If you’ve landed on this article page, you’re probably searching for a
good business idea—an idea that’s light on the pocket but heavy on
returns, promising both a fulfilling journey and potential profit.
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How
to start fish hatchery business in Nigeria
How to start a profitable agribusiness in Nigeria with a small
capital and grow into a multi-millionaire within a space of four
months, yes! I said within a space of just four months.
A catfish hatchery is a farm where the artificial hatching of
catfish eggs is carried out. These eggs that are hatched via
artificial means are nurtured and managed until they mature into
fingerlings which are usually between 6-8 weeks old. Fries,
fingerlings, or juveniles are the products that are gotten from
a hatchery. For any type of fish farming, fingerlings are very
essential to the farmer as without them there is no stock for
their fish farm. Hence, hatcheries are an important aspect of
fish farming, and the state of the fish farming market in
Nigeria has also affected the fish hatchery business as it is
also a lucrative aspect because these booming fish farms depend
on the hatcheries to be functional.
Hatchery Equipment: You will require the appropriate equipment
for your hatchery to function properly. You would have to get
the necessary hatchery equipment such as incubator, scale,
syringe, bowls, spawning net, blade/scissors, etc., for your
farm.
To obtain maximum yield and have a successful catfish hatchery,
you would need to have the appropriate equipment for the job.
Below are some of the important equipment that you would need;
Incubator: The fish incubator is used to maintain the fertilized
catfish eggs in water until they are hatched to fries. The
incubator allows for the circulation of freshwater over the eggs
and this enables them to develop with a proper supply of oxygen.
This is where the eggs are hatched.
Scale: The scale is used for weighing the fish intended to be
used for hatching if they meet the required weight or size. This
is done to know the catfish that tend to hold more matured eggs.
The eggs that are stripped from the fish are also weighed. This
helps to know the number of fries that you should be expecting.
Saline Solution: Milt sac (sperm) is usually gotten from the
male broodstock and it is mixed with the eggs gotten from the
female broodstock using a saline solution. The saline solution
aids the fertility of the milt sac by helping to keep the sperm
alive when it is being mixed with the eggs, and it also
increases the ease with which the milt douses the stripped eggs.
Scissors or blade: To get the milt sac out of the male
broodstock, it would have to be cut open, and then it would be
brought out. The scissors or blade can be used to do this. Also,
the milt sac would need to be cut open before mixing it with the
saline solution. The scissors or blade will also be used to do
this.
Bowl: After the female catfish has been injected with the
ovulating agent, it is isolated in a big bowl and left for some
hours before being stripped of the eggs. The bowl is also used
for the mixture of the milt sac, saline solution, and eggs.
Towel: When you want to inject the fish with the ovulating
agent, use a moist towel to cover its head. Doing this helps the
fish to be calm during the injection process. Also, when you are
ready to strip the eggs from the fish, after bringing it out of
the water, you should wipe it using a dry towel and then cover
its head again using a moist towel.
Spawning Net: The eggs are spread on the spawning net which is
placed over the incubator. If the egg hatches, it will fall
through the net and into the incubator while it remains on the
net if it doesn’t hatch.
Broodstock
Fertilization is required for the production of eggs in the
hatchery. Mature male and female fishes would be required for
this fertilization process. The male and female fishes are
referred to as the broodstock.
Production
After identifying the broodstock for fertilization, you can then
begin production. There are some steps involved in the
production process;
Differentiate the male broodstock from the female broodstock.
This is quite easy to do with the matured catfish. The male
catfish has an elongated sexual papilla with a red tip for the
sexually active ones, while the female has a reddish, swollen
genital opening.
Weigh the selected fish to have an estimate of the eggs the
broodstock contains.
Inject the female broodstock with hormones that would help to
induce ovulation. The hormones could either be the pituitary
gland which is harvested from the fish or artificial (synthetic)
hormones such as ovaprim. The amount of hormone that you’ll
inject the fish with will be dependent on the weight of the
fish. When injecting the fish, cover its face with a towel and
the syringe should be angled towards its tail to help increase
the efficiency of the hormone. Then separate the fish after
injection for about 12 hours.
Stripping the injected female for eggs is the next step. After
the 12 hours are up, remove it from the water, wipe it dry and
then cover its face with a towel then press its stomach gently
to strip the eggs into a clean bowl. You can weigh the stripped
eggs to have an idea of the fries you are expecting.
Collection of the milt from the male would also be done. Unlike
the female, the male fish will be killed as their stomach would
have to be cut open to be able to get the milt sac.
Mix the milt with a saline solution, and then pour the mixture
of the milt and the saline solution evenly into the bowl of
stripped eggs. The saline solution helps the motility of the
sperm cells and egg fertilization. Then add clean water to the
mixture to begin the process of fertilization.
The eggs will be hatched in the incubator. The spawning net is
spread on the incubator and the spawning sponge is spread on the
spawning net. The spawning sponge is completely immersed in
water but still kept afloat by the spawning net. The mixture of
the milt, saline solution, and eggs is then spread on the
spawning sponge.
Check on the incubator after about 24 hours to see if the eggs
have hatched. The hatched eggs will go down to the bottom of the
incubator while the eggs that didn’t hatch will turn white on
the spawning sponge. Take the sponge out if you think the eggs
have all hatched.
Hatcheries supply fish farms with fingerlings which they need to
be able to produce matured catfish for sale which makes them
very important to the catfish farming business.
If you’re thinking of any cool business to do that requires low
capital investment with high returns in your investment within a
couple of months, this is it. As we all know, fish farming has
been bastardised in Nigeria due to false information given by
half-baked instructors without any formal or professional
training.
Knowing the available species: One of most important aspect of
this business is to know the species to buy. Many people have
had their fingers burnt as a result of buying wrong species and
this results to high rate of mortality. This experience makes
them critics of fish hatchery business. The secret is just to
get the best species e. g
“boo stocks” is one of the best species ever. With this
specie coupled with the instruction that will be given to you,
your first income will be in 1000% returns on investment. I know
you will like to know what it will cost to start this business.
Knowing the Right Application of Antibiotics: You must know the
right antibiotics to use and when to apply them otherwise you’re
not ready to start business. Wrong application of antibiotic can
exterminate your fishes in one day.
Knowing the Right Feed:
Knowing the right feed is another indispensable part of this
business i. e. the
type of feeds to be given and at what stage it is to be given.
Cost of the business:
This is usually where most people get it wrong; do you know that
you can set up fish Hatchery business with just five hundred
thousand naira (N500, 000)? Yeah for a small scale farm, though
this will make you a millionaire within few months of
commencement if the right steps are taken.
Below is the financial analysis:
N 100,000.00 for the boo-stocks, anti-biotic and feeds.
N 300,000.00 for the Hatchery pond and fish pond.
With this, 20,000 pieces of fingerlings can be hatched in three
days, sold within one week with revenue running to millions.
Get our Practical training on how to start a lucrative Hatchery
Business in Nigeria. We have professionals that can set up a
standard commercial hatchery with our state of the art
agricultural machinery. There are just few hatchery
professionals in Nigeria and they’re not willing to review this
secret to anybody for any price. This is a one time opportunity
to become a professional in agribusiness and stand as an
authority in the business.
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