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Pangkabuhayan with
Entrepreneurship

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ESC6 – Edukasyong Pantahanan at Pangkabuhayan with Entrepreneurship

Bachelor of Elementary Education
 Edukasyong Pantahanan at
Pangkabuhayan with Entrepreneurship

Chapter 3

Agricultural Arts:
RAISING ANIMALS FOR FOOD
PRODUCTION
LESSON 1: Backyard Duck Raising and Marketing

ESC6 – Edukasyong Pantahanan at Pangkabuhayan with Entrepreneurship

Bachelor of Elementary Education
Chapter 3
RAISING ANIMALS FOR FOOD PRODUCTION
Lesson 1 – Backyard Duck Raising and Marketing

Introduction

A nimal raising is another way of earning income for the family. While poultry is more commonly
associated with raising chickens for meat and egg production, duck raising is also becoming more popular
nowadays.
Duck are raised for many economic uses: meat, fresh
eggs, balut, penoy, salted, and feathers. They are also kept
and bred by aviculturists, or people who keep and raise birds.
They are also displayed in zoos.
Duck is the common name for a large number of species
in the waterfowl family Anatidae, which also includes swans
and geese. They are mostly aquatic birds, smaller than the
swans and geese, and live in both fresh water and sea water.
Male ducks are called drakes, females are called hens, and
babies are ducklings.
Ducks could be raised free range, in cages, in barns, or in
batteries. Although they like water where they could swim,
they do not depend on it to survive.
Female ducks are not good at brooding their eggs and
raising their duckling though there are some exceptions like the
Rouen duck and the Muscovy duck. In the past, duck raisers put
duck eggs for hatching under broody hens. Nowadays, this role
has been replaced by an incubator. However, young ducklings
rely on their mothers for supply of preen oil to make them
waterproof. When the ducklings grow their own feathers, they
produce preen oil from the sebaceous gland near the base of their
tail.

[Link]
ducks/
Specific Objectives

At the end of the lesson, the students should be able to:

• enumerate the advantages of raising ducks;

• discuss important characteristics of ducks for a successful duck raising;
• explain the brooding, housing, and other essential needs of ducks;
• cite important pointers in successful duck raising;
• plan a small backyard duck raising project; and
• demonstrate the care needed before marketing duck eggs.

ESC6 – Edukasyong Pantahanan at Pangkabuhayan with Entrepreneurship

Bachelor of Elementary Education
Duration

Chapter3: Backyard Duck Raising and Marketing = 6 hours

(4 hours discussion; 2 hours
assessment)

LESSON PROPER

Advantages of Duck Raising

Duck raising could be done commercially or on a small-scale meat or eggs production. They can
also be successfully raised on your own backyard. Here are some of the advantages of duck raising:
1. Housing facilities of ducks are simpler, cheaper, non-elaborate, and utilizes less space compared to
chickens.
2. Ducks are hardly and need minimal care allowing you to do other things.
3. Ducks easily adopt themselves to all types of
environment.
4. Ducks lay their eggs in the morning or at night, so
you can be sure of fresh eggs for breakfast.
5. Ducks have shorter brooding time compared to
chickens and grow fast.
6. Ducks are resistant to common avian diseases.
7. Ducks feed on a variety of foods like corn, cassava,
rice, fruits, algae, aquatic weeds, green legumes,
earthworms, snails, and insects, which makes
feeding cost cheaper.
8. Ducks have lower mortality rate, usually live
longer than chickens, and lay eggs for a longer
period.
9. There is a high demand for duck meats and eggs.
10. It provides additional income to the family.

Duck Raising Tools and Equipment

There are tools and equipment needed in duck raising. It helps to know them and their uses. Here
are a few of the more common ones.

