Compound feed for fish: composition, advantages, recipes

Composition of fish feed

We use plant and animal ingredients to produce dry nutritional mixtures. First of all, fish farm owners must understand that the percentage of nutrients in feed for different types of fish will vary, but at the same time we can use the same components in production. This is due to the physiological characteristics of a particular type of fish.

Compound feed for fish: composition, advantages, value of the indicator.

Protein indicators play a key role in the composition of feeds. During growth, fish consume 30–40% more protein than farm animals. Intensive growth of fry occurs due to food rich in protein. The protein components added to the feed by our specialists contain lysine, histidine, methionine and other useful amino acids. Compound feeds for fish presented in the AgroVitEx catalogs meet these characteristics:

Menu for predators, bottom fish and fry

The diet of predatory fish is based on live food:

• bloodworm;
• larvae;
• worms;
• fish.

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For bottom dwellers, it is important that food quickly reaches the near-bottom space (then fish of other species will not be able to eat it earlier). The most reliable in this regard are tableted feeds.

You can also diversify the menu with proteins:

• vegetable (cucumbers, spirulina, lettuce);
• animals (coretra, tubifex, bloodworm).

In developing young animals, the basis of the diet is one of the following products:

• live dust (with daphnia, rotifers, ciliates);
• ciliates slipper (you can grow it yourself);
• pot worms (live in damp compressed peat and feed on cheese - dry and crushed);
• nematodes;
• egg yolk (carefully mashed and washed).

The final choice in this case remains with the owner of the fry.

Advantages of feed for growing and breeding fish

• Rapid growth and weight gain in animals. Thanks to accelerated development, the number of individuals in the reservoir will increase, which will generally increase the profitability of fisheries.
• The composition of fish feed does not contain harmful substances. Insects and river plants often absorb all harmful substances in the environment. Food prepared according to recipes is free from this drawback. Raw materials with vitamins and mineral components undergo special purification, and only then are used in the production of compound feed.
• Reducing fish diseases. A balanced diet helps maintain the immunity of animals.
• Saving time on feeding fish. It is enough to pour the dry mixture into a pond 1-2 times a day. You will no longer need to waste time mixing the ingredients for fish food yourself.
• Long shelf life. Compound feed can be stored in a cool, dry place for 1.5 years.

Order compound feed for fish with delivery throughout Russia and the CIS! Own production, affordable prices for small farms! We are always ready to provide a free consultation for new clients.

Types of feed

All types of fish feed are divided according to preparation technique and composition.

Among them are:

• Live food is food made from live insect larvae and worms.
• Frozen - Almost all types of live food can be frozen.
• Dry - consists of dried and crushed ingredients in the form of flakes, granules or tablets.
• Vegetable - cereals, vegetables, fruits, berries, herbs that are healthy for fish.

Alive

Live food is considered the most nutritious due to its high amount of protein. It pollutes the aquarium less than dry food. Due to its nutritional value, live food is recommended to be fed to fry and fish during the breeding season. But the danger of such food is the possibility of infection of fish if there is an infection in the larvae and worms.

How to disinfect live food:

1. Crush a few cloves of garlic and put it in the water with the larvae or worms. After an hour, remove the garlic.
2. Keep live food for several hours in a light pink solution of potassium permanganate.
3. Immerse the larvae in a 5% salt solution for 10 minutes 2 times a week.
4. Ichthyophore preparation. Add 50 drops to 100 ml, soak the larvae for 30 minutes.
5. 5% piperazine solution, immerse larvae and worms for 15 minutes.
6. Dissolve 2 metronidazole tablets in 10 liters of water.
7. Dilute 250 mg of erycycline in 1 liter of water. Soak the larvae for an hour.
8. Dilute 0.1 g of trypaflavin in 10 liters of water. Place the larvae in the solution for 2 days.
9. Dilute 100 mg of kanamycin in a liter of water. Soak live food for an hour.

Common types of live food:

Dry

Dry food is easy to store because it has a long shelf life, unlike live food. Also, dry food is often divided by type. Such feeds take into account the characteristics of fish and satisfy their individual needs. But their nutritional value is much lower than that of live food, and even with constant feeding they require additional vitamin supplements.

High-quality dry food is determined by its composition components.

