Bull Frog Farming

[croftrobin]

Anyone have any experiences or tips to share?

My wife has a small farm of these - now into the second year.

[Maizefarmer]

Go on - you've got my attention well and truely!!!

Going price per frog or per lb/kg??

Just what on earth is done with them, how do you feed them, how long to grow, at what age are they slaugtered -and where's the market - I mean how the hel_l do you promote the business and sell the things??

Tell us about it - this has to be a first for the Farming forum.

MF

[croftrobin]

Go on - you've got my attention well and truely!!!

Going price per frog or per lb/kg??

Just what on earth is done with them, how do you feed them, how long to grow, at what age are they slaugtered -and where's the market - I mean how the hel_l do you promote the business and sell the things??

Tell us about it - this has to be a first for the Farming forum.

MF

They are sold at various stages - from tadpoles - to small frogs each at 1, 2 & 5 baht ; by breeding pair, (the male is given for free!) or just per Kg.

Breeding pairs are 2-300 baht,

Per Kg prices range from 45 - 85 depending upon time of year.

Once people hear you are breeding them, buyers turn up regularly and offer to buy them at various ages and also they are sold live at local markets.

They are fed on fish feeds and also love earthworms and insects.

[chownah]

Are these frog called "kohb" in Thai?...if so there are lots of people around the north who are raising them....my motherinlaw did once and my neighbor did a bit and the people three houses down has a regular business going long term raising them. You can buy the feed around here at the same places where you buy pig food or fish food. I don't know about the economics....if its like most other similar adventures you can bet that the profit margin is slim since so many people do it....if the profit marge increases then more people just build a tank (made from cement blocks...usually between 5 and 8 blocks high...minimal rebar) and start raising them to cash in....until the price comes down and people lose interest and stop (like my mother-in-law).

Frogs are great food...roasted or cooked in geng kob.

OFf Topic: The little frogs called "kiat" (different species...even full grown they are very small) are great too when fried crispy and eaten as a snack or even as a tasty side dish at a meal especially good with sticky rice.

Chownah

Edited April 24, 2007 by chownah

[Khonwan]

Are these frog called "kohb" in Thai?......

More like "ghop" to my ears. Reared on a small scale everywhere, I should think. My wife and kids enjoy them but, like insects, I've never gotten around to trying them yet.

[croftrobin]

Are these frog called "kohb" in Thai?...if so there are lots of people around the north who are raising them....my motherinlaw did once and my neighbor did a bit and the people three houses down has a regular business going long term raising them. You can buy the feed around here at the same places where you buy pig food or fish food. I don't know about the economics....if its like most other similar adventures you can bet that the profit margin is slim since so many people do it....if the profit marge increases then more people just build a tank (made from cement blocks...usually between 5 and 8 blocks high...minimal rebar) and start raising them to cash in....until the price comes down and people lose interest and stop (like my mother-in-law).

Frogs are great food...roasted or cooked in geng kob.

Chownah

They are bull frogs - Gohp - you can buy the meat in Macros's in 500g packs frozen - either legs only or whole frogs.

Like anything in Thailand - its the scale that brings in money. Everybody copies everyone else when they think they can make a few baht, however only the people who persevere are smiling. Many people try it and give up.

When you keep that female frog for a year or 18 months she is now worth up to 300 baht (more if you concentrate on certain breeds)

A single female frog can lay up to 10,000 eggs in a single night - you must collect the eggs before they are eaten by the adults and hatch them. In reality you will lose (and weed out) @ 65%

After about 7 weeks each young frog is now worth about 1 baht each.

If you do not have buyers (or like 99.5% of small frog farmers who do not feed them or encourage growth) then obviously you will not reap the profit.

This is not a huge operation and does not require a large area of land - however for not a lot of work it does provide a profitable return.

Works fine for the wife and her cousin or they would not waste their time!

[Pond Life]

Croftrobin,

Do you have a pictures of these Bull Frogs ?

I've seen what I thought were live toads for sale in the market but maybe they are the same as youre talking about.

Got any good recipe's or just poke a stick up their bum & chuck em on the BBQ like everything else ?

[Maizefarmer]

Oh, I know exactly what they are - and have eaten them before, just that I never knew they were farmed - always thought the kids went out and caught them.

There you after so many years here, I still have simple things to learn ......... never stop learning

[btate]

Oh, I know exactly what they are - and have eaten them before, just that I never knew they were farmed - always thought the kids went out and caught them.

There you after so many years here, I still have simple things to learn ......... never stop learning

MF one of my quotes is: the day I stop learning, bury me!

Bt

[Tilapia]

Anyone have any experiences or tips to share?

My wife has a small farm of these - now into the second year.

You can buy some feed from me, for a resonable price compared to the local shop, we do size 2mm to 5mm floating pellets, with whatever % of protein you wish to get.

Tilapia.

[Pond Life]

It gets stranger, did you know that you can sell the skins of frogs to the leather industry ?

Dont know if its the same variety of frog yet.

http://www.theleatherconnection.com/id46.htm

[croftrobin]

It gets stranger, did you know that you can sell the skins of frogs to the leather industry ?

Dont know if its the same variety of frog yet.

http://www.theleatherconnection.com/id46.htm

At 8 US Dollars a skin (After tanning) it looks a profitable sideline!!

[ozzydom]

Oh, I know exactly what they are - and have eaten them before, just that I never knew they were farmed - always thought the kids went out and caught them.

There you after so many years here, I still have simple things to learn ......... never stop learning

My mates wife had a nice little earner going with bullfrogs,she had about an 8 x 8m enclosure of mesh and heaps of truck tyres laying on their sides with the bottom kept full of water to create the living and breeding environment. Seemed to be an efficient and cheap set-up.

