Duckweed - a potential high-protein feed resource for domestic animals and fish. Duckweeds can grow very quickly in small ponds, ditches or swamps where they can extract large quantities of nutrients, making the plant a potential source of protein for humans and livestock, notably poultry and fish. The feeding value will require additional assessment as described above with, Per the source of the content for this article, additional needs for ruminant research is needed: ”Depending on the nutrient level in the culture medium, duckweeds may be an important source of trace minerals and phosphorus, but if the protein is readily fermentable in the rumen the dietary amino acid supply to the animal will be minimal. An environmental consultant recently commented to this author that he witnessed a farm feeding duckweed to ducks in a developing country. Duckweed in cow feed. Rutgers professor is at the forefront of duckweed farming research Climate change is threatening the world’s food supply and the risk of supply disruptions is expected to grow as temperatures rise, according to a new United Nations report co-authored by Rutgers human ecology professor Pamela McElwee. Potentially this plant may perform similarly to Spirulina, also used for this purpose and in fact will be more useful as it is easier to raise and grows in turbid water, which tends to inhibit blue green algae growth. How Fast Does Duckweed Grow? Duckweed grows best in tropical climates though survives all but deserts and permanently frozen areas. In some warm climates, it survives throughout the winter. Optimal conditions require decaying organics, including ammonia,  phosphate, minerals and trace elements. May 29, 2015 - Benign neglect is the keyword in duckweed cultivation. Even carnivores derive benefit from duckweed. Best sources are from homes, food processing plants, livestock, pig and poultry farms. The calcium oxylate that commonly builds up in duckweed that causes a less palatable flavor, can be extracted without electrical energy. Duckweeds grow at water temperatures between 6 and 33°C. Duckweed will tolerate low to high light, and soft or hard water. This is not the case with duckweed, which merely needs to be dehydrated. The value added product includes animal feed as well as a biofuel feedstock. It only needs still water in full to partial sunlight. Duckweed is a very easy plant to grow and performs a double service of recycling nutrients from various sources of biomass. My husband puts the manure in (we use chicken) and then fills the trash can with water to allow it to soften. PCB’s and mercury are as such concentrated in farm raised fish. 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Grown in ideal conditions, it can double its weight in just 16-48 hours. Duckweed thrives at a pH of 6.0 to 7.5 If algae is present in large quantities, it can raise the pH to dangerous levels by virtue of CO2 production at night. Disclosure. Our goal was to build a more practical system for commercial aquaponics. We do not profess to be experts at growing farm-raised duckweed to feed our fish. It is a, Use of duckweed in pig and poultry production, There is references to multiple sites using fresh, wet duckweed to feed all ruminants, including horses and pigs. Don’t worry about being perfect. Or, put at a tablespoon of poultry or worm manure or two tablespoons of ruminant manure in each gallon of water you use. The less attention you pay to it the more it will thrive. For maximum feed utilization, they require supplements of protein that often bypass the rumen and are digested in the intestines. Duckweed is an incredible, radiation-fighting astronaut food – and by changing how it is grown, we made it better. Duckweeds grow at water temperatures between 6 and 33°C. Duckweed grows in brackish water, which often contaminates freshwater aquafers. The team, based at University College Cork (UCC), said one of the objectives of their project, Newtrients, is to reduce Ireland’s reliance on soy imports for feed protein. Duckweed does not need supplemental fertilization or winter protection. I put it to the test in this video we test how long it takes before the duckweed takes over a Aquaponics grow bed. Duckweed is a protein source with an amino acid profile that rivals animal protein sources. Urea is a suitable fertilizer which converts to ammonia in normal conditions. Allowing duckweed to grow freely in your pond will permit it to grow rapidly and provide a constant source of food for ducks. Scientists in Ireland are working on a process to produce duckweed for use in animal feed by capturing essential nutrients in wastewater from dairy processing plants. There is a good deal of evidence that the floating aquatic plant has a great potential to remove contaminants from sewage and may potentially be a nutritional protein supplement for people. Also VERY high … Layer hens fed on meal from Lemna species of  duckweed at 0%, 25% and 40% have performed very well, however there have been some questions about the performance of chicks, which did not perform as well as adults (Haustein et al 1992b) when fed Lemna. The high concentration of calcium oxylate crystals makes the flavor less appealing though research is under way at Bioponica to remove the calcium oxylate and prepare the duckweed as a nutritional supplement for infants and malnourished children. How to Grow Duckweed Indoors. In ruminants, several trials have been done over the … and farmer, engineer Kenneth Lovell, P.E. Duckweed, a tiny plant resembling a lily pad, grows rapidly in water with elevated levels of nitrogen and