Healthy Ingredients:

• Spirulina. Algae rich in amino acids, fatty acids, minerals, vitamins, beta-carotene.
• Shrimp meal. Particularly suitable for brightly colored fish to maintain color. Contains useful substances and is highly nutritious.
• Fish flour. Consists of crushed and dried fish. Contains fatty acids, amino acids and vitamins. Fish meal in the composition helps to eat less food.
• Squid meal. It is created from the remains of squid that are not used for production. But they are highly nutritious and contain vitamins and microelements. They stimulate the appetite of fish that are malnourished.
• Mealworms. Increases the nutritional value of dry food due to its high protein and fat content. Also contain vitamin D.

The most popular manufacturers of types of fish food (in Moscow):

1. ADA (Japan).
2. Biodesign (Russia).
3. Dennerle (Germany).
4. PRODAC (Italy).
5. Sera (Germany).
6. Tetra (Germany).
7. Zoomir (Russia).
8. Wardley (USA).

Frozen

Vegetable

Recipes and feed for fish

The feed recipe represents a set of feed products in ratios determined on the basis of modern data on the nutritional needs of fish. Feed recipes for pond carp fish have been developed taking into account feeding of different age groups of carp. Thus, recipes No. 110-1 and 110-2 are developed for feeding carp from two weeks of age to reaching a weight of 30 g per piece. Recipes No. 111-1, 111-2 and 111-3, respectively, are intended for feeding carp from 30 to 1000 g per piece, and recipes No. 112-1 and 112-2 are for feeding carp weighing more than 1000 g for 1 piece

On a note! Recipes and feed for fish appeared first on aquarium fish.

Based on the developed recipes, the feed industry, based on the availability of feed, produces feed, the composition of which must correspond to the approved recipe, and their ratio determines the total and biological value of the feed. These recipes contain a significant number of ingredients (about 40). Each recipe contains several groups of feed products, including cakes and meals, legumes, grains, bran, animal feed, and mineral feed.

Recipes for preparing fish feed.

Having a significant number of interchangeable ingredients in the indicated groups of feed products, each recipe can be presented in the form of countless feed mixtures, which will differ in nutrient content, but at the same time will correspond to the conditions of the recipe. For example, recipe No. 111-1 for the group of cakes and meals includes sunflower and peanut cakes, which, according to the terms of the recipe, are interchangeable. But the first of them contains 39.2% crude protein, and the second 27.7%. This one example clearly shows how significant variations can be in the nutrient content of feed mixtures formulated according to the same recipe. In order to reduce the influence of ingredients of different nutritional value included in the recipe on an interchangeable basis, the quality indicators of mixed feed corresponding to each recipe were calculated using a computer.

Compound feed for feeding carp in pond farms must comply with the recipe and quality indicators for the main nutrients (calculation is based on absolutely dry matter).

The feed mixture or compound feed is made up in the following order. First, the type of feed, the type and age of the fish are determined. Let's assume that it is necessary to prepare compound feed for feeding two-year-old carp according to recipe No. 111-1.

Based on the availability of ingredients in the warehouse of the procurement company or fish farm, a program is drawn up in which the characteristics of the ingredients in terms of nutrient content are entered. As a limitation, their percentage specified in the recipe and the quality indicators of the feed mixture are introduced. At the same time, a task is introduced in order to calculate the composition of feed that corresponds to quality indicators and with a minimum cost. Similar calculations can be carried out using manual equipment, but this will take additional time.

On a note! To carry out work or obtain comparative data on the effectiveness of using mixed feed in different soil and climatic zones or under conditions of different intensification, level of fish farming technology, etc., you should use a standard recipe.

To obtain comparable results, it is recommended that ingredients be used in accordance with approved standards and that careful records be kept during the process.

When compacted sixty-fold plantings of carp yearlings in ponds (3–5 thousand pieces/ha), when the share of natural food in the fish diet is reduced to 10–15%, it is necessary to use the best feed or feed mixtures, balanced in terms of the complex of nutrients. As experiments have shown, feed should contain at least 26-30% protein, fat - 3.0-3.5%, about 40% nitrogen-free extractives and no more than 9-10% fiber. At the same time, feed must contain biologically active substances that stimulate fish growth.

Fish food

— the main artificial feeds for fish grown in ponds are cakes, meals, compound feeds, food industry waste, some agricultural crops, etc. The quality of feed depends on the content of nutrients (proteins, fats, carbohydrates), as well as vitamins .
Cake is a waste of the oil industry, obtained by pressing the seeds of oil plants (flax, sunflower, soybeans, sesame, etc.), containing a large amount of protein (some types up to 40-50%), minerals (6-7%), rich B vitamins and low in carotene. The cakes are used as feed for farm animals and fish. Before feeding, they are crushed using crushers (see Crushers
).