• Feeder. A feeder is used in feeding the ducks. This is where the

food is placed for the ducks to feed on it. The number of feeders
depend on the number of ducks being raised. Keep the feeder
always clean to ensure the heal of the ducks.
Source: [Link]
kQpwQI/AAAAAAAAAKw/u822iwpeiMw/s1600/BY+Chicken+[Link]

ESC6 – Edukasyong Pantahanan at Pangkabuhayan with Entrepreneurship

Bachelor of Elementary Education
 • Heater or brooder. This is used in regulating the
temperature in the duck house. It is the most helpful
in keeping the duckling warm during cold weather.
Source: [Link]
fhTI/AAAAAAAABwI/fOhD0veMKuQ/s1600/duckling+in+[Link]

• Incubator. This is an equipment that is used for hatching eggs

artificially. This is especially useful for a big number of duck eggs for
hatching.
Source
[Link]

• Egg tray. This is where eggs are placed after collecting and cleaning the
eggs ready for transporting to the market.
Source: [Link]
Soundproofing/dp/B093RWZ3WB/ref=sr_1_25?dchild=1&keywords=duck+egg+cartons&qid=1632476888&sr=8-
25

• Ventilation fan. This is used to ensure maximum ventilation in the duck house.
It is also used to reduce the temperature in the duck house during very hot
weather.
Source:
[Link]

• Laying nest. This is where the ducks lay their eggs and it
is also used for natural brooding.
Source: [Link]
help/[Link]

• Water pot or drinker. This is used for supplying clean

drinking water to the ducks. The ducks also use the water
to clean their nostrils as they drink.
Source:
[Link]

ESC6 – Edukasyong Pantahanan at Pangkabuhayan with Entrepreneurship

Bachelor of Elementary Education
 • Cage or Coop. The ducks are kept in a cage or coop
where they can rest, keep warm, and protect them from
predators like dogs.
Source: [Link]

• Egg scale. This equipment is used in determining the

weight of the eggs. This is important in identifying
fertile eggs for hatchery and egg size.

Source:
[Link]

• Egg washer. This is an equipment used in large poultry

farms. It is used to wash eggs before they are delivered to
customers.
Source:
[Link]
812/0_CAAA327_CAAA125_CAAA145/[Link]

Brooding Ducks
Duck raising slightly differs from poultry farming (chicken). Ducklings grow fast and when they
do, they will be consuming lots of feeds. They also go out into the range earlier than chicks do.

Successful duck raising involves knowing about brooding ducks. As soon as the eggs are hatched,
the ducklings should be placed in a brooder. The duck brooder should be dry with a soft litter. Corncob and
wood shavings are recommended by experienced duck raisers. A 250-watt heat lamp is used to provide heat
to the ducklings about 90 degrees Fahrenheit and decreased by 5 degrees every week. If chickens are used
to hatch the eggs, then all the necessary steps are done by the hen.

ESC6 – Edukasyong Pantahanan at Pangkabuhayan with Entrepreneurship

Bachelor of Elementary Education
 Source: [Link] ; [Link]

Housing Requirements
Ducks are more resistant to cold than chickens. They only need a simple house with large
ventilation spaces to keep them safe at night and give protection against predators like dogs. These
ventilation spaces will also aerate and prevent build-up of unpleasant odor in the duck house. The coop
windows could be covered to make the inside warmer especially during cold weather.
Source: [Link]

If you have a very limited space, you can easily improvise a good
duck house using a big fruit basket or a big drum. You can locate it in a
suitable place like near water or a wet place. Provide a high door for
entering and exiting because they enter their house raising their heads.
Usually each duck will require 2 to 3 square feet flooring space.
You can also put your ducks in a concrete floored house but
provide 5-6 inches litter inside. It doubles as a place to lay their eggs. The
more litters, the more they motivated to lay eggs. It also keeps the eggs dry
and prevent the eggs from breaking.
A perch, unlike in chicken coop, is not needed because ducks do
not roost on bars or rods like chicken.

[Link]
roost-is-so-important-for-muscovy-ducks/
You can also construct a low fence around the duck house or range area. Since most domestic duck
breeds cannot fly, a low fence is just right to keep them inside the range. A higher fence or chicken wire

ESC6 – Edukasyong Pantahanan at Pangkabuhayan with Entrepreneurship

Bachelor of Elementary Education
around the fence can provide safety net against predators.

Food and Water

Water is important to animals specially to ducks. Chickens like to roost while ducks like to dip
their bill into water. Ducks also like to swim and preen their feathers in a pool of water. Provide them with
some water that is enough for a dip or bath. If it is possible, you can bring your ducks to a pond for a swim.
Limit their swimming activity to 2 hours daily. More than two hours will make them very tired and eat
more feeds.
Ducks are good at fending for themselves. They go around to look for food and will generally find
some. It will help your ducks if you provide them with a good range of pen where they could find food.

