How long does it take to breed yabbies?

Breeding begins in spring when the water temperature reaches 15 to 16oC. The first batch of eggs (100 to 500 eggs per individual, depending upon the size of the female) hatches 8 to 10 weeks later in early summer. As soon as the young have left (a further 3 weeks later), the female is ready to breed again.

How often do freshwater yabbies breed?

When water temperature is above 15oC, yabbies spawn from early spring to mid summer. However, if the water temperature remains between 18o and 20oC with a long artificial day length of 14 hours, they are capable of spawning repeatedly up to five times through a year (Mills 1983, Merrick & Lambert 1991).

Do yabbies eat their babies?

The hundreds of eggs stay under the mother’s tail until they hatch which could take several months depending on the water temperature. The adults should be removed to another tank as they may eat the babies. The babies can be fed baby fish food that sinks but will also eat anything else that sinks to the floor.

How do yabbies reproduce?

Yabbies mate through an interesting process in which the male deposits a sperm package on the female’s body near her first set of legs. After he places the sperm package, the female responds by releasing her eggs, usually no later than a day after she receives the sperm.

Why do yabbies leave a dam?

In times of drought, yabbies can lie dormant (asleep), buried many metres under the ground until the rains come again. After rain, on damp nights, yabbies can walk many kilometres to get to new dams. In order to grow, yabbies shed their skin (exoskeleton).

How do you breed yabbies in a dam?

Return the largest 10 per cent of male and female yabbies caught in your traps back into the dam to breed, while removing all the small animals you catch. This will produce larger yabbies and provide around a 10 per cent increase in the value of yabbies sold.

How do you tell the difference between male and female yabbies?

Males have small bumps that look like pimples near the fifth pair of legs. Inspect the yabby’s third pair of legs if you don’t see any bumps on the fifth pair of legs. Females have transparent, oval-shaped openings at the base of the third pair of legs. Look for eggs on your yabby if you are unsure of the gender.

How fast do baby yabbies grow?

Growth and production Yabbies grow fastest at 22-28° C. At juvenile (1-2g) stocking rates of 5-10/m2 (in a grow-out pond), yabbies show 50-70% survival. Yabbies can average 40-60g in 6 months in summer conditions (above 20° C); growth rates can vary and individuals will range from 5-100g after 1 year.

How do you look after a baby yabby?

Baby yabbies should be separated from the adults and be fed baby fish food (that sinks). Yabbies make an interesting addition to the home aquarium. Yabbies breathe through gills, which are situated along each side of the body. For this reason good aeration and filtration are important for their wellbeing.

What do new born yabbies eat?

Baby yabbies should be separated from the adults and be fed baby fish food (that sinks).

How many yabbies does it take to stock a dam?

To stock your dam use dam stock breeders 50 – 100mm head to tail, these are yabbies large enough to look after themselves, too large for most predators to eat and ready to breed. Minimum required to start a population is 100, maximum is 1,000.

When do yabbies start to breed?

At our Dubbo farm yabbies started berrying up in early September even with the low water levels. Now in late September both here and across the whole of Australia yabbies are starting to breed. In all western drainages of NSW the common yabby Cherax destructor, occurs. Generally considered a lowland species this is not the case.

Do yabbies need a hatchery to breed?

The major Yabby farmers don’t need a hatchery to produce their offspring, for most farms the abundance of offspring is the problem as all the juveniles consume resources need to grow large yabbies. Across Australia the breeding season for yabbies ( Cherax destructor) has begun.

How do yabbies grow so fast?

Yabbies are cold blooded animals with growth directly related to water temperature. They grow fast over summer and slow over winter. Yabbies breed, based on age not size. When they breed and hatch the eggs, typically its 50/50 male/female yabbies so when you buy dam stock you get roughly 50/50 males and females.

Are yabby crayfish coming to Australia?

The Australian New South Wales government looks at the prospect of farming yabby. Yabby (Cherax destructor) is the best known of the hundred or so freshwater crayfish species found in Australia (not to be confused with the saltwater yabby, ghost shrimp or pink nipper, which is often caught for fish bait using a ‘yabby’ pump).