The art of feeding in any animal is critical to the animal staying alive and growing properly, if an animal is poorly fed, then there is every chance that it won’t grow very well and could lead to diseases attacking the animal which can lead to its’ death. While, if an animal is properly fed and getting the right nutrient, it will grow well and its’ immune system can help it fight off harmful diseases.

Catfish is no different from other animals, they need to be fed properly to help them grow and overcome various forms of diseases that may attack them.

You need to know:

• What is the quality of feed you are going to be feeding your catfish with?

• What size of feed and how much (quantity) should you give your Catfish?

• When is the right time and frequency to feed your Catfish?

These three points mentioned above are very critical when we talk about feeding of your fishes because it will help you reduce waste and properly manage your resources which in turn will help you remain profitable in your catfish farm business.

What is the quality of feed you are going to be feeding your catfish with?

It is important that we don’t just feed our catfish with anything we feel they will like without examining if it will be healthy for them to eat it and if it is adding the right nutrient for them at the current age/stage they are in at the moment. Feeding high-quality feeds required for the specific growth stage and health condition of the fish

The catfish has different stages of growth just like humans, we have the Fry stage, the Fingerling stage, the Juvenile stage, the Grow-out stage, the Broodstock stage. And as the grow through these different stages you need to feed them with feeds with the right nutrient required for meeting their needs at that stage.

Younger catfishes in the fries, fingerlings and juveniles stage require a higher percentage of crude protein content to support them in growing very fast growth. So, it’s not a matter of I through bread crumps into the poon and they ate it, watch their growth if that is what you keep feeding them with.

What size of feed and how much (quantity) should you give your Catfish?

Fish feeds comes in different sizes and sharp, the size you use to feed your catfishes will be dependent on the stage they are at and the size they are. We have feeds that are 1mm, 2mm, 4mm, 6mm, 8mm, 9mm and so on.

The fish feeds come in pellet form which they swallow depending on the size of the feed when compared to the size of their mouth. The younger fishes are given smaller pellet sized feeds and the sizes of the feeds increases as they grow older.

Apart from considering the right feeding size of the feeds that is been fed the fishes, you need to also feed them the right quantity of feeds so that they are not overfeed, which will be wastage on you part, you must not also underfeed them as that can result in diminishing growth.

You will notice that they usually rush to eat the food when it is thrown to them initially, watch for when they’re no longer rushing the food and only the weaker ones are feeding in a slower rate. It is best you stop then and monitor to see if they’ll eat more. If it seems that majority of them have been well fed, you then have to stop throwing in food.

When is the right time and frequency to feed your Catfish?

The need to have a particular time(s) during the day when you feed your fishes so that they anticipate and wait for it. This will make them eat well when the time comes for feeding. Catfishes at earlier stages of growth has higher metabolism when compared to older one.

For this reason, fries and fingerlings are usually fed more times a day while older ones are fed two to three times a day. This is because it takes certain number of hours before the food is digested, so you must understand these patterns as you draw up your feeding plan.

You can check out our YouTube video below that gives more visual exposure to “Proper Feeding Technique for Catfish”.

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