The month’s theme for February sprang up from the idea of expansion, and I wanted to broaden my horizon in livestock rearing. What better opportunity to do so other than the WINN/ NNY skill acquisition training organized in honor of Apostle Eunice Deb’rah Osagede, a True new Nigerian woman who went to be with Lord.
The WINN stands for Women in the new Nigeria and NNY for New Nigerian Youths. This platform is a well-recognized NGO that equips women and youths with skills to develop and build a better Nation.
It was an awesome privilege to be a part of this event, both as a volunteer and a trainee.
As a matter of fact, I volunteered to be a makeup trainer for the WINN section and my beautiful cousin was my model. (Abbie Aig)
This training lasted for a week, during which I partook mainly in snail farming. What we learned might have been a little beyond the tip of the iceberg, but the networking and insights were worth the stress. I had never attended training that would birth motivation from scratch like that. It was insane.
I remember one very catching analysis our Trainer made, and I quote;
“Lets say you have 10 matured snails in February. These 10 would produce at least 20 eggs each, which would hash and grow into maturity within 10 months. At november, you would have 200 mature snails.
If those 200 matured snails (inclusive of your first breeding stock ) produre another 30 eggs each, you would have 6,000 matured snails in the next breeding season. With this, your pen would be too full and you might decide to sell.
Now if you leave 1000 as your new breeading stock and sell 5,000 snails at a minimum of 500 naira each, in two years you would have a lump sum profit of 2.5 million and this is the least you might get based on location and size of your snails or even who you choose to sell to. So what white collar job would give you that much?”
Dr. David (NNY/WINN snail farm facilitator 2021
After those words, if you were not listening before, I bet the spark in you would have ignited at the sound of the money involved. In fact, I began to see snails as colorful creatures.
During the training, we learned the different types of snails, the storage systems, how they eat, their nature, and the hashing process. We also paid a visit to a snail farmer to see his snail Pen.
This was the example of a concrete snail pen seen at the farm. The blockwork had four inlets of the same width and depth( if I remember correctly, that was 5 by 2.5). The first inlet was for the breeders, the second for nursery, the third for the juveniles, and the fourth for the newly matured snails.
The event was held from January 20th to 25th, then towards February was the WINN event. So, as we entered February by God’s grace, I set up a little snail pen with the empowerment kit (four African Giant snails) that was given to us.
The fun in it for me was the fact that I could greet the aboki (Hausa native) selling watermelon on the roadside to collect the peels, or better still, pluck veggies like pawpaw leaves or even the fruit, water leaves, banana, and more with no stress of looking for funds.
This might take time, but I began to see how less costly this hustle would be.
Though I had not built an actual pen, because of the small quantity, I started by treating my sand (black sand – can be gotten where dirt is burnt.) filtered it, spread on zinc, and poured hot water. left it overnight then, it was fit for use. I got a big black basin, got mosquito net, though the holes were tinnier, and Boko net (i don’t know the other name- usually used for poultry cages). I poured my sand in, introduced the snails to their new environment (placed water leave and chopped water Mellon on a flat plat for them at night since they’re nocturnal animals). Then, I covered the top of the DIY pen with the nets. I placed a soft basket-like iron cover to allow airflow and a stone, so they don’t escape.
Just in case you’re wondering how I did it.
……………………….
My snail pen is a makeshift basin, and my reason for not expanding yet was because I had to leave my current location for my youth call. I didn’t want to burden my Mom and other family members who assist me in running my Fish pond in my absence.
Before I returned from my supposed youth call, my four snails went to visit their maker and would not return any time soon.
Of course, I didn’t blame anyone. After all, while I was away, they were so engrossed in helping me watch my fish pond. lmao!!!!
Interesting