Fish & Chicks

[conradpdx]

I'm curious if anyone knows anything about farming fish and raising chicken at the same time. I know it sounds kinda weird but I've read a few things about people letting the chickens poop into the fish ponds, which in turn feeds the plankton which the fish (cat fish, trout, tilapia) feed on. I'm told in Asia they build the coops with wire floors right over the fish ponds. Not only does the plankton feed the fish, but so does all the spilled feed.

Seems like a win-win. Less chicken work cleaning coops. And the idea of fresh fish and eggs sounds good to me. I'm just wondering how much fish a couple hens can feed.

 

[debilorrah]

I know nothing about your question, however the title of this thread is SO CUTE!!!

 

[hooksetz]

I agree, the title kinda snags ya' don't it ? Sorry I can't help with your question.

 

[farmerlor]

Just off the top of my head, knowing nothing whatsoever about the subject, I'd venture a guess that the ammonia levels in the fish tank would be WAY off the charts. One thing I want to try though is keeping fish in stock tanks and putting out meat to spoil and have the fish eat the maggots that drip off the meat. I don't know why but that just intrigues me. I really need to raise some fish.

 

[Year of the Rooster]

Actually, I remember reading about the "Tea Bag" Method when it comes to using chicken manure on your gardens. You stick the manure in a cloth-like bag of some sort and stick that bag in a container of water then spray it over you garden like the commercial feed you see at gardening stores. The water is suppose to dilute the ammonia a bit and not make it as hot. So.. I'm guessing it wouldn't be as hot since it is such a large body of water, unless, there are so many chickens that would eventually cause toxic ammonia levels. Something else you would need to calculate is the rate it decomposes and how much the plankton use at one time. If the plankton and other microorganisms decompose and use the wastes at a slow rate then ofcourse the manure wouldn't decompose at a fast enough rate to leave the ammonia levels at a safe amount. If they do decompose the ammonia fast enough, then, well you get the idea. I bet it would be worth something to study.

 

[ranchhand]

Quote:
This is not only a great title, but a fascinating subject. I worked in the clam and fish farming industry for years, mostly office and bookkeeping, but absorbed a lot because I also worked hands-on as needed.

I called my ex-boss about this- he and the lead scientist are still raising clam seed, and have many years of university training and hands-on experience in the field of fish and shellfish farming. They have actually done some studies on the chicken (and pigs) feeding the fish idea.

They both felt it was a bad idea, because of disease and parasite transmission from chicken feces, to fish, to humans. And if you treat the chickens for worms, etc., that medication is stored in fish flesh and is ingested by humans. The fecal coliform transfer alone is pretty high.

Basically, algae feed on the feces(fertilizer), fish feed on the algae, and humans feed on the fish. Quite a few organisms can survive that transmission. And if you treat all possible parasitical infestations, as well as possible diseases, you are ingesting those medications, most of which are not recommended for human consumption.

Many people in Asia raise chickens and fish this way. Asia in general has pretty lax standards regarding food quality. Here in the USA, we rural chicken "tenders" don't have too many regulations to adhere to, but we all tend to be very careful about what we eat and how we raise our food animals.

So down off my soapbox, but thanks for posting a great question. It is an important area of research into sustainable foods, just needs more work!

 

[conradpdx]

So the plankton absorb the medications too? I've found a little info on the subject but it's geared towards large farms, that I'm trying to bring the numbers down to smaller scale.

Some of the sites I've found are:

http://www.fao.org/docrep/field/003/AC526E/AC526E03.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?

And this google catched page:

v=1lbflB8r3pghttp://209.85.173.132/search?q=cache:http://icargoa.res.in/poultry-fish.htm

from argi-info link above:

"The space requirement per bird is about 0.3 m2. Therefore poultry shelter of the size of 100 to 120 m2 area is required to accommodate 400-500 birds which are sufficient to fertilize a pond of 1 ha size. The size of the shelter and the number of the birds can be accordingly reduced depending on the size of the pond."

and

"It should be ensured that all prophylactic vaccines are given to the birds (strain vaccine for Mareck's dis ease, RK.D vaccine for Raniket Disease and fowl pox vaccine for fowl pox disease)"

Seems plausible to me, I don't see where there would be any greater risk than eating over the counter farmed fish, since these fish farms are fertilized with animal manure anyway.

Off the top of my head I was thinking more of a tank to catch most the droppings and raise the plankton separated from fish tanks and add the plankton water in a controlled manor to the stock tanks.

I've had aquariums most my life. And the idea of having one with fish to eat and a 1000 gallon tank sounds like fun.

Anyone know where I could get the fish tested if I were to try it?​