Chemical composition of cakes and their crust coefficient

Beet pulp is a waste product from beet sugar production. In dried form it can be used to feed fish. Dried pulp is equivalent in nutritional value to concentrated feed. Feed coefficient 6. Can be used in the feed mixture in an amount of 15-20%. When feeding it to fish, it is kneaded into a thick dough.

Meal is a waste product from the oil press industry, which is a crumbly mass of pressed seeds of oilseed plants, degreased with solvents (gasoline, carbon disulfide).

Meal is widely used for feeding carp fingerlings in nursery ponds and carp yearlings in feeding ponds in the form of pieces of dough with a diameter of 5-7 cm

,
mixed with water. Sometimes it is included in feed mixtures (see Feed mixtures
). Cotton meal is considered the best meal for feeding carp. The negative qualities of meal include the fact that factories produce it in bulk, which leads to losses during transportation.

Whale meal is a feed meal made from whale meat that is brownish-brown in color. According to temporary specifications, flour should contain 4.5-18.8% moisture, 3.0-3.8% fat, 75.2-89.0% protein. The flour has been tested for feeding carp and trout; they eat it well in feed mixtures containing 3-5% flour for carp and up to 10% for trout.

Legume waste (crushed peas, lentils mixed with weeds) is widely used to feed pond fish as the main protein feed, at a rate of 2 to 5 kg

per 1
kg
of fish growth. They are used in a mixture with other feeds in an amount of 10-20%. You can feed pond fish of all types, from fingerlings and older. Carp readily eat the fruits of fava beans, an annual garden or field plant. Feed ratio 4.

Lupine (wolf bean) is a very valuable legume plant that can enrich the soil with nitrogen, which is absorbed by lupine from the air with the help of nodule bacteria living on its roots. The seeds contain 36% protein and 5.5% fat and, after the bitterness is destroyed, are used as animal feed. Recently, alkaloid-free sweet lupine has been cultivated, which is readily eaten by fish, including carp. Feed ratio 3-3.5. Lupine is given to fish mixed with other feed in an amount of 10-15%.

Alfalfa is an annual or perennial subshrub or shrubby plant from the legume family. Hay contains 12-16% protein, a lot of calcium and vitamins. For fish, alfalfa can be used as green food, added to concentrated feed in an amount of 10-20%.

Barley is a cereal grain. There are membranous and naked. The films contain a large amount of indigestible fiber. Protein content from 7 to 24%. Used for preparing cereals, brewing, and feeding animals. The carp is fed in a shelled state. Feed ratio 3. Barley is fed to carp fingerlings in nursery ponds and yearlings in feeding ponds. Give it soaked or add it to feed mixtures (see Feed mixtures

).
For times and methods of feeding fish, see Feeding fish
.

Acorns are oak fruits, consisting of 14-18% husk and 82-86% kernel (54% starch and 10% sugar). In ground form they can be used as an additive to the feed mixture for carp (in an amount of 15-20%). Nutritionally 1.5 kg

acorns equal approximately 1
kg
of barley or cake. Acorn flour can be stored in a dry place for a long time.

Silkworm pupa is waste obtained from silk-winding factories after the cocoon is freed from the silk thread. Chemical composition of the pupa (in%): protein 59.6. fat 18.1, nitrogen-free extractives 5.9, fiber 5.6, calcium 0.040, phosphorus 0.070. Stern, coefficient 2.5.

Crushed pupa, freed from cocoons by sifting, added to the feed mixture in an amount of 10-15%, is well eaten by fish, enhances its growth and increases the percentage of fat in the meat. Store the pupa in dry, ventilated areas. Flour is prepared from dry pupa with the following chemical composition (in%): water 8.6, crude protein 70.0, nitrogen-free extractives 6.7, chitin 4.8, ash 5.3 (ash contains 4.2% calcium phosphate and 0.2% sodium chloride and other substances).

Grape marc is dried waste obtained during the production of juices and wine (branches, grains, husks, pulp and other waste). In terms of nutritional value, they can be compared with average quality meadow hay.

Chemical composition of pomace (on average) in%: water—7.5, crude protein—10.9, crude fat—8.6, nitrogen-free extractives—30.8, crude fiber—31.3, ash—10.9 . In ground form they can be used as a component (5-10%) of the feed ration for pond fish.

