1. Eating habits
Red earthworm is a saprophytic animal. It likes to live in soil containing a lot of organic matter, which is difficult to see in general cultivated land. Therefore, a large number of artificial breeding can be carried out by using the organic waste of animals and plants. It has a wide range of feeding habits, and the feces of livestock and poultry, as well as straw, all kinds of fresh hay, leaves, fruits, vegetable skins and even feet can be eaten after fermentation. The daily intake of earthworms is roughly equivalent to their own weight, and half of them are discharged in the form of earthworm feces. It takes about 70 ~ 80 tons of organic waste to produce one ton of fresh earthworm.
2. Temperature
Earthworms are warm-loving animals. In the long drought, severe winter and high temperature seasons, wild earthworms will crawl into raw soil to sleep. To raise earthworms artificially, it is necessary to adjust the temperature so that earthworms can grow and reproduce all year round. The optimum growth temperature of red earthworm is about 25℃. Earthworms are hermaphroditic animals, but they must cross. Sexually mature earthworms (that is, earthworms with reproductive rings) mate 1 and lay eggs after weeks. But the frequency of spawning has a great relationship with temperature. When the temperature is lower than 10℃, it takes about 35 days to lay an egg. When the temperature is 18 ~ 25℃, the humidity is 30% ~ 50%, and the air is well ventilated, one egg is usually laid in 1.5 ~ 4.5 days. When the temperature is as high as 35℃, the amount of eggs laid decreases. Egg cocoon hatching is also closely related to temperature. When the temperature is lower than 8℃, the cocoon stops hatching; At the temperature of 65438 05℃, the young earthworms hatched in about 33 days, the hatching rate was 97%, and the average number of young earthworms hatched per cocoon was 6.8. When the average temperature is 20℃, the incubation time of young earthworm is 65438 09 days. At 32℃, it can hatch in 10 day, but the hatching rate is only 33%, with an average of 2 ~ 3 larvae per cocoon. In the process of hatching, when the accumulated temperature of cocoon reaches 220 ~ 260℃, the young earthworm can hatch (the accumulated temperature of cocoon refers to the sum of the effective temperatures that can make the egg embryo develop after deducting the invalid temperature of cocoon below 8℃ every day). Therefore, controlling the temperature at 18 ~ 25℃ is most beneficial for earthworm to lay eggs and hatch. Young earthworms grow for about 38 days to reach sexual maturity, and the whole growth period is about 60 days. An egg cocoon laid by an earthworm in a month can gradually hatch 50 ~ 80 small earthworms.
3. Humidity
Humidity is closely related to earthworm growth, oviposition and cocoon hatching. Earthworms contain about 80% water. If you don't water for a long time, it will lead to earthworm body atrophy, affect egg laying, and even autolysis and death. When the water content of the earthworm bed is about 30%, the earthworm eats more, grows faster, lays more eggs and has a high hatching rate.
4. Air
According to Qian Jinkang's experiment in Jinshan District, Shanghai, the number of eggs laid by earthworms was 7.8 and 1.4 respectively under two different conditions of air circulation and non-circulation for 30 days, which was quite different. Generally, air contains 20% oxygen and 0.03% ~ 0.06% carbon dioxide. If the carbon dioxide content exceeds 1%, it will affect the egg laying of earthworms.
5.pH value
Too high or too low pH value of earthworm bed will do harm to the growth of earthworm, and the suitable pH value is 6 ~ 8.
Second, efficient culture technology of red earthworm in Taihu Lake
1. Site and inventory
Earthworms can be cultivated indoors and outdoors. In the south, the temperature is high in summer and autumn, and the indoor culture is good. But large-scale cultivation can be carried out outdoors, and solar energy can be used for heating at low temperature. But the venue must be chosen near the water source, where the transportation is convenient. Rural areas can take advantage of the gaps between villages or forests. Water pipes or automatic sprinklers should be installed when the breeding area is large.
Insect beds are generally 5 meters wide, and the middle aisle is 70 ~ 80 cm, but the width should be increased if they are fed by cars. The height of the walkway is more than 30 cm, and the width of the two insect beds on both sides is 2 meters. Ditches are dug outside the two insect beds to facilitate drainage.
