Freshwater Shrimp pictures
 

I picked up my freshwater juveniles this weekend to stock my small farm pond.
Here are a few pictures of them. The larger one is a 60 days old and the smaller one is about 30 days old.

http://usera.imagecave.com/cowgirlon...r07-2-copy.jpg


This year I purchased 1,750 for the pond.

http://usera.imagecave.com/cowgirlon...pinbag07-6.jpg

The bags of juveniles are floated on the pond for about 15 minutes to equalize the water temperature.
http://usera.imagecave.com/cowgirlon...g07-1-copy.jpg

Then a little bit of pond water is introduced into the bag.
http://usera.imagecave.com/cowgirlon...elease07-5.jpg


And then they are released.

http://usera.imagecave.com/cowgirlon...elease07-3.jpg

I'm feeding a 32% protein sinking catfish feed, and will let them grow until fall. :)

Do you feed them shrimp food or just fertilize?

Just the sinking catfish feed.

thanks for showing those pictures. It looks a lot like the technique for introducing minnows that I kept on one holding pond.

How do you harvest them, and at what age? What do you expect from them for reproduction?

moonwolf, they will not survive in water temperature under 65 degrees so I harvest all I can in the fall.
I use seines and crawdad traps. I prefer the traps, seems like I have better luck with them.

This is my 5th or 6th year raising them, I have tried to keep breeders in the past, but do not have the equipment I need to do it right. It's been easier for me to purchase the juveniles to stock. :)

Here's a picture of some from a past harvest.
http://usera.imagecave.com/cowgirlon...chest-copy.jpg

I pick out the big ones and throw the little ones back to grow some more.
I usually can harvest from the middle of September until the second week in October.

Has it been profitable for you? Do you have clients, or just for your own consumption?

Own consumption ZealYouth.
By the time my friends and family get wind of the harvest, they go pretty fast.
I do freeze some each year for winter eating.

My pond is large enough to raise more, and I'm sure they would sell well here. I need to give it a try. :)

how much do 1750 juveniles cost?

how many are you able to actually harvest back out (percentage-wise)

ZealYouth, here is the price list where I buy mine.
http://www.aquacultureoftexas.com/prices.htm

I usually get 1,000 and harvest around 70% in the fall. Which I've been told is good. This year I ended up with 750 extra..........long story, but I'm happy about it.
I've had turtle problems in the past........relocated them. I also have some herons every fall, helping me with the harvest. :)

So cool cg1! I wish I had a pond! Oh honey.....

Nice! Not a bad price at all...

Any guesstimate what 1000 adults would weigh?

about how big are they average when you harvest ?
and do you know what the top temp range they survive is ?

I wonder if they would grow in my huge backyard water garden. We love shrimp in this household. However, I'm sure I would have to get rid of the the goldfish eh? Although some of those shrimp look larger than most of the fish! Wow that's a wonderful harvest and food source for you and the family.

Let me know when the next harvest takes place and I'll come over and wear my favorite shrimp eaten bib! :)

Thanks Hillcrest! :)

ZealYouth, I do not know. Some of the shrimp are more aggressive and grow at a faster pace. They can get up to 10 inches in length. The smaller ones can be only 4 to 5 inches long.
I get some 10/lb shrimp and some 30 /lb shrimp and everything in between. :)

PyroDon, they will not survive if the temperature goes over 95 degrees.

r.h., you are welcome here anytime. :)

belladulcinea, that's one thing the shrimp can't tolerate.....fish!
I was lucky enough to have a windmill pond with no fish. :)

I wish we could raise shrimp because I'm in a perfect location for the ritsy market.

Have you ever tried putting structure in the pond to give them refuge when molting? That might bump your survival rate although the stocking is low enough it may not matter. It would provide more surface area for natural food production.

fishhead I did when I had some in tanks, I used netting.
The pond is not heavily stocked so it's not really needed.

When I first started raising them in the pond, I started cleaning all of the moss out of of the pond thinking it would help. The shrimp were clinging to the moss, using it to hide from predators and larger shrimp.
Since then I have left the moss, this does help. ( I should say, the pond is not completely covered with moss.)
I purchased some orange construction fence to use as a substrate four years ago, I have not needed to use it.

I pick up my juveniles in Ft Worth, if I had more room in my vehicle, I'd bring a LOT more home with me. lol!

I know in Hawaii they periodically seine their ponds and remove the mature males. When they are removed the immature males start growing again.