Grain waste is waste resulting from cleaning, sorting seeds and harvesting various agricultural crops. They contain incomplete (slight) grain, weed seeds, chaff, etc. In pond fish farming they are used for feeding carp (feed ratio 5). Feed to fish mixed with other feeds (see Feed

) or separately, preferably in ground form. The waste is crushed, ground and soaked in water 5-6 hours before feeding the fish. The fish is fed as a dough. You can feed fish of any age. Depending on the composition of the grain waste, they are mixed with other feed in an amount of 15-20% if they contain weed seeds and up to 50% if the waste consists of wheat grain, etc.

Waste from the food industry and agricultural production is used to feed animals and fish. The main types of waste: flour milling - grain chaff, undersowing, flour dust, bran; oil presses - cakes, meal; starch - potato pulp, corn cake, wheat and corn pulp and gluten; fermentation - stillage, malt sprouts, brewer's grains, brewer's yeast; beet sugar—pulp, molasses (molasses); dairy - skim milk, buttermilk, whey; slaughterhouse and fishery waste—meat meal, meat and bone meal, dried blood, cane, fish meal; food - canteen waste.

Graxa is a waste product obtained by rendering medicinal fish oil from cod liver. Graxa contains 55-70% moisture, 10-30% (even up to 38%) fat, 7-14% protein.

Graxa is used as an additive to meal (in amounts up to 5%) in order to increase their fat content and also as a vitamin food for carp and trout. 1 g contains from 55 to 70 int. units vitamin A. Graxa is added to the feed mixture in its natural form and mixed well with the feed.

Stillage is waste from distilleries and breweries. B. is used for feeding livestock; when mixed with grain waste and cakes, it can serve as fish feed. B. contains 92-94% water and 6-8% dry matter. It is fed to fish fresh or dried in a mixture with other feeds in an amount of 10-15%. As a protein-rich feed, it can replace cakes and bran.

Dried leaves and branches of various trees are good food for fish, which can be compared in nutritional value to very good meadow hay.

For feeding fish, leaves, branches and shoots are used in a well-ground form in a mixture with other feed from 20 to 30% of the total amount of feed. The leaves are harvested in the summer and stored dry under a canopy or in a barn.

Pulp - starch production waste remaining on the sieve after wiping (pressing) potatoes; used as feed for farm animals. When feeding fish, potato pulp is added to feed mixtures (especially cake) in amounts of up to 20% of the daily diet. It is fed to fish of all ages and throughout the season; it is of particular value when feeding young of the year in wintering ponds, as well as when feeding replacement young animals and breeders in the spring before spawning and during the month after spawning.

Meal is a feed product consisting mainly of finely ground grain particles with an admixture of crushed seed and fruit shells, obtained in grain crushers and flour mills when processing grain into high-quality flour and cereals. Flour contains more nutrients than bran and more gluten (due to the finer grind).

In official documents it is called feed meal. In fish farms, flour is widely used to feed fish. It is given in a mixture with other feeds in an amount of 10-20%. When preparing food, flour is mixed with water and given to carp, carp and other fish in the form of a thick dough. Store in feed storage facilities in bulk or in containers.

Meat and bone meal is made from various waste from livestock slaughter, as well as from carcasses unsuitable for human consumption. It contains a significant amount of calcium phosphate (12-32%). It is included in the fish feed ration as the protein part of the feed in an amount of 3 to 5% of the feed mixture. The flour is used to feed trout. When preparing food, flour must be sifted through a fine sieve to remove small sharp bones that can injure the fish's intestines and cause disease.

Whale liver protein paste is obtained from rinsing water after hydrolytic treatment of whale liver to extract vitamin A. Whale liver in tanks is destroyed with a weak alkali solution. The floating indelible fat with dissolved vitamin A is separated and sent for cleaning, and the remaining part is discharged into the sewer network. To extract protein from the discharged liquid, it is acidified with hydrochloric or acetic acid to a neutral or slightly acidic reaction. At the same time, the protein and recovered saponified fat, which floats to the surface in the form of flakes, are collected, dried on racks and packaged in barrels. Protein paste contains 51.5% moisture, 37.1% protein, 15-20% fat, 6% ash, 9.1 int. units vitamin B1 8.0 int. units vitamin B2 and 18.1 int. units folic acid. The paste is added to the feed in an amount of 3-5% in the form of an aqueous solution, on which the feed is mixed. It is fed to yearlings and two-year-olds throughout the growing season. Adding paste to feed mixtures for trout and carp reduces the cost per unit of growth by 20-22%.

