A week in the life of a koi farmer (wc 23_9_24)
The current theme at Byer Koi Farm is to make the most of the last weeks of summer and early autumn before cooler late-autumn and mid-winter weather sets in. This week, next week, and likely the week after, we’re juggling several critical tasks, all of which are time-sensitive. It’s another pinch point, and we’re having to make tough prioritisation decisions.
Much of the work is focused on production, but we also have crucial harvesting and sales tasks to complete—most notably, the third pond of nisai still needs to be harvested. Since this pond represents about half of our total nisai volume for 2024, it’s vital that we get these new koi in front of our customers, many of whom are eagerly awaiting this harvest. This batch includes Beni Kikokuryu, Kumonryu, various Aragoke types, and a wide range of other koi.
But there are other pressing jobs too. We urgently need to complete another selection from the first round of spawnings earlier this year. This will thin out the tanks to leave us with the final koi we'll grow into tosai by next spring. Additionally, this process will generate another batch of small koi in the larger size range of our small koi mixes. That will provide stock for sales and, just as importantly, free up space for the few koi we choose to invest in and grow throughout the winter for release as tosai next spring. It’s essential that the best of these koi have ample space as we’ll be investing in them heavily by keeping them in heated tanks over the winter.
On the production side, we conducted some late-season spawnings (Round 3) a few weeks ago (you can read more about Rounds 2 and 3 here: 2024 Fry Season Rounds 2 and 3 Update). These fry are coming along very well, and with these spawnings, we’ve filled the remainder of our growing space, meaning our spawning work for 2024 is now complete.
One of the Round 3 spawnings is from our Kin Ki Utsuri line. We bred two females I purchased during my trip to Japan in 2023 (details of that trip can be found here: New Range of Koi Varieties: Expanding Our Breeding Stock). When the newly hatched fry are about a week old, you can already tell which ones will develop into utsuri—they’re darker, while the others remain lighter. Ideally, we’d split the hatchlings at this stage, a process called ‘Kuroko,’ to give the dark fry the best environment to thrive.
For these spawnings, we used the same males for both females and kept the eggs from each separate. This has provided valuable information about which female has more fertile eggs and which produces a higher percentage of dark fry.
Unfortunately, we didn’t have the time to perform Kuroko on both sets of fry, so we prioritised the batch with the higher percentage of dark hatchlings and performed Kuroko on that group. The second batch was left in the hatchery without separation.
This week, we need to perform Kuroko on the remaining batch with a higher percentage of dark fry. As I write this, we’re about halfway through the process!
We’ve also built a machine to help select through the tiny fry. Airlines are connected to a vacuum chamber sitting above a water reservoir, creating suction through the airlines. When we direct an airline toward a fry, it’s safely sucked through and deposited into the water reservoir. We’re now on version 3 of the machine! After experimenting with different vessel sizes, airlines, and vacuum methods, we’ve finally settled on a combination that works well. It certainly makes Kuroko much easier, though with tens of thousands of fry to sort through, the process still takes days rather than hours. The kids were excellent helpers for the first batch, but now that they’re back at college, it’s just Amanda and me handling it.
Here's a clip of Amanda performing Kuroko:
While it’s basic work, it’s a valuable use of our time. We’ve had a successful spawning with a good number of dark fry, and once they’re separated into their own pond, they’ll receive the best care possible. Last year, we raised just a few Kin Ki Utsuri from one of these females, and the results were very promising. So, to have a full spawning from both females this year is excellent news and bodes well for the range we’ll be able to offer next year.
Here’s a video of a small sample of fry from last year’s Kin Ki Utsuri spawning, which we used to test out the genetics:
We certainly have volume this year. If we achieve the same quality level as the sample from last year, I’ll be very pleased. We’ll know more in about five weeks.
Also this week, we’ve been shipping Round 2 fry. Large numbers are going out, and they all need to be counted, packed, and shipped. That’s taken up two full days this week.
We have some stock remaining, which you can order from here: https://www.byerkoifarm.co.uk/collections/fry/products/6-8-week-old-koi-fry-round-2-2024-delivery-friday-4th-october-or-after
Next week we really must get to the next round of selections on Round 1 spawnings, and also find time to harvest the final pond of nisai.
In other exciting news, I’ve booked my flights to Japan for another buying trip in early February 2025. I’m looking forward to reconnecting with the breeders and showing them what we’ve been able to produce from the koi I purchased last time. I’ll also be gathering tips on how to further improve our breeding lines and adding to our broodstock. A key objective for this trip will be hand-selecting excellent koi to fill our sales range with varieties we don’t currently breed. This will ensure that our customers have the widest possible range of koi to choose from in 2025, both online and in our koi shop.
Stay tuned for more updates on this exciting trip as it approaches.
Adam