[Link]
Turtle_Rock_Community_Park-Irvine_California.html

You can also give your ducks pellets as supplement to what they eat from rummaging around. This
is very helpful during rainy days when the ducks cannot go out to find food.

Do not feed your ducks with leftover food like bread or rice. This is not the best food for them
because they do not contribute a lot to their nutritional needs which may affect their total health. It is best
that they are given plants and grass diet.
For growing ducks, you can feed them with plantain leaves, chickweed, and household salad

ESC6 – Edukasyong Pantahanan at Pangkabuhayan with Entrepreneurship

Bachelor of Elementary Education
greens. Ducks eat a lot of insects and they help in eradicating insects in your backyard.

Egg Production
In the Philippines, duck raising has become a very lucrative business because Filipinos like duck
eggs and they processed into balut, penoy, and salted eggs. They also used for making leche flan, cakes,
pastries, and breads. Their meat is also a good source of protein.

[Link] ; [Link] ;
; [Link]

Ducks can lay from 100-300 eggs per year depending on the breed. The following table shows the
eggs laying capacity of Pateros and Peking ducks.

Breed Age (Months) Rate of Growth Number of Egg Per Year

Pateros ducks 6 months 2 ½ kilograms 250-280

Peking ducks 6 months 3 ½ kilograms 180-200

Pointers on Duck Raising

The success of your backyard duck raising project depends on your breeding stock. It is always
better to buy ducks from reliable duck raisers. The native or Pateros duck
is good for egg laying while the Peking duck is good for meat and egg
production. Muscovy duck or commonly known as “Pato” is low in egg
production but it can fend for itself better than the Pateros and Peking
ducks. Take note of the following:
1. Pateros ducks are better for egg production because they start they
laying eggs when they are about 4-6 months old. Peking and
Muscovy ducks start laying eggs when they are about 6-7 months
old.
2. For breeding purposes, provide one male for every five female
ducks. Breeders should be healthy, strong, and without physical
defects.
3. Ducklings should be kept in the brooder until they are one month [Link]
old. The brooding temperature should be as follows: content/gallery/pekin-duck_1/[Link]

ESC6 – Edukasyong Pantahanan at Pangkabuhayan with Entrepreneurship

Bachelor of Elementary Education
 Age (Week) Temperature
Week 1 95oF
Week 2 80oF
Week 3 80oF

4. The proper brooding temperature indicator is the behavior of the ducklings. The ducklings gather
together toward the source of the heat when temperature is low and are dispersed or spread evenly
when the temperature is just right. If the temperature is too hot, they move away from the source
of the heat.
5. Provide a good brooding area of ½ square foot per duckling during the first week. Increase the
area by ½ square foot every week until the fourth week.
6. Six weeks old ducklings can already be transferred from the brooder to the growing house and the
layers into the laying house at four months old.
7. Provide your ducks with the right kind of feed as follows:
- 1 day to 6 weeks old ducklings should be fed with starter mash with 10-21 percent crude
protein.
- 6 weeks to 4 months old ducklings should be fed with growing mash that contains 16 percent
crude protein.
- 4 months old ducks and above should be fed with laying ratio with at least 16 percent crude
protein.
- add 10 grams of chopped green leaves like kangkong, camote, ipil-ipil, and legumes into their
food per duck per day. Give at least 10 grams of chopped green leaves per duck per day.
- You can feed fresh water snails to ducks. It increases their capacity to lay eggs.
- Provide your ducks plenty of clean fresh water all the time.
8. After two years, start growing another set of ducks to replace your old set of layers. You can sell
the old stock for meat.
9. Do not aloe ducks to stay under the rain. It could make them sick.

Marketing Duck Eggs

In the Philippines, most ducks are raised for their eggs which are
consumed by the family or processed into balut, penoy, and itlog na maalat (salted
eggs) and sold in the market. With the introduction of Peking ducks in the
Philippines, meat type ducks are also becoming more popular.

Ducks lay eggs at night and early in the morning. Gather the eggs as soon as the
layers are released for the early morning feeding. If there are still ducks that are
laying, allow them to continue nesting and collect their eggs. later. Removing the
eggs as soon as possible prevents or lessens cracks and dirt.