Beer grains are the remains of brewing production. Consists of the shells of grains, mainly barley. It is used to feed farm animals and fish. For storage, the spent grain is dried on racks by blowing air. Chemical composition of fresh grains in%: water 75-77, protein 5, fat 1.6, nitrogen-free extractives 11, ash 4.2. In terms of nutritional value, dried grains are close to wheat bran. It is used as a component (10-15%) of the feed mixture for yearling carp.

Fishmeal is prepared from low-value fish, from waste from fish processing, from fish that have lost their nutritional quality, etc. It is a good supplementary food for fish, containing complete protein, calcium and vitamins.

The chemical composition of flour is given below (in %).

The feed ratio when feeding fish is 1.5-2. Fishmeal is fed to fish of any age (year-olds, two-year-olds) in dried form, mixed with other feeds in an amount of 10-15%. Being an animal feed, flour is one of the important components of the feed mixture (see Feed mixtures

).

Weed seeds are waste obtained from sorting grain crops on threshing floors on collective and state farms. Can be used to feed fish. The seeds are rich in nutrients. They contain the following quantities:

Nutrient content in %

in seeds

The seeds are ground together with grain waste and included in the diet. Cockle seeds in the fish feed diet should not exceed 5% (see Cockle

).

Hay flour (ordinary and vitamin) is hay crushed on universal crushers. Vitamin flour (Obtained from grasses that have been mowed (before flowering or at the beginning of flowering. The most nutritionally valuable flour is prepared from quickly dried alfalfa or clover hay. Hay flour is fed to fish in a mixture with other feeds in an amount of up to 10% of the diet.

Malt sprouts are a waste product obtained during the production of malt from barley or rye. The best quality sprouts should be light yellow in color, pleasant to the taste and free of foreign impurities (sand and debris). Used as fish food (up to 10% of the diet). Used in mixture with other feeds for fingerlings, two-year-olds of carp, trout and other fish. It has been observed that adding sprouts to food increases the growth rate of fish.

Juicy feed - carrots, beets, cabbage leaves, potatoes, turnips, silage feed, stillage, brewer's grains and many others. They are characterized by a high water content (from 60 to 92%), the presence of vitamins, and high digestibility. They are used to feed fingerlings and two-year-olds, in well-chopped form, mixed with other feeds in an amount of 30% of wet weight.

Chopped grains are finely crushed grains of barley, wheat, oats, legumes and other plants. Can be used to feed fish in pure form or in mixture with other feeds. 5 - 6 hours before feeding, it is soaked in water and fed to the fish in the form of a thick dough.

Needles - used as a vitamin supplement in an amount of 1 - 2% to the main fish feed to stimulate growth. It is used in the form of dry, finely ground flour. In order to enrich feed with vitamins, brewer's yeast, brewer's grains, fish oil, vegetables (cabbage), green vegetation, etc. are added to them in an amount of 25-30% of the daily ration.

In Soviet and foreign practice, antibiotics are added to feed of plant origin (for example, waste from penicillin production), which gives positive results for carp - its growth improves, waste is reduced. When added to feed, penicillin or biomycin is dissolved in clean water at the rate of 1 g

antibiotic per 1-2
liters
of water of medium hardness. An antibiotic solution is gradually poured into the prepared food. The feed is thoroughly mixed until it becomes a thick dough.

After adding antibiotics, feed should not be steamed, yeasted or subjected to any other processing. Such food cannot be stored.

source: Pond fishing Isaev.I 1959

Preparing feed for feeding

Currently, in practice, there are several ways to prepare food before feeding.

Dough-like feed is prepared directly in the farm’s feed department. To knead and compact feed in dough form, it is recommended to use a V.K. Grib feed mixer, as well as a universal tractor feed dispenser (KUT-3). To reduce the loss of nutrients from extraction, it is necessary to introduce binders into the composition of the feed: flaxseed cake, technical starch, flour, etc. Preparation of dough-like feed directly on farms predisposes to the maximum use of feed of local origin, microadditives, sapropel and other feed products that help reduce the cost of feed and improve feed absorption.

-pressed granulated feed is centrally produced by feed industry enterprises.

The technology for preparing mixed feed in granular form consists of the following main processes:

1. Preparation of loose feed from individual ingredients or mixtures in accordance with the composition determined by the recipes for feed for fish;
2. Compacting feed with the release of granules;
3. Cooling, sifting and packaging of granules.

The prepared granules have a cylindrical shape, their diameter depends on the size of the holes in the granulator matrix. The most common diameter of produced granules is 4.7 mm. The length of the granules is about 10–15 mm, that is, two to three diameters, determined by the given granulation mode and can vary depending on the requirements. The surface of the granules is usually shiny, the color and smell should match the color and smell of the raw materials from which the granules are made. When additives in the form of fats or some other substances that determine color changes are introduced into the feed, some darkening of the granules is allowed. Signs of mold, putrid odor and decay are not allowed. The moisture content of granulated feed is set to no higher than 14.5%. In terms of nutritional and biological value, granulated feed must correspond to the recipes for fish feed.

The main fish farming requirements for granulated feed intended for feeding to carp in pond farms in terms of the quality of their preparation are as follows.

1. Granular feed must have a minimum amount of crumbs and mealy particles separated from the granules, that is, it must have a certain strength, which ensures their transportability right up to the feeding area of ​​the pond.
2. Feed granules for feeding carp in ponds must be water-resistant. The process of feed granulation is aimed at stabilizing the included nutrients in order to preserve them in the water during feeding. Before being eaten by fish, feed granules should not be destroyed by water and should retain their original shape and nutrients, since only under this condition is maximum preservation of the general and biological value contained in the feed possible. A very important property of granules is their ability to swell.

Granular feed can be prepared by wet pressing, which uses the principle of a pasta press. Before pressing, the feed is moistened to 35–36% total moisture, then they are pressed, followed by intensive drying of the granules. In some cases, undried granules are used. This method is used when organizing feed preparation directly on fish farms.

For feeding carp in ponds, oval-shaped granules have been tested, the preparation method of which is based on the principle of rolling a moistened mass of feed into balls. The main working part of the granulator with this granulation method is a rotating disk with a smooth surface, which is installed at a certain angle to the horizontal.

The use of compound feed in granular form for feeding carp in pond conditions has a number of significant advantages. For example, when feeding with granules, the loss of feed nutrients is reduced and its consumption for growth is reduced. An advanced method of preparing food allows a more complete set of nutrients to be delivered to the fish’s body, which has a direct impact on the quality of the fish, increasing its dietary properties. Preserving feed nutrients in water reduces the flow of organic and mineral feed into the pond and relatively improves the overall hydrochemical and gas regime of the water. The undoubted advantages of granulated feed over loose feed are revealed during the process of its transportation, storage and distribution.

Briquetting of compound feed is carried out directly in the feed preparation workshop of a fish farm or farm of an agricultural enterprise.
The advantages of the briquetting method are that on-farm conditions can be used to organize a workshop for their preparation, which requires a small room in which the press is located and auxiliary equipment. The method of preparing briquettes involves the use of feed of local origin, microadditives, biostimulants for growth, etc. For briquetting, it is recommended to use the PTB-2M briquette press (peat industry) or the new PBS-2 briquette press. The use of compound feed in briquetted form allows you to reduce its consumption by 14–19% compared to dough-like feed.

Preparation of bait

Depending on what type of feed you have, the method of feeding the fish with it also changes. In the case of granules, you can do it in several different ways; which one is better to choose depends on the fishing conditions:

1. Adding granules to water in dry form is used in the case of long-term fishing, when people come to a reservoir for several days.
2. For short-term fishing, it is better to pre-soak or steam the granules or mixtures so that by the time they are added to the water, the bait from the mixed feed has a dough-like mass.
3. To attract fish to your fishing point, aromatic additives are added to the prepared mass, the composition of which varies according to the season: spicy and meaty in cold water, sweet and fruity in warm water.
4. Compound feed can be included in bait as not the main, but an additional component. At the same time, it is mixed with ground seeds, breadcrumbs or a purchased mixture.

Bait made from pre-crushed feed with boiled pearl barley will attract not only carp on the “platnka”, but also river bream, roach or carp.

In addition to pearl barley, the following can be used as additional components to the feed base:

• corn;
• peas;
• steamed wheat;
• solid pellet granules;
• animal supplements: chopped worms, maggots, bloodworms.

What kind of fish can be caught with peas?