That's kind of what I do. I harvest the largest and throw back the smaller ones to let them grow.


Here's an example of some that were stocked at the same time.

http://usera.imagecave.com/cowgirlon...-2-03-copy.jpg


If I remember right, these were in the pond for one month.

I can't remember which is which but one has blue claws and one has orange claws. Do you see that when you harvest?

fishhead, I raise the Macrobrachium rosenbergii.
They have more of a blue color and blue on the end of the tail too.


Here's a three month old one.
http://usera.imagecave.com/cowgirlon...hrimp-copy.jpg

As the males mature the color of the claw is supposed to change from one color to the other. Once that happens they give off a pheromone that inhibits growth in the immature males. By removing the mature males the water changes and the remaining shrimp start growing again.

I wonder if maybe you harvest before they mature. In that case they should all keep growing.

I forgot to say that an electric fence at the waterline stops the herons.

The shrimp have to share the pond with the horses and cattle. :)

.
I love shrimp !

Now I'm getting hungry.

Do you see what you have done.

Guess I'll have to settle for pizza tonight.

Hope and pray you have a large healthy crop ... cowgirlone.

bumpus
.

Thanks Bumpus.
I'll think of you at my next shrimp boil. :)

I don't recall ever eating fresh water shrimp - I grew up on the coast in South Texas. Do they have a similar flavor?

bill, they are similar.
The shrimp are actually salt water shrimp. They need the salt water to breed and hatch. Once they reach the post larvae stage, they are introduced into fresh water and "grown out" for as long as possible.
They can be grown out in salt water too if that's what you have.

Someday I hope to get a saltwater set up for breeding and hatching my own. I just have other things on my plate right now and I'm happy with providing home grown shrimp for my family all year. :)

I guess I could have worded that better...............the shrimp are making me hungry! :o

I'm so glad you posted this. I have followed what you did and always have enjoyed your posts on all subjects. I kept forgetting if you were vegascowgirl or cowgirlone so I couldn't keep up with your progress.

Why did you stop using the stock tanks/barrels or whatever you were using. We have a pond, but between the herons and turtles, I doubt we'd have much to seine. The cattle use the pond, so electric fencing won't work. So I'm really interested in your previous setup. Do tell.

Thank you Mid Tn Mama, how sweet! :)
I had kept the shrimp in glass tanks and large plastic ones.
They require about 2 1/2 square feet of space for each adult. I used netting to separate adults (they will kill and eat each other)......I just didn't have room in tanks to raise a large quantity of shrimp, enough to harvest for my family and friends.

I have been told that galvanized tanks will not work, plastic watering tanks would work better.

I would still like to try keeping some adults back this fall for breeding, I need to set up a salt water system for that.

The aquaculture of Texas site (the place where I get my juveniles) has some good info on raising them in tanks. He shows how to make pvc frames and divide the frame into several layers using netting. This looks like a good way to keep them separated.
I went through his hatchery..........it's amazing, shrimp of all sizes living in tanks. He has a great set up. :)

http://www.aquacultureoftexas.com/tanks.htm


The farm pond works great, I have a good well and windmill for fresh water. The middle of my pond is over 6' deep so seining doesn't work well.
If the pond were flatter, it would be nice. :)
Here is a picture of one of the traps.......they crawl into the coneshaped holes on the sides and drop down into the cage.

http://usera.imagecave.com/cowgirlon...trap4-copy.jpg

Let me get this straight. You put the cage in the bottom of your pond. You then release the shrimp.

----And they naturally know to look for the cage and what it's for?
----Do you just pull up the cage (how often) to harvest or whatever?

Sorry! I didn't explain that right!

When I harvest in the fall, I use the crawdad trap.
I put bait in the cage, the shrimp smell it and crawl into the holes on the sides. They drop down to get the bait in the bottom of the cage and can't get out.

I use chicken parts left over from butchering.
I check the cage once a day. :)

Well, this thread did it for me I just went to that store and bought shrimp to boil tomorrow for dinner!

LOL! I think I might have to dig some out of the freezer. :D

Have you ever tried the big blue crayfish? I'm interested in them.

im very interested in getting into shrimping i have an appr. 1.2 acre pond, and ive brought crawdads here from reservoirs, do you have problems with them killing the shrimp if theyre in the trap together and also do you have catfish in your pond? thanks for taking time to read this