Effects of Daily Feeding Time and Frequency on Channel Catfish, Ictalurus punctatus Production in Earthen Ponds

Abstract

A pond study was conducted to evaluate effects of daily feeding time and frequency on channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatusproduction, feed efficiency, processing yield, and body composition. Channel catfish fingerlings (initial weight = 22 g/fish) were stocked into eighteen, 0.4-ha ponds at a rate of 24,700 fish/ha. The fish were fed to apparent satiation with a commercial 28% protein diet once daily in the morning or afternoon, or twice daily in both morning and afternoon for two growing seasons. On average, fish on the twice-a-day feeding regime were fed about 2,000 kg/ha more diet than fish fed once daily, but due to the large variation in diet input among ponds there were no significant differences in the amount of diet fed among treatments. No differences were observed in weight gain per fish, estimated survival, net production, visceral fat, or fillet proximate composition among treatments. Feed conversion ratio decreased in fish fed once daily in the morning compared to fish fed once daily in the afternoon or twice daily. Fish fed twice daily had higher carcass and fillet yields than fish fed once daily in the afternoon. However, whether the differences in feed conversion ratio and processing yield are true biological responses needs further investigation. Results from this study indicate that there are few, if any, advantages in feeding food-sized channel catfish twice daily or at a certain time of day. Therefore, we recommend that food-fish in grow-out ponds be fed once daily to apparent satiation but not exceeding what an individual pond can “metabolize,” and feeding should begin early in the morning as soon as dissolved oxygen levels begin to increase.