[Link]

ESC6 – Edukasyong Pantahanan at Pangkabuhayan with Entrepreneurship

Bachelor of Elementary Education
 Before bringing the eggs to the market, wash dirty ones carefully in warm water after collecting
them. Do not use cold water because it will cause the egg contents to contract, drawing dirt and
microorganisms through the pores of the shell. You can use knife,
soiled paper or towel to clean the eggs. There are also eggs
sanitizers available commercially which can be used to clean the
eggs and kill bacteria.
Use egg baskets or cartons for transporting eggs from one
place to another. Choose a tray that can carry 30 eggs at a time.
Place the eggs in the tray with the smaller end down. You can
also use bamboo baskets, wooden boxes, and other similar
containers for transporting eggs to the market or other places.
Line the baskets with a layer of straw or rice bran to prevent
cracks and avoid breaking them.
You can sell the eggs by piece, by the dozen, or by the
tray (30 eggs per tray). You can make a market survey to
determine the selling price of duck eggs in the market. Usually,
they are larger in size than chicken eggs and more expensive.

Summary

Ducks are raised for may economic uses: meat, fresh eggs, balut, penoy, salted eggs, and feathers.
They are also kept and bred by aviculturist or people who keep and raise birds and are also displayed in
zoos.
Duck is the common name for a large number of species in the waterfowl family Anatidae, which
also common includes swans and geese. They are mostly aquatic birds, smaller than the swans and geese,
and live in both fresh water and sea water. They could be raised free range, in cages, in barns, or in
batteries.
Ducks need only a simple house with large ventilation spaces to keep them safe at night and give
protection against predators like dogs. These ventilation spaces will also prevent build-up of bad odor in
the duck house. The coop windows could be covered to make the inside warmer especially during cold
weather.
Chickens like to roost while ducks like to dip their bill into water. Ducks also like to swim and
preen their feathers in a pool of water. Provide some water that is enough for a dip or bath. If it is possible,
you van bring your ducks to a pond for a swim. Limit their swimming activity to 2 hours daily. More than
two hours will make them very tired and eat more feeds.
The success of your backyard duck raising project depends on your breeding stock. Buy ducks
from reliable duck raisers. The native or Pateros duck is good for egg production while the Pecking duck
is good for meat and egg production. Muscovy duck or commonly known as Pato is low in egg production
but it can fend for itself better than the Pateros and Peking ducks.
Before marketing the eggs, wash dirty ones carefully in warm water after collecting them. Do not
use cold water because it will cause the egg contents to contact, drawing dirt and microorganisms through
the pores of the shell. you can also use knife, soiled paper or towel or egg sanitizers.

ESC6 – Edukasyong Pantahanan at Pangkabuhayan with Entrepreneurship

Bachelor of Elementary Education
ESC6 – Edukasyong Pantahanan at Pangkabuhayan with Entrepreneurship
Bachelor of Elementary Education
 Edukasyong Pantahanan at
Pangkabuhayan with Entrepreneurship

Chapter 3

Agricultural Arts:
RAISING ANIMALS FOR FOOD
PRODUCTION
LESSON 2: Backyard Tilapia Culture

ESC6 – Edukasyong Pantahanan at Pangkabuhayan with Entrepreneurship

Bachelor of Elementary Education
Chapter3
Raising Animals for Food Production
Lesson2 – Backyard Tilapia Culture
Introduction:

S mall-scale fisheries and aquaculture provide employment to millions of people worldwide with majority
living in developing countries who work in fish production and food security and nutrition.
Fish is an important source of nutrients for many people and usually considered as the cheapest
form of animal protein. With most capture fisheries worldwide, which are considered as fully exploited or
overexploited, aquaculture will continue to increase with population growth, rising incomes, and increasing
urbanization.
The challenge to meeting a growing demand will be gaining better knowledge on methods of
culture, improvements in postharvest processing to reduce fish losses, technical assistance, and funding
from the government

Specific Objectives:

At the end of the lesson, the students should be able to:

1. explain the importance of tilapia culture;
2. discuss water qualities for tilapia culture
3. describe the methods used in tilapia culture;
4. explain how to harvest tilapia for family consumption and marketing; and
5. plan a small backyard tilapia culture project.

Duration

Chapter 3: Backyard Tilapia Culture = 3 hours

(2 hours discussion; 1-hour
assessment)

LESSON PROPER:

Advantages of Tilapia for Aquaculture

Tilapia is one of the best species for aquaculture for the following reasons:
• It can easily adapt to crowded conditions.
• It can feed with feed supplements.
• It matures early and is ready to breed early as three months or when it measures 15 cm.
• It can lay eggs at an average of eight times a year.
• Female Tilapia lays 100 to 5000 eggs per spawning.
• It feeds on small plants and animals.
• It can be raised on a large-scale basis.

ESC6 – Edukasyong Pantahanan at Pangkabuhayan with Entrepreneurship

Bachelor of Elementary Education
Water Qualities for Tilapia Culture
There are qualities of water that need to be considered for a successful tilapia culture. These are
temperature, turbidity, salinity, pH, and dissolved oxygen.
Temperature
Temperature is a measure of warmth or coldness of fishponds in comparison to some standard
value. Tilapia can thrive in water with a temperature from 22 0C making it suitable to be raised in the
Philippines. The best temperature for them is 25 0C to 350C/ Extremely cold water may prevent the fish
from spawning or producing eggs.

Turbidity
Turbidity refers to the cloudiness or muddiness
of the water. Tilapia culture requires water that is clean,
free from sediments or silt because this tends to clog
and damage the gills. Also, if the water has plenty of
sediments, sunlight cannot penetrate the water
preventing photosynthesis or the process by which
plants make their own food. Photosynthesis enables the
growth of plankton (lumot) a natural food for the fish.

[Link]
age_internal&__nodl&mt_nav=0

Salinity
Salinity is the measure of salt content of the water. A salinity of 10-15 parts per thousand of
favorable for fresh water fishes. There is no need to test the
salinity of pond water if the farm is located far from the
sea.

pH of water

pH is the measure of alkalinity or acidity of the

water. pH measurements range from 1-14. A pH. of 1-6 is
acidic, 7 is neutral and 8-14 is basic. A pH of 7-8 is good for
planktons. Tilapia can survive with a pH 3.5 to 12. Too
much acidity in water affects the metabolism of the fish,
causes stunted growth, and poor reproduction. A pH meter
is used to measure the pH of water.

[Link]
liquids/?v=fa868488740a

ESC6 – Edukasyong Pantahanan at Pangkabuhayan with Entrepreneurship

Bachelor of Elementary Education
Dissolved oxygen (DO)
Dissolved oxygen is the amount of oxygen dissolved which is available
to sustain marine life in a body of water such as a lake, river, or stream
([Link]). The ideal dissolved oxygen content of water
that proves good tilapia growth is three parts per million. It can e
measured by a DO meter. It can be detected by backyard fishpond owners
by observing the surfaceing movements of the fish.
When the fish breathes at the surface of the water, it means that
they are not getting enough dissolved oxygen. If this happens, increase
the supply of dissolved oxygen by agitating and channeling the water
through pipes along the dikes into the pond or by moving the water by
any means. [Link]
616495/[Link]

[Link]
and- views/2011/october/water-quality-in-times-of-
drought/

Methods of Culturing Tilapia

There are methods of culturing tilapia: pond culture and cage culture.

Pond Culture
A pond culture is an artificially confined body of water for
fish culture. It can be constructed like a dam. An embankment of
water across the river, irrigation or by any stream of water can serve
as a fishpond. A fresh water or brackish water can be utilized for
tilapia culture. Golden snails in the pond improve the production of
plankton, the natural food for the fish.
Pond Preparation
[Link]

ESC6 – Edukasyong Pantahanan at Pangkabuhayan with Entrepreneurship

Bachelor of Elementary Education
 The pond should be constructed in such a way that tilapia cannot escape from the pond. A
longitudinal pond with a width of 1-2 meters is ideal for a backyard tilapia pond culture. The length could
be any size and the ideal depth is ½ to 1 meter deep.
The soil that is suitable for pond construction should
contain sufficient amount of clay to lessen percolation and
withstand seepage or leakage. Percolation is the slow passage
of a liquid through a filtering medium.
Choose any sunny place to enhance the growth of algae or
phytoplankton and other natural food organisms. Do not
construct a pond on a location which is easily flooded.
Ground water is good for tilapia and other fish
species. It is safe against pollution or insecticide
contamination. Tap water can be used provided chlorine
content is reduced by allowing it to stand for several hours.
This will reduce the chlorine content.
Provide an outlet pipe covered with fine wire mesh to prevent the tilapia from escaping from the
pond. Apply organic fertilizer to the pond before filling in water. A .1 kilogram of chicken manure is enough
to fertilize 1-meter square pond or .2 kilogram of other kind of animal manure to fertilize 1-meter square
pond

Pond Management

There are various factors to consider in managing pond for tilapia culture. Here are few:

• Maintain water level at a depth of ½ to ¾ meter.

• Apply fertilizer every two week. Chicken manure can be applied with a ratio of .1 kilogram per
square meter.
• Always check the screen installed in the inlet and outlet pipes to prevent predators, like catfish and
mudfish, from entering and attacking the fingerlings.
• Control the growth of aquatic weeds because they prevent sunlight to penetrate the pond reducing
the production of planktons. Excessive weeds also make harvesting difficult.
• Prevent pond from contamination.
• Supplement the food by feeding them with commercial fish meals. A fine rice bran (corn), dried
azolla, or ipil-ipil leaves can serve the purpose of providing additional nutrients for the fish.

Dried Azolla Rice bran

Ipil – Ipil leaves

ESC6 – Edukasyong Pantahanan at Pangkabuhayan with Entrepreneurship

Bachelor of Elementary Education
 • Feed the fish once or twice a day. Scatter the feed on one part of the pond. Active feeding responses
of the fish indicate that they are healthy. You can monitor the development of their growth when
you see them eat every day. Do not feed the fish more than what they need.

[Link] ;
[Link]

Controlling Tilapia Spawning

A major problem I pond culture is the prolific fish breeding that occurs in ponds under the mixed-
culture method. This may result to overcrowding in the pond and small-sized fish (less than 100 grams)
grown which may not be of high market value. Thus, strategies for producing tilapia in ponds should aim
at controlling spawning.

Mixed-sex culture

In mixed-sex culture, both males and

females are raised together but harvested before or as
soon as they reach sexual maturity. Because of
limited growth period, the fish harvested are small-
sized.

In this method, fish are usually stocked at

low rates so that competition in food intake is
prevented and rapid growth is ensured.

[Link]
Sex-Culture-Tilapia/dp/3659329509

Mono-sex culture

Mono-sex culture is used to avoid a problem that may

result prolific breeding of tilapia. In this method, ponds are
stocked with males only because the males grow much faster
than females.

[Link]

ESC6 – Edukasyong Pantahanan at Pangkabuhayan with Entrepreneurship

Bachelor of Elementary Education
 There are three methods of obtaining male fingerlings: hybridization, sex reversal, and manual
sexing. In all their methods, there is no assurance of a 100 % success. A combination of methods may yield
better results.

Hybridization can be used to produce males only. The hybrids can then be subjected to hand
sexing and/ or sex-reversal treatment. Manual sexing is done by separating the males from the females and
by inspecting visually the external urinogenital openings. The success of manual sexing depends on the
skill of the person, species to be sorted out, and fish size.

Polyculture

Polyculture refers to raising tilapia with other species

that have different feeding niches like mudfish and catfish. This
is done to take advantage of many natural foods that are available
in the pond and to produce a secondary crop, or to control tilapia
breeding

[Link]
the-same-fish-pond-at-the-same-time/

Cage Culture

This is a method that uses a big body of water. Fish cages are installed in rivers, water reservoirs,
lakes, and other similar bodies of water. Cage culture has been gaining popularity in our country because
of its market acceptability in various regions. Tilapia is relatively tolerant to many environmental factors
which it easier to raise.

Tilapia culture using a small freshwater reservoir was designed to provide marginal fishermen
additional source of livelihood and productively utilize man-made fresh water bodies.

Site Specifications

In choosing a site for the cage culture, the folllowing should be considered:

• Sufficient source of good water whole year round.

• Plenty of natural food (greenish water indicates rich natural food).
• Free from industrial, agricultural, and domestic pollutant.
• Presence of clay loam soil which holds water and maintain depth between 0.6 to 1m.
• Accesibility of the place.

Net cage Specifications

In cage culture, the cage could be fixed/ stationary or floating which depends on the depth of the
water. The sizes of nets may vary from small to large, to contain the small fry and bigger-sized fish.

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Bachelor of Elementary Education
Floating cage

The floating type is good for 5 meters and above depth.

