Toan
Koi Lover
Aug 5, 2007, 4:48 AM
Post #1 of 1
(760 views)
Shortcut
|
Learn How to Handfeed Your Koi :D
|
Can't Post
|
|
hey guys,
i've seen various posts on the forums about people wanting to learn how to hand feed .. not that its a hassle for the more experience koi keeper to keep explaining to each and every one of those post .. i think this way is just more simple .. i'm sorrie if my methods aren't as orthodox, but i do what works for me, and hopefully it works for everyone :D .. please feel free to comment good or bad, and/or leave corrections and what not .. =]
before we start, i'd suggest you invest in a chagoi .. not that you have to, its completely up to you .. my reasoning for this is that chagoi's are the most friendliest koi in any pond .. they are naturally kind and playful, always being among the first ones to come to you as you approach your pond .. they're rather open-minded and will take the concept of hand feeding rather easy .. this will make the job a lot easier, IMHO .. in all my steps, my chagoi was the first to do each one .. but its completely possible to do it w/o one so its your choice
starting out , you can choose to decide to not feed your koi for anywhere from a day or up to 5 .. i dont recommend anything over 5 because it's not good to risk their health over food, yeah ?? .. especially now ( well for me because it's summer time ) ..
*note* - i am using large pellets in this guide ( Hi-Silk 21 ) .. you can use whatever but i find large pellets to work the best .. also when you do this, you will get splashed, so do not be alarmed :D
1. get your koi to get used to your hand
instead of just tossing in a ton of food for them to feed on, put your hand close to the water .. dont feed them until they come under your hand .. this will make them realize that your hand is the source of food .. and obviously, they'll catch on .. koi are amazingly intelligent and will pick up on this in a snap .. if not just stop for the day or try again in a couple of hours or maybe the next day .. and whatever you do , dont chase the koi to give it food ( like z00m your hand across the pond to follow a fish and give it food .. they get rather scared and run away from swift movements .. )
2. get your koi to trust your hand
this is similar to step one but has suttle differences .. like i mentioned earlier, koi get scared very easily .. you want them to feel comfortable with your hand .. so the next step would be almost dropping the food in their mouths so to speak .. as koi swim up to you, they suck on the surface of the water waiting for food to drop in .. so what you can do is actually drop pellets of food into their mouths .. best way to do it is one by one .. give one koi a pellet, let him go off in the distance and chew .. then start with another and another ..
3. get your koi to eat from your hand
well when i say this its more from my fingertips at the moment .. i practiced with large pellets of food so i held them with my fingertips .. any who , once you've earn the kois trust they'll be swimming under your hand more friendly, waiting for food .. so now you can take a step further and actually put the food in the kois mouth with your hand .. take a pellet in your fingertips and SLOWLY break the surface of your water so the food and part of your finger is in the water .. just wait a bit .. usually one koi will be curious enough to go up and pick it off your fingers .. if they just swim beneath your hand but dont touch the food, you can jump back to step 2 .. or you can, again, wait a few hours or try the next day ..
*note* - do NOT be scared if the koi 'sucks' hard .. yeah it sounds funny , but thats just the truth .. when koi eat, they suck on the surface of the water to eat .. and the suction is quite strong, believe it or not .. so when you feel it against your finger as they come up, dont jump or you'll scare them =[ .. remember .. they do NOT have teeth and DONT bite .. it actually tickles me 
when your koi are very comfortable with the last step, you can pretty much do whatever now .. you can stick your hand all the way under the water and feed them like that .. or feed them wedges of fruits .. with different foods, of course they'll be skeptical early on because its something new to them .. but give it some time and they'll eat :D
another thing to keep in mind is that its recommended for ponds with koi that are the same size .. koi sizes 8 - 10"s .. 12 - 14"s .. so on and so on .. if you have a close range in size, its easier because all of them will get fed .. if you have large and small together, the larger ones come first and the little ones tend to wait off in the distance .. also , make sure you keep your nails clipped !! .. sound funny, eh ? well since you put your fingers in water, the koi come up to eat it out of your fingertips .. sometimes they grab the food and run away, and it rubs its side of its face against your finger occasionally .. sharp nails could potentionally scratch it .. