It takes 3 to 4 years of initial investment to make a profit from selling hides or meat in national or international markets, but alligator farms have good financial potential.Although alligator farms have been established in Colorado and Idaho, the southern U.S. gives the best conditions for alligator farming.The following steps will show how to begin alligator farming.
Step 1: Determine the laws and regulations for your alligator farm.
There are restrictions for facilities and buildings in some areas, as well as buying eggs or hatchlings, and length requirements for harvesting alligators.The game and fish department is a good place to start.
Step 2: Decide if you should have an alligator farm or not.
The farm has breeding stock, hatching and nursery facilities, and grow-out buildings.The grow-out farm only raises hatchlings.In areas with wild alligator populations, state agencies that manage the alligator may also sell hatchlings.
Step 3: A building for utility use.
Incubation room, cooler, freezer, and storage space will be housed in an area of 800 square feet.There is no need for a nursery because the grow-out building holds new hatchlings.
Step 4: You can build a grow-out building for the hatchlings.
A typical building is 5,000 square feet.Different designs include concrete block, wood, or metal buildings, but all are thoroughly insulated and rest on a heated concrete foundation.Electric heating coils can be used but are less common than hot water pipes, which provide a consistent temperature of 86 to 88 degrees Fahrenheit (30 to 31 degrees Celsius) in the building.
Step 5: The pen area needs to be ready.
decks are prepared for each pen before laying insulation board and then pouring the concrete, and pools about 1 foot in depth with bottoms sloping towards a drain are easy to clean.Each pen is 14 feet wide and 12 feet long and has a deck that is 1.5 m wide for feeding and basking.The deck is next to the center aisle so you can feed the alligators without entering the pens.The pen is separated from the aisle by a concrete block wall.Some states require that each pen house about 160 2-foot (0.6 m) alligators or 50 4-foot (0.1.2m) alligator and be divided to separate them under 2 feet (60 cm) in length from each other.A wall made of concrete blocks can hold 80 2-foot alligators.
Step 6: For the hatchlings' second year, construct a second grow-out building.
The building is 7,300 square feet and uses the same plans as the first.A third building of 10,300 square feet will be built for their third year of growth.
Step 7: Make a decision on your alligator's diet.
Alligator feeds in pellet form are preferred by many alligator farmers and eliminate keeping a stock of fresh-frozen meats on hand.Feed and meat can be used together.
Step 8: Proper feeding rates can be used to ensure proper growth.
The first year's rates are 25 percent of body weight per week and are reduced to 18 percent by the third year.Gout can be cured by a 7- to 10-day fast.
Step 9: It's a good idea to organize each pen.
Brown spot disease, which leaves discolored spots on the hides, can be caused by stress.Alligators don't congregate in the wild except at breeding season, so it's important to keep the pens free of overcrowding.
Step 10: Schedule feeding and pen cleaning.
Alligators shouldn't be agitated just before or after feeding.The feeding and pen cleaning can be coordinated to prevent stress.