You can make a huge variety of baits based on mixed feed; here is one of the simplest recipes, for which you will need:

• compound feed – 1 part;
• ground toasted seeds - 1 part;
• base of biscuit or bakery ground crackers - 1 part.

After mixing all the ingredients, they are gradually mixed with water from the pond where the fish are caught. It is not entirely correct to use tap or purchased water, the composition of which may differ greatly from the local one. At the last stage, a coarse additive, one of those listed above, is added to the finished bait.

Attention! Your feed-based bait must be better than the feed that the owners of the reservoir use, otherwise the fish will simply ignore it. Therefore, the best option is feed from the owner with your super additives!

Distribution technique and checking feed palatability

When storing feed in warehouses remote from ponds, there is a need for local transportation before distribution. In this process, the mechanization of all operations, especially loading and unloading, is of greater importance. Most often in these conditions, conveyors, mechanical shovels, elevators, and pneumatic transport are used. When storing granules directly on the pond in bunkers or tower-type warehouses, gravity loading of feed dispensers serving the pond is provided. In warehouses of this type, it is advisable to install feed sifters for the purpose of screening out small crumbs and the powdery fraction of granulated feed. Screenings should be transferred for processing or used for fattening ducks, etc.

Distribution of granulated feed is carried out by various devices. Currently, there are several types of feed dispensers used in pond farming.

The most common self-propelled boats for feeding fish are the catamaran type with a bunker. Taking into account the high flowability of granules, the catamaran bunker is installed on two boats in such a position that the feed is distributed by gravity, in the form of a feeding path. The feed dispenser has a load capacity of 3 tons and is designed for distributing granulated feed, applying mineral fertilizers and lime to ponds. It consists of a catamaran, a feed bunker, an outboard motor, a mesh hanging box for preparing solutions of mineral fertilizers and lime, and auxiliary components. The design of the feed dispenser does not have any difficult-to-manufacture components. Performance indicators meet the requirements for servicing ponds up to 150 hectares.

The loaded feed dispenser is directed by the mechanic to the feed line, marked with poles in several places. It is better to have a straight feeding path running parallel to the shoreline of the pond. If the stern path changes direction, there should be a clearly visible pole at each turning point. At the beginning of the feeding path, when the feed dispenser is moving at operating speed, the mechanic opens the hopper valve and the feed falls out into the fish feeding area.

Currently, the feed industry produces granulated feed for carp using the dry pressing method. The water resistance of these granules is insignificant; they quickly break down and turn into a mushy mass. In order to feed such pellets to fish without loss, it is necessary to create conditions for their immediate consumption when entering the water. This method is acceptable when feeding carp in dense planting conditions, during industrial cultivation in warm waters and in swimming pools. In world practice, there are many proposals aimed at a rational method of feed distribution, including in pond fish farming. Means and devices for standardized feeding of fish can be divided into the following groups:

• complex-purpose devices (preparation and distribution of dough-like feed, application of fertilizers, water aeration and other work);
• a device for dosing feed by installing various designs of dosing means;
• device of a passive type feeder installed at the bottom of the pond;
• active type feeders that work based on the stimulating action of fish.

For feeding carp, the most suitable feeder is one that works based on the stimulating action of the fish. A prototype of an active type feeder device, operating on the basis of the stimulating action of fish, includes a pendulum feeder. The device of a pendulum feeder consists of a cylindrical body or hopper with a tapering body, truncated at the bottom. The top of the hopper is covered with a lid. In the lower part, an outer, longer cylindrical sleeve or casing is attached to the truncated cone, and inside it there is a second, smaller in diameter and shorter casing. Inside the hopper there is a pin-shaped locking element, which is held on a suspension passed through the feed into the upper part of the hopper. The actual locking element is located in the lower part of the truncated hopper and is movably suspended. Feed is dosed using a recess on the surface of the valve. When the locking element moves in one direction, part of the granules, enclosed in the space of the recess and limited by the wall of the hopper, is poured into the water. Subsequent movements of the locking element in different directions allow you to continuously dose the feed in small portions.

A very original solution to the design of an automatic feeder is contained in a French patent, the operating principle of which is that a rocker mounted in the water on a rod is rotated by the fish when eating food. The rod is connected to an auger installed in the lower feed storage hole. Each rotation of the rocker in a circle leads to dosing of feed to the feeding place.

