I read azolla can be grown as a free protein feed for animals. How do I set up an azolla bed and feed it safely?
How do I grow azolla as cheap protein feed for cattle and poultry?
SSelvam K6mo ago · 286 views
6 Answers
🌾Farmer.in Krishi TeamExpert ✓6mo ago
Azolla is a small floating water fern that grows fast and is rich in protein, so it makes a cheap supplementary feed for cattle, poultry, ducks, goats and fish. To grow it, make a shallow water bed lined with plastic in partial shade, add some soil and a little cow dung slurry as nutrients, and put in fresh azolla culture; it multiplies quickly and you can harvest a portion daily. Wash the harvested azolla in clean water before feeding to remove the dung smell, and introduce it gradually mixed with the regular feed rather than all at once. It is a supplement, not a full replacement for the main ration, so use it to top up protein and reduce concentrate cost. Keep the bed clean, top up nutrients regularly, and restart the culture if it turns reddish or stops growing well.
RRamasamy P6mo ago
Washing the azolla before feeding and mixing it slowly into the feed worked for me, the cows took to it. I keep the bed in light shade, in full sun it did not grow as well.
MMurugesan V5mo ago
Harvest a portion daily and leave the rest, do not strip the bed bare, because what you leave keeps multiplying. Topping up the cow dung slurry and a little nutrient every few days kept mine growing fast through the season. When it turned reddish I restarted with fresh culture as advised.
SSenthil Kumar R4mo ago
Treat it as a top up, not the main feed. I feed a small daily amount to my cows and hens along with the regular ration and it trimmed my concentrate cost a bit. The bed is cheap to set up with a plastic sheet in a shallow pit, but keep it shaded and clean or it stops growing well.
AArumugam S4mo ago
My ducks and hens take to azolla even more readily than the cows, they go straight for it. I float a little in their water and it is gone quickly, and it clearly helped the laying. Just rinse off the dung smell first and do not let the bed dry out, mine crashed once when I forgot to top up the water in peak summer.
VVelmuthu Gounder3mo ago
Keep a small starter bed going separately as insurance, because the main bed can crash suddenly in heat or if it goes too acidic, and then you have fresh culture ready to restart. Mine has gone reddish and stalled twice over the years and having backup culture saved me from having to source it again.