The net cages are attached to bamboo rafts. The structure is held
in place by weights or sinkers. A freeboard of 1 meter is left above
the waterline. Floats could be made of bamboo rafts, plastic
containers, oil drums, or Styrofoam.

[Link]
cage-culture-of-grouper/
Stationary Cage

A stationary cage is like a floating cage. The

module may also have six or more compartments. Fish
cages attached to a staked bamboo (60cm-1m deep) are
good for shallow areas. Its basic framework is made of
nylon net sewn like an inverted mosquito net.

The net flooring, which may or may not touch

the bottom, is kept at least 0.6 meters above the water
level. The posts are strengthened by a brace while a cover [Link]
cages_fig2_33418501
protects the stocks from floods and poachers.

Harvesting Tilapia

Tilapia can be harvested three to four months after stocking or when the fish weighs 80 to 100
grams. You can harvest tilapia using selective or total harvest depending on market demand for tilapia.

The best time to harvest tilapia using total harvesting is in the morning. Drain the pond a night
before to a water level of one foot deep. Catch the big ones with a fish net having holes of 1 inch. Then
drain the pond to around ½ foot to catch the small ones.

If there is a mix of sexes, there should be fingerlings. Transfer the fingerlings in a drum or a
small pond. If they are placed in a drum or any container, avoid exposing them to sunlight. The fingerlings
can be used for the next stocking.

There are times when harvested large tilapia have earthly smell. Just place them in a container
with flowing water for one to two days to remove the smell.

Marketing Tilapia

There are two kinds of retailing fish: itinerant selling and fixed sales point (Eddie, 1983). The
itinerant peddler sells fish in public markets or other fixed sites or bring fresh catch to the residence of
prospective customers. At present, pedal bicycles, tricycles, and motor vehicles are also being used which
enables sellers to sell bigger quantities of fish at a time.

ESC6 – Edukasyong Pantahanan at Pangkabuhayan with Entrepreneurship

Bachelor of Elementary Education
 In the fixed sales point, sellers sell fresh fish in specialized fish market, food market, general
market, or in the wet section of public markets.

Markets are open for business every day in urban areas, whereas markets in rural areas are open
only every other working day or only one or two days a week. In rural areas, fish traders can be considered
semi-itinerant, operating in different markets on different days. Tilapia is usually sold by kilos. The current
price is from Php 100.00 – Php 150.00 per kilo.

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Summary

Fish is an important source of nutrients for many people. It is also considered as the
cheapest form of animal protein. With most capture fisheries worldwide, which are considered as fully
exploited or over exploited, aquaculture will be central to meeting fish demand, which will continue ti
increase with population growth, rising incomes, and increasing urbanization.

Fish culture requires only a small capital and a small space. It is also easy to manage, to control
parasites and diseases, and to harvest. Tilapia is one of the best species for aquaculture because it can easily
adapt to crowded conditions, it can be fed with feed supplements, it matures early and is ready to breed as
early as three months or when it measures 15cm., it can lay eggs at an average of eight times a year, (female
tilapia lays 100 to 5000 eggs per spawning), it feeds on small plants and animals, and it can be raised on a
large-scale basis. There are qualities of water that need to be considered for a successful tilapia culture.
These are temperature, turbidity, salinity, pH, and dissolved oxygen.

There are two methods of culturing tilapia: pond culture and cage culture. A major problem in
pond culture is the prolific fish breeding that occurs in ponds under the mixed-culture method. This may
result to overcrowding in the pond and small-sized fish (less than 100 grams) grown which may not be of
high market value. Strategies for producing tilapia in ponds should control spawning.

Tilapia can be harvested three to four months after stocking or when the fish weighs 80 to 100
grams. You can harvest tilapia using selective or total harvest depending on market demand for tilapia.

ESC6 – Edukasyong Pantahanan at Pangkabuhayan with Entrepreneurship

Bachelor of Elementary Education
 The best time to harvest tilapia using total harvesting is in the morning. Drain the pond a night
before to a water level of one foot deep. Catch the big ones with a fish net having holes of 1 inch. Then
drain the pond to around ½ foot to catch the small ones. Tilapia are usually sold by the kilo. The current
price is from Php 100.00 – Php 150.00 per kilo.

ESC6 – Edukasyong Pantahanan at Pangkabuhayan with Entrepreneurship

Bachelor of Elementary Education