phosphorus, often the result of fertilizer and manure runoff. Duckweed - a potential high-protein feed resource for domestic animals and fish Larger, customized and more economical, designs are available for commercial scale duckweed production and waste water processing. . And it forms a "turion", sinking to the bottom of a lagoon during colder temperatures, remaining dormant until warmer water restimulates growth. It grows on water with a nitrogen concentration of 10-30mg NH3/m2. This growth rate is closer to the rate of algae growth, moreso than higher plants, making it optimal for converting waste to nutritious feed. Getting Your Duckweed to Grow. Quoting his Facebook site: “In this week’s episode, Mike heads west to the blue grass state of Kentucky and interviews Tamra Fakhoorian, an industry leading expert in the field of duckweed. Farmers who grow feed crops have found duckweed to be much more productive than soybean in terms of protein per surface area. By dry weight, this is greater than what can be produced by soy growing on a similar area. It really is an amazing plant. Ducks however have not been researched though it is expected  that duckweed will provide an ideal supplement as a wet meal to any high energy diet. If using manure and night soil in villages these wastes must be pretreated by storage in anaerobic ponds for several days before cultivating duckweed. Duckweed can double in growth every day which gives a sustainable source of food for little effort. Growth rate of duckweed is controlled by temperature and sunlight moreso than by nutrient concentration. Chickens fed 10% dehydrated duckweed had superior weight gain to those fed conventional protein sources. 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One of the greatest limitations to aquaculture is a source for high protein feed sources with high biological value. High protein diet sources are lacking and are the most costly parts of diet for animals in developing countries. Other fish like it too. Duckweed has a high protein content and is a popular feed for waterfowl, such as ducks and geese, as well as various fish species. Duckweed (Lemna spp.) 2. Duckweeds have structural features that have been simplified by natural selection. For single gut animals, including humans it has no indigestible material, which is in sharp contrast to corn and soybeans which have up to 50% indigestible residues. To grow duckweed in an aquarium, it often can be purchased in a pet store. Where P is present in water, duckweed absorption can provide an important source for grazing ruminants when phosphorus feed levels are deficient. When using as a treatment system for farms duckweed growing on wastewater should be treated prior to feeding. What's more is that it can be grown anywhere there is a high degree of ammonia and phosphorus in the water. readily feed on duckweed ( Iqbal, 1999 ). Then scoop some duckweed from the pond with your hand and place the duckweed into your container. I feed the tilapia and ducks with it. Mad Cow Disease is a major consequence of this practice. With ruminants there is an additional effect that makes it challenging to assess the effects of diet as compared to monogastric livestock. Duckweed is probably the smallest but fastest-growing plant there is. Growing Duckweed for feeding fish and livestock, and also as a means of removing ammonia and other nutrients from waste water. He commented that the ducks were herded to the ponds daily and returned to their cages. Duckweed grows on water that contains decaying organic matter. You might be able to buy some duckweed from pet stores in your area. It is low in fiber and high in protein which is ideal for fish. It is also easy to grow and can quickly become established in an aquarium or freshwater pond. Recently duckweed has been accepted as protein rich (40-45% of the dry weight) feed for fish (Landolt and Kandeler, 1987; Leng et al., 1995; Saha et al., 1999). Duckweed grows rapidly and can quickly choke out ponds and tanks if allowed to grow unchecked. The flat ovoid shape tends to have one or two roots that lengthen when water mineral content is low. Duckweed is partial to ammonia. This has proven to be unsatisfactory in livestock feed lots as livestock are fed animal meat despite being herbivores. Duckweed MAY be the food of the future. Duckweed may be fed to chickens and livestock. I even feed it to the rabbits on occasion. Growing duckweed has numerous benefits whether used as a feed for livestock, biofuel for ethanol production or even as a food for human nutrition. In 1978 a duckweed maize silage diet of 2:1 ratio was fed ruminants and produced a higher than average growth in Holstein heifers vs maize silage: concentrate: grass diet and there were no noticeable differences (Rusoffet al 1978).. This is particularly important at a time when 30% of industrial corn is used to feed livestock, which is not an ideal food for ruminants. Duckweed has proven to be an ideal feed for tilapia when raising fish aquaponically. Duckweed prefers still water (stagnant), that is why you do not need any complex aeration system as you do in an aquarium tank. It tends to bleach and die with excessive sun exposure and can sustain rapid growth with even low levels of  phosphorus and nitrogen. Growing Duckweed for feeding fish and livestock, and also as a means of removing ammonia and other nutrients from waste water. As a fish and livestock soy requires energy input for processing. 43 % protein, 5 % lipid and is a suitable fertilizer which converts to ammonia normal. 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