After the worm bed is made, the fermented feed is placed horizontally on the worm bed to form strips with a width of 20-30 cm and a spacing of 10- 15 cm. Before putting earthworm seeds, wet the earthworm bed, then put the earthworm seeds in a place where there is no feed, the stocking density is 0.5 kg/m2 (about 1000), and add some water, which is beneficial to earthworm activities. It is forbidden to put earthworm species on the earthworm bed filled with animal manure to avoid the loss of earthworm species.
2. Add materials in time
The red earthworm in Taihu Lake has a wide range of feeding habits and eats almost anything, but the key is that the feed must be completely decomposed. Composting takes 30 days, or digging into a pond, it is best to put aquatic plants, grass, fruits, vegetable skins and feet in livestock manure water for fermentation. Because the food eaten by earthworms in a day is roughly equal to their own weight, they should supplement the materials "in time". "Timely" means adding materials after collecting earthworms when there is still 20% feed in the earthworm bed. The filler must be plum blossom-shaped, with a gap of 5 ~ 8 cm between piles. Poultry droppings are too thin to be poured into strips. Leave a gap area of 1/3 ~ 1/4, and add water before feeding. Thunderstorms tend to flatten cow dung that has just been added for a day or two, forming a hardened layer that is airtight. Earthworms are boring and the ground temperature is high. Earthworms on the worm bed will crawl into the ditch, and some will escape to the surface of the worm bed. If there is still unfermented livestock manure producing biogas, the worm will die immediately. Therefore, always observe before and after a thunderstorm. If the grass is not covered after feeding, the newly added livestock manure should be opened 20 cm wide on the insect bed before and after the thunderstorm. In winter, all earthworm beds are covered with a thin layer of material, which will also cause earthworm death. If you don't add material and water for a long time, it will cause the earthworm to shrink, and the earthworm will die if it can't live, but it will leave a batch of egg cocoons.
If possible, you can use EM biotechnology, which is a high-tech introduced from Japan by Jiangsu Province 199 1. It is an effective microbial community, such as nitrogen-fixing bacteria, lactic acid bacteria, etc. 18 genera and more than 80 strains. This microbial community has the functions of accelerating the maturation of various organic fertilizers, improving soil fertility, reducing pests and diseases, purifying the environment and promoting the growth of crops, livestock and animals. Spraying diluted EM solution on livestock manure and earthworm manure bait can remove odor, inhibit the reproduction of harmful bacteria and reduce the invasion of lice and flies. Earthworms swallow organic wastes such as livestock manure fermented by EM, and beneficial colonies multiply in their bodies and are absorbed as nutrients, which enhances the disease resistance, and the earthworm grows fast and has a high reproduction rate. 1995 I tried to raise earthworms indoors for 85 days, and the proliferation was 65.9 times, which was 5 1.6 times and 14.3 times higher than that of the control group (sprayed with clean water). Moreover, the earthworm sprayed with EM is slightly thicker and the color is slightly red and powerful.
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Moisturizing and ventilation
Earthworm beds are places where earthworms are raised. Pay great attention to temperature, humidity and ventilation. Water it often and keep it moist. Water 1 time every day in summer, 5 ~ 1 time in low temperature period, and 3 ~ 5 days 1 time in cooling period to keep the humidity at 30%. Moreover, grass should be carefully covered all year round to keep it moist and ventilated. This can promote earthworms to eat more, grow faster, lay more eggs, have a high hatching rate of eggs and cocoons, and have a high survival rate of young earthworms. We did a comparative experiment of covering grass in 1994. The results showed that the yield of earthworm covered with grass curtain increased by 80%. In addition, if there is a thunderstorm after grass mulching, the surface layer of the earthworm bed can be prevented from hardening and the earthworm can be prevented from dying from biogas. Poor management of a few farmers in the low temperature period leads to the atrophy of earthworm bodies and the reduction of egg production. There are many reasons, such as not watering for a long time and not adding feed in time. And the most important thing is that there is no good ventilation. Earthworms are dark brown, lack of oxygen and dull, weak, slow-moving, and many offspring die. In particular, livestock manure that has not been completely fermented continues to ferment in the membrane, producing biogas and endangering earthworms. Hypoxia, fish floating head, easy to find, earthworm bed covered with film hypoxia is not easy to find. Only by ventilation, increasing oxygen and discharging harmful gases. There are two ways:
(1) Made a shed similar to cultivating sweet potato seedlings with an arched low shed.