Bulk feed is distributed to feeding points in dough-like form. Well-kneaded thick dough is prepared using various feed mixers. The doughy feed is then loaded into the boat. Good results were obtained when preparing dough-like feed on the KUT-3 (universal tractor feed mixer), with which you can simultaneously deliver feed to feed dispensing boats. KUT-3 is aggregated with a tractor and operates from a power take-off shaft.

When delivering food by boat to feeding places and distributing it to fish, it is recommended to use outboard motors, which allow you to distribute food at low speeds without stopping the boat.

The same amount of food must be distributed to all feeding places, which is determined by dividing the total mass of food intended for the entire pond by the number of feeding places in it. You can determine the amount of food for each feeding place by multiplying the number of fish per feeding place by the feeding rate for one fish per day. For 800 two-year-olds with 15 g per fish, the mass of food per feeding place will be 800x15 = 12 kg.

Feed is distributed from feed dispensing boats, both conventional flat-bottomed ones and advanced feed dispensing machines with an adjustable sensor.

It is recommended to start feeding carp in the morning (7–9 o’clock), depending on the oxygen regime, and follow a strictly established order, so that food is supplied to certain feeding places at the same time. With this order, the fish develops a conditioned reflex when eating, it spends less energy moving in search of food, and eats food faster. For this purpose, it is not recommended to change feeding places during the entire growing season, except for cases when the feeding point turns sour. The palatability of feed is checked in each pond daily from a boat 2 hours after distributing the feed with a mesh scoop, which captures the feed from the bottom surface. If food in certain places is not eaten, the amount of food per given feeding place should be reduced the next day. The mesh scoop should be covered with a metal mesh, preferably made of stainless wire, the mesh size should be no more than 1–2 mm. Greater feed savings are achieved by feeding carp multiple times. When feeding multiple times, it is recommended to feed 2 or 3 times a day. With multiple feedings, the daily feed rate does not increase; the usual rate is only divided according to the number of feed allotments. Repeated feeding is carried out in ponds where the planting of two-year-old carp is over 4000 pieces/ha, and in nursery ponds - when planting 50,000 pieces/ha. With two meals a day, the first feed distribution is made from 7 to 9 o'clock, the second - from 17 to 19 o'clock. With three meals a day, the first feed distribution is made from 6 to 8 o'clock, the second - from 11 to 13 o'clock, the third - from 17 to 19 o'clock.

Technique for distributing granulated feed to fish.

In the process of growing fish, there is a need to change feed according to its quality composition, set of ingredients, general and biological value. Feeding various feeds not only in nutritional value, but also differing in color, smell and other characteristics (for example, the size of granules), predetermines the change of the developed conditioned reflex of fish to new food items. In addition, the physiological aspects of the issue should be taken into account, since the new quality of feed leads to a change in the ratio of the amount of secreted enzymes, the processes of digestion and utilization of nutrients change qualitatively and quantitatively. Changes in food should correspond to changes in fish physiology during growth. It is quite obvious that the quality of feed for two-year-olds at the beginning of the growing season, when the average weight of fish is not yet so large and is 100–150 g, will differ significantly from the feed used for growing at the end of the growing season (pre-autumn period), when the fish reaches 400–450 g.

All this should be taken into account in conditions of intensive fish feeding. During the feeding process, you should not sharply change the quality of the feed, especially when its nutritional value decreases, in cases of changing granulated feed to dough or grain and vice versa. When changing food, it is necessary to take into account the age of the fish, time of year, and growth rate.

Feeding fish is accompanied by the accumulation of organic substances at the bottom of ponds, the decomposition of which reduces the amount of oxygen dissolved in the water, which is accompanied by a deterioration in the palatability of food and leads to an increase in its costs per unit of growth.

Most feeding ponds are filled with water in early spring, so treatment of their beds for the purpose of better mineralization of organic substances with access to atmospheric air is possible only in the fall after draining the water for fishing.

Carrying out autumn work involves thoroughly draining the bed by clearing drainage ditches, liming wetlands, and clearing the shallow area of ​​stumps, bushes and the remains of rhizomes of tough vegetation. To extend the period of mineralization of organic matter in feeding ponds with large wetlands, it is recommended to drain them 15–20 days earlier than usual. The feasibility of this measure is that fish growth in the last days of the growing season is usually 2–3 g per head per day with relatively high feed costs per unit of growth, and the mineralization process in these days will more than pay for itself with increased fish productivity in the next year.