starting with egg distribution and supply depends on how big or small you want to start,as you are your own boss you set the pace. You can decide to be a retailer, a wholesaler and you can combine the two. The key to profit is to set a goal,determine how many crates you want to sell in a week and at what level,may be wholesale or retail. 100 crates @850 = 85,000. when sold per crate @900 =90,000 naira. A profit of 5,000 naira. The same 100 crates sold on retail basis yields 1,200 naira/crate which is a total profit of 120,000 naira only. The difference is enormous and potential huge as you get this amount of profit even with wholesales with the right niche.The margin could even be much higher depending on your source. Superstores,shops, schools,eateries are a few of the places you can supply to and make money. Join our league of distributors and make money today. See

HOW TO START RAISING SNAILS FOR PROFIT.

Snail farming also referred to as heliculture is a lucrative business with high export potential.Snails are small,hardy and easy to manage.They can be raised on small or large scale using various means of housing.The snail business is easy to set up, with simple management. Snail farming is not capital intensive and the feed are readily available and cheap. Snails are not a nuisance to the environment because there is no noise from the pens, and effluents are odorless. 

 The snail is divided into 3 parts; the shell, muscular foot and the visceral mass. The shell is the most visible part which makes up 30-40% of the whole body.The shell is a means of identifying various species, and it has ornamental values.The shell increases with body size,thus its also a means of determining the age of the snails. The muscular part also referred to as foot is the edible part, and makes up 45% of the body weight.Its also the means by which the snails move. The visceral mass houses the internal organs and the reproductive organs. The snails are hermaphrodites, but they still require another snail to lay eggs. 

 Snails can be housed in various enclosures depending on size of stock; old tyres with wire netting,drums,wooden cages, cemented high/low fenced pens or natural gardens .The housing must be intact with no openings for rodents,ants and mosquitoes.The housing must provide shade,to prevent heating up the snails resulting in death. Snails feed on greens,tubers and fruits. Snails can feed on leaves of pawpaw,cassava,fruits of mango,banana,orange.They can also be fed well ground broiler ration,chick mash or layer ration.

The feed must be balanced with adequate components of carbohydrate,fish meal and calcium supplements. Water is very important in snail diet and it must be readily available. The housing of the snail must be covered with loamy soil which must be kept moist to allow the snails to burrow and lay eggs.

The snails/ hatchlings that are to be the foundation stock must be carefully chosen, they should be of good weight (300-350g),with no cracks on shell and no nodules.The snails must be well stocked to prevent cannibalism,death and poor growth. 

 A stocking density of the snails should be 40-50 hatchlings/m2, 30- 40 growers/m2 and 12-15 adults/m2. The sexual maturity of the snail is 5-6 months, upon maturity they lay eggs in presence of other snails and the eggs are buried deep in the sand to protect them. The snails a clutch of 80-100 eggs .Snails can lay up to 300 eggs in a year.

The incubation period is about 18-30 days and the hatchlings come out of soil a day after hatching.If the soil is hard,the hatchlings will not be able to come out,hence wetting of the soil is important.

 HEALTH BENEFITS OF SNAILS. 1) It has low fat and cholesterol content. 2)It is rich in iron,thus recommended for anemic patients. 3)Its a good source of protein. 4)The meat is juicy and tender suitable for young and old.