(2) The grass cage is breathable. Tie the two ends of rice straw or corn stalk into a cylinder with a circumference of 40-50 cm, and put it in the center of the earthworm bed, which is covered with two layers of films and sandwiched with a straw curtain. Uncover the two films around noon and ventilate for 2 ~ 3 hours (except in rainy and snowy days) to let harmful gases such as carbon dioxide out.
4. Seasonal warming and increased output
In winter, various outdoor heating methods are adopted according to the scale, and the lowest temperature of earthworm bed is above 10 ~ 15℃ to improve the growth and reproduction speed of earthworm.
Some farmers put a film on the earthworm bed. Although the temperature of the earthworm bed is 8 ~ 10℃ higher than the maximum temperature, when the temperature drops below 0℃ in the morning, the temperature of the earthworm bed is only 1 ~ 2℃ higher than the outdoor temperature. Therefore, the flat covering film cannot reach the required temperature. After years of exploration, we adopt the following two methods to keep warm and warm in Wuxi.
(1) Two layers of film plus a straw curtain: This method is simple, does not need too much investment, and has good heating and insulation effect. According to our test, it is 6℃ higher than the temperature of the covering film. On the contrary, it can play the role of cooling regulation in summer, and the temperature on the worm bed is 6℃ lower than that of the flat cover with film.
(2) Plastic shed with bamboo frame: I have used solar energy to raise earthworms in winter for five years, with less investment and good results. The daily average temperature increase 10℃, calculated according to the low temperature period 150 days, the cumulative temperature increase 1500℃ is equal to the 75-day accumulated temperature with an average temperature of 20℃, which is two months more than that of ordinary farmers. Grass curtains are hung on the east, west and north sides of the plastic shed, which are fixed up and down to prevent wind and keep warm. The surface of the insect bed in the shed is still covered with straw, dry weeds or grass curtains, and a grass cage must be placed in the middle of the insect bed for ventilation, and then a layer of film can be covered. In areas with low temperatures, two layers of film can be covered with grass curtains.
5. Cooling down and increasing production in summer
The temperature in Wuxi is high from June to September, which is very suitable for earthworm growth and reproduction. However, the temperature is high in July and August, so cooling measures should be taken to control the bed temperature of earthworm within 30℃, which is the key to improve the output of earthworm in summer.
(1) Building a shed for shading: After years of observation, the shading effect of curtains woven with straw and straw on the shed is better than other methods (such as planting climbing plants and placing rape dustpans). Winter scaffolding materials can be used. The surface of the shed should be low in the south and high in the north, and the grass curtain should be hung from the center of the shed top to about 1 m away from the earthworm bed. The grass curtain in the south should be put down in the morning and put away before evening, so that it can be ventilated on all sides and can leak rain when it rains.
(2) Cover the insect bed with grass: When the temperature is high, if a grass curtain is needed on the insect bed in the shade shed, it is best to cover it with water hyacinth, peanuts and grass. The experiment shows that when the temperature is 34℃, the temperature of the insect bed covered with grass curtain in the shed is 30℃, less than 6 cm from the surface of the insect bed, the temperature of the peanut covered with 40 ~ 50 cm thick is 28℃, and the temperature of the old mat covered without shed is 35℃. After the shed was built, the earthworm bed was covered with grass curtains, especially after the water hyacinth and peanuts cooled down, not only the earthworm grew fast, but also the egg production increased greatly.
(3) Water cooling: water 1 time every afternoon during high temperature, so that earthworms can climb to the surface of the earthworm bed for food at night, and water twice in the morning and evening if possible. Never use very hot rice field water or seriously polluted industrial wastewater. In the high temperature period, the above cooling measures should be comprehensively adopted, and the temperature of earthworm bed should be reduced below 30℃ in combination with annual greening to avoid the influence of high temperature dormancy on earthworm yield.
In a word, according to the local climate conditions, appropriate measures should be taken to increase or decrease the temperature of the earthworm bed, so that the annual temperature of the earthworm bed can be controlled within the optimal growth and reproduction range of earthworms.
1995, according to the above comprehensive breeding management technology, I collected earthworms reasonably, with a breeding area of 32 square meters, produced 225 kilograms of fresh earthworms and a net sales income of 2,300 yuan.
