Soil, as is known, is the basis of all living and developing on our planet, the basis of life. In order not to exhaust its strength, the fertility of the soil must be constantly restored, and the most important toilers in this direction are earthworms. All ingenious is extremely simple - the quality of the land, its fertility and high crop yields directly depend on the product of the life of an ordinary earthworm. How to breed it at home, how and what to feed, and what care to carry out will be described further.
Table of contents
- Reasons for breeding earthworms at home
- Species of annelid worms
- Technology of breeding in households
- Required equipment and place for breeding
- Making a gravevine
- Composting
- Own vermifarma
- How to feed earthworms
- Care and reproduction
- Possible sales markets
- Profitability of production
Reasons for breeding earthworms at home
It is not difficult to breed worms at home. And the business can become a very serious business, and there are at least two good reasons for this:
- creeping very quickly multiply,gain useful biomass and are an excellent food for poultry (poultry farms, poultry farming and egg production);
- the product of active life is biohumus- the most high-quality and environmentally friendly fertilizer for farming and greenhouses.
In addition, pharmacology also uses these animal organisms to make medicines. The use of biohumus on personal household plots and in the household will allow several times to increase egg-laying of the bird, soil fertility, increase the yield of vegetables and fruits without the use of chemical fertilizers.
Species of annelid worms
The most common common representative of bristle ringed individuals is the earthworm. But they, which are freely found in nature, are the least suitable for reproduction under artificial conditions. Representatives of this subspecies reproduce quite slowly, with difficulty adapt to new conditions and to unfamiliar food, live comparatively little. They, perhaps, will approach only for breeding on own needs of personal personal farming.
For industrial breeding and production of biohumus Russian scientist, Professor Igonin A. M. brought out a special breed of "Staratel".By crossing various breeds of species that live in a sufficiently distant distance from each other, he was able to obtain individuals with completely new qualities:
- Long life expectancy - from 4 to 16 years;
- quickly multiplies;
- easily tolerates the change of food (you can use any kind of food - from the fallen leaves and grass to the waste of human food).
Another species that meets the requirements of industrial production is the red California worm.Individuals of KKCH also multiply very quickly, build up useful mass, process various organic wastes life of a person in biohumus, serve as an excellent protein food for agricultural and fishery farms.
Technology of breeding in households
Required equipment and place for breeding
If you decide to do worm breeding, you must first do the preparatory work - choose and prepare a place or container.Tare can be wooden, plastic or cardboard boxes (it is clear that cardboard containers will have to be changed frequently), collars.
They are placed in a shed, garage, any other place specially designated for this purpose, where it is possible to observe the necessary conditions - the substrate humidity is not less than 70-80% and the temperature is from 12-15oC to 22-24oC. You can breed worms in a usual compost pile, pit.
One of the convenient options is to use two or three perforated boxes placed on top of each other.The lowest one is with perforated holes at the top of the sides. This box is intended for vermicasting - the liquid component of biohumus. On top of it is a box with perforated walls and a bottom, it contains a nutrient medium for worms and the individuals are populated, on top the boxes need to be covered with sackcloth or other "breathing" tissue, since the creeping ones like dark and raw places.
Making a gravevine
You can breed individuals on the street, right in the garden, separating a certain place for this and protecting it with boards or other improvised material.
Approximate size of the worm:width 1 m, height 30-40 cm, length arbitrary. At the bottom of a thick layer of composted, flattened and well-hydrated. Then for 5-7 days, the compost pile should be covered with air-permeable material.
This can be old burlap, cardboard, a layer of straw, which you need to water from time to time with rainwater or well-kept water (a minimum of 2-3 days).
After a week at each square. m is made a depression in which the creeping is placed, and again the worm is covered with air-permeable material.
Composting
As a compost for laying in boxes or pits, mixtures of repellent manure, avian litter, peat, straw, leaves and stems of vegetable crops and weeds, crushed egg shells and food waste.
.All organic materials suitable for breeding are collected on a heap (or in a specially designated place), covered and, periodically moisturized, aged for 2 months.
Own vermifarma
If you decide to acquire your own small vermifram, then, first of all, it is necessary to equip place for keeping worms, stocking containers, prepare compost and provide comfortable conditions for breeding.
The decisive importance is the purchase of a breeding stock. The most suitable species, as already mentioned, are Californian red worms or miners. One family is 1500 individuals. In order to populate 1 cu. m compost needs 1-3 families of broodstock.
Settlement to a new location should be done with great care.First, in a small amount of prepared soil in a separate bowl run a few individuals, the soil is leveled and the dishes are closed. In a couple of days, you need to add a little food. If all worms are active, mobile, characteristic red color, you can spend the population of the entire population.If dead individuals are found, then the acidity of the soil must be corrected (the most favorable is the medium with an acid value, pH).
How to feed earthworms
Rain ringworms are real vegetarians and they do not tolerate protein foods: meat, fish, eggs.When purchasing a breeding stock, it is necessary to find out what the seller of his charges was feeding, since the most familiar is the feed that they tried "from birth." Nevertheless, they quickly get used to new feeds, especially Starateli. It takes some time to become accustomed to a certain type of feed, so introduce new components into the food base gradually, allowing the worms to adapt.
As a top dressing the remains of plants, potato clearings, cabbage leaves, various food waste from kitchen of a phytogenesis, tea and coffee grounds, straw, a grass, a dry bread will approach. Only everything that you add to the compost pile must be ground for easier and faster recycling. Otherwise, the process of acidification, fermentation or rotting of products may begin.
Care and reproduction
The main care on vermiferms or in worms is to observe the temperature regime, timely feeding, and maintaining the level of moisture when watering a warm rain or stagnant water.
Being in favorable conditions, worms begin to multiply.In the compost they lay cocoons - small balls of yellow-sand color.Each of the cocoons contains several eggs, of which 2-3 weeks later small worms appear, and after 7-8 weeks they are already ready to produce offspring. Unsurpassed leaders in the rate of reproduction are the Eater - one individual for a year produces offspring of 1500 animals.
.Possible sales markets
Growing worms can really become a profitable business if you worry in advance about the market for processing products and increased livestock.
- Biohumus is an ecologically pure fertilizer, highly effective in terms of increasing the yield of crops, growing seedlings, flowers, etc.Therefore, consumers of biohumus can be farmers, hothouse farms, flower greenhouses, as well as private entrepreneurs engaged in planting.
- Live biomass is a valuable nutritious protein feed for poultry farms and poultry farms.
- Live food in the form of worms is an indispensable nutritional product for fish farms.
- Worms are very popular as a food for zoological shops.
Profitability of production
According to estimates of farmers engaged in breeding earthworm, the profitability of the vermiferm is in the range of 150%. One Staratel for a year gives offspring in 1500 individuals and about 100 kg of the most valuable fertilizer - biohumus.From 1 ton of harvested compost it is possible to obtain up to 600 kg of quality fertilizer and 10-15 kg of new individuals.
Farms for growing worms and producing biohumus are not only profitable and profitable farming, but also enrichment of the environment with useful substances, the possibility of obtaining environmentally friendly food products.
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