[Ullini]

Anybody can let me know where to buy a pair (or more) of Bullfrogs for breeding?

I would appreciate.

[ozzydom]

Anybody can let me know where to buy a pair (or more) of Bullfrogs for breeding?

I would appreciate.

Check with the Dept of Inland Fisheries in your area .

[wagner54]

Anybody can let me know where to buy a pair (or more) of Bullfrogs for breeding?

I would appreciate.

Check with Fruity. He is a member of TV who probably knows more about raising asian bullfrogs then any one else on this forum. If i'm not mistaken he is selling pairs for 500 baht. Just type in raising frogs and you will find him. Good luck

[BigSnake]

Only experience eating them, tasty little rascals

[sionapiorwerth]

Only experience eating them, tasty little rascals

found a farmer here on koh samui, behind the lamai temple selling 300 frog tadpoles for 100 baht for breeding.

some of the gardener are breeding them a good money spinner.

get some earth worms form the university, and make your own worm hotel from the plastic cuboard at Tescos with four drawers 1,000 baht

Some soil and green veg for them to eat, make sure you add holes to the three top drawers and for the bottom one keep this for the worm jucie ( Urine) great for trees and mix with compost.

frogs like worms chopped up and magost or termites, any kind of bugs, this way you have a higher rate of production with healthier frogs than feeding them pellets.

[Aquaculture]

Anyone know where to sell frogs near Khon Kean? Am starting a frog and fish farm on Girlfriend's farm.

--They are fed on fish feeds and also love earthworms and insects.--

I read that they grow best on worms + duckweed. But how to get frogs to eat duckweed?

Any helpful reply appreciated...

Edited July 20, 2009 by Aquaculture

[canuckamuck]

I would like to know about feeding, How much and what time. I have 3 adults that seem to do nothing at all, don't even move unless I move them. I throw food in there, but I don't know if they ever ate any of it.

Any tips?

[canuckamuck]

Adult frogs that is

[bannork]

If you're an early riser you'll find there's lots of farming programmes on Channel 11, NBT, and even short clips on Channel 7.

2 weeks ago, there was a piece about a frog farmer in Korat, he'd been doing it for 5 years successfully.

He didn't use concrete at all, rather his base was plastic with raised plastic mats with holes in it, presumably to let the frogs sit above the water, and the sides were plastic sheeting about a metre high. The plastic pond was held together by a frame of PVC pipes which also supplied the water.

I'm not sure how or if he drained or changed the water.

He said the plastic walls were good as it meant the frogs didn't injure themselves leaping against it, as they do with concrete.

He had 4 or 5 ponds for different stages of the frogs' development.

[wolfrunes]

If you're an early riser you'll find there's lots of farming programmes on Channel 11, NBT, and even short clips on Channel 7.

2 weeks ago, there was a piece about a frog farmer in Korat, he'd been doing it for 5 years successfully.

He didn't use concrete at all, rather his base was plastic with raised plastic mats with holes in it, presumably to let the frogs sit above the water, and the sides were plastic sheeting about a metre high. The plastic pond was held together by a frame of PVC pipes which also supplied the water.

I'm not sure how or if he drained or changed the water.

He said the plastic walls were good as it meant the frogs didn't injure themselves leaping against it, as they do with concrete.

He had 4 or 5 ponds for different stages of the frogs' development.

Hi all, I'm starting a frog farm soon and would like to have as much advise and suggestions on this. Hope you experienced guys can share.

Cheers

[bannork]

If you're an early riser you'll find there's lots of farming programmes on Channel 11, NBT, and even short clips on Channel 7.

2 weeks ago, there was a piece about a frog farmer in Korat, he'd been doing it for 5 years successfully.

He didn't use concrete at all, rather his base was plastic with raised plastic mats with holes in it, presumably to let the frogs sit above the water, and the sides were plastic sheeting about a metre high. The plastic pond was held together by a frame of PVC pipes which also supplied the water.

I'm not sure how or if he drained or changed the water.

He said the plastic walls were good as it meant the frogs didn't injure themselves leaping against it, as they do with concrete.

He had 4 or 5 ponds for different stages of the frogs' development.

Hi all, I'm starting a frog farm soon and would like to have as much advise and suggestions on this. Hope you experienced guys can share.

Cheers

I think there's an older thread on this forum about frog farming, it has more pages.

My wife refuses to operate a frog farm, saying the stench of frog excrement puts her off, it may be best far from the house but then you may have a problem of thieves.

[Pond Life]

Lots of information in this old thread.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Hands-Experi...hl=frog+farming

We currently have 23 frogs left from an initial batch of 100 (50 % escaped).

We keep them in a 1m well ring.

They are approaching eating size.

The water gets changed every 2 days & they dont smell bad.

[slapout]

Pond life; what do you figure the profitability of your experiment will be? Did you lose any to cannibalism? Did you raise the height of enclosure to prevent escape? 3 legs and the back will feed one person, not a big eater, Don't forget to cut tendons if deep frying.

[Pond Life]

I have no idea about profitability of the frogs.

I am aiming at self sufficiency.

It seems to me trying to make money from small scale agriculture in Thailand is counter productive.

I think you can save more money by eating your own produce than you can make by selling it.

The frogs escaped because I left the hose pipe in the tank, water level rose to the top & frogs wriggled thru the mesh on top.

We now fill with buckets.

I guess there was some canabalism early on, but now they are big & evenly matched in size.

The tank is now 2 rings high, the base of the lower one is sealed, the second just rests on top.

I have to wait for the MIL to leave before I can fry one up.

She says its bad for my karma to kill them.