3. Daily management, collection and processing of red earthworm in Taihu Lake
We should attach great importance to the daily management of earthworms, because it has a lot to do with whether it can achieve high yield in the end. The following points should be noted:
1. Earthworm dung removal
Proper temperature is beneficial to earthworm reproduction, and the sunny temperature is about 15 ~ 25℃. Some farmers failed to take temperature control measures in high temperature and cold season, which made some earthworms dormant and even burrowed into the raw soil layer. Removing earthworm dung in early spring or high temperature will lead to earthworm loss, and suitable temperature can make all dormant earthworms eat in earthworm beds. In Wuxi, earthworm manure is generally removed from late April to early and middle May in 10 and from late September to early and middle October in 10, and removed twice in 10. In industrial farming, the number of removal increases according to the thickness of earthworm feces.
The specific method is to shovel out the bait and earthworm dung (including large and small earthworms and egg cocoons) with a thickness of about 1.5 ~ 20 cm above the earthworm bed, and put them on the nearby earthworm bed or algae film to a depth that there are basically no earthworms and earthworm eggs under the shovel, then shovel out the earthworm dung below and carry it away, and then move the surface layer back to the earthworm bed.
Prevent escape
It is normal for a small number of earthworms to climb out after rain. We can put some animal droppings around the earthworm farm to lure earthworms to eat. In the case of heavy rain, the bed of earthworm will be flooded. In order to prevent earthworms from going with the water, we can tie the straw with a rope and fix it around the earthworm bed to facilitate the earthworm to get in. If the water can't be discharged quickly, in order to protect the earthworm cocoon, we can combine the earthworm bed to make it higher than the water surface, so that some cocoons can quickly get out of the water and hatch normally.
3. Prevent and control diseases and enemy injuries
In addition to the causes and prevention methods of earthworm death mentioned above, earthworm has some diseases and enemies.
(1) The earthworm appeared spasmodic nodules, which became thicker and shorter, the links became red and swollen, the mucus secretion of the whole body increased, and the earthworm turned white and died. The reason is that earthworms eat toxic feed, such as spraying pesticides near livestock manure piles, pouring polluted water on earthworm beds, piling up chemical fertilizers and pesticides in earthworm temporary breeding grounds, contacting toxic substances in containers for transporting earthworms, putting temporary earthworms on the film to prevent water leakage, the feed is too wet, the living environment of earthworms is too wet, and several people die when the temperature is high. If this happens due to poisoning, you can spray water for many times to wash away harmful substances, and often add concentrated feed rice bran and bran; If earthworms are kept indoors temporarily, they should be removed. If the earthworm turns white due to excessive humidity, fermented dried animal manure or concentrated feed can be added, mixed with the original wet material and earthworm manure, and the film can be taken out. If several people are found dead, move them into the earthworm bed to feed them, so that the active earthworms can recover.
Some pesticides are toxic to earthworms, but earthworms are not sensitive to most pesticides. Earthworms can survive when some pesticides remain in the soil. When earthworms inhale pesticide residues in soil, they will be enriched in their tissues. In addition, earthworms can also enrich some heavy metals in the soil near the highway, such as cadmium, nickel, lead and zinc.
If these earthworms are fed to animals, it will cause pathological changes or death of animals. So when choosing a farm, don't choose places that have been sprayed with a lot of pesticides, or near some factories, mines, or along highways. Due to the influence of dust, waste water, waste gas or slag, these places often pollute the soil with heavy metals. In addition, don't feed pesticides, such as weeds and fallen leaves sprayed with pesticides in farmland or orchards.
(2) Earthworms are the intermediate hosts of some parasites such as nematodes and tapeworms, such as Cyclobalanopsis, and the ultimate host is chickens; Angiostrongylus spinulosa, the ultimate host is pigs. If earthworms eat chicken dung with cricothyroid eggs and chickens eat live earthworms, the cricothyroid eggs in earthworm intestines will enter the chicken intestines to breed, which is harmful to chickens.
Prevention and control methods: ① high-temperature fermentation of livestock manure to kill various parasites and eggs;
(2) scalding live earthworms with boiling water for 2 minutes, then adding feed or feeding earthworms with pig manure instead of pigs to block transmission;
(3) After several years of earthworm breeding, white nematodes will be produced in the earthworm bed, which looks like newly hatched larvae, and it is difficult to tell which kind of nematodes it is. You can use the lure method to soak the old toilet paper in enough water for a few minutes, and then spread it on the earthworm bed piece by piece. When one or two antenna worms climb up to eat, they will take out the toilet paper, burn it and bury it. The temperature is 15 ~ 20℃.
Like other animals, earthworms have enemies. There are voles, house mice, birds, snakes, toads, frogs, crickets, ants and so on. The principle of putting prevention first and combining prevention with treatment should be adopted.
(1) net circumference: buy a dense mesh net with a width of more than one meter. Both sides of the net are reinforced with thick plastic wires. Tie twigs or bamboo branches under the net at regular intervals, bury them in the soil around the farm to a depth of 6-8 cm, and tie them to piles. This net can prevent crickets from entering and chickens and ducks from pecking. Gryllotalps do great harm to earthworms. They eat egg cocoons first, and then small earthworms. Sometimes there are as many as dozens of grubs per square meter under the earthworm bed. It lays eggs in its own nest in spring, and there will be dozens of eggs in the nest with dark brown spots on them, which are not easy to break. Therefore, if you see an earthworm feed block the size of an egg, you should check it carefully. If grubs are found, they must be completely eliminated.
(2) Medicine: Ants mainly eat earthworm egg cocoons and small earthworms. When the nest is flooded in the rainy season, they will climb to a higher bed to live and reproduce, so they will be destroyed when they see the nest. The pretreatment method is to buy ant medicine (that is, it is used indoors in sericulture), mix well and then mix it in three bags. Just use the waste film for three loaves, and spread it out at will to let the medicine slowly disperse. Put it in a slightly higher place around the culture, flatten it with bricks, put it in 1 bag every 70 cm, and use it 2 ~ 3 times every 1 year to prevent ants from entering the earthworm bed. As for toads and mice, it is mainly to catch them, and rodenticide can be used in places far from the village.
4. Collection, feeding and processing of earthworms
Reasonable collection of earthworms can greatly increase the annual output of earthworms. The principle is to catch the big ones and keep the small ones, that is, to collect most mature earthworms, and reasonable density after harvest can improve the breeding foundation. Acquisition method:
(1) Grab it by hand (you can wear plastic gloves) or use a custom-made iron flat nail rake. Shovel out the surface layer of the mature earthworm bed and put it on the film. After the pile is more than 50 cm high, turn it over several times with a rake. When the earthworm is stimulated, it will move all the way down to the membrane, gradually take out the earthworm dung and feed on the surface (with egg cocoons) and spread it on the earthworm bed. Finally, most of the collected large earthworms will be weighed and used for temporary breeding.
(2) Harvest after rain: the temperature is high in summer and autumn. In the morning after the rain, the dense earthworms on the surface of the earthworm bed, together with earthworm dung and feed, are collected indoors or in a shed for temporary cultivation;
(3) Strengthening of temporary maintenance: 1 year is a regular work, which can be temporarily maintained for a short time. 1 m2 can temporarily raise 5-6 kilograms of earthworms. According to the temperature, the density of temporary cultivation should be controlled. The feed and earthworm manure on the earthworm bed should be spread 5-8 cm thick, and the concentrated feed mixed with water should be fed 65,438+0 times a day. Too much feeding will turn sour and moldy, so be diligent.
Besides being used or sold directly, fresh earthworms can also be processed as needed, such as sun drying, sun drying or quick freezing. To dry earthworms, stir-fry corn flour first, and then mix fresh earthworms without impurities, so that earthworm juice (85%) can be absorbed by corn flour and make full use of nutrition. If conditions permit, drying equipment can be added. If it is sold as a commodity, the dried earthworm should be crisp, free from caking and impurities, with a moisture content of about 10%, which is easy to break by hand. After drying in the sun, the corn flour is screened out, and the strip-shaped pure earthworm is bagged on the same day. Film bag for inner packaging, plus woven bag or carton. In order to survive for a long time and not deteriorate after export, it is necessary to improve the acceptance system and review it regularly. With the development of earthworm breeding industry to industrialization, factory or enterprise group, advanced technologies such as drying and crushing earthworm or freeze-drying earthworm particles will be widely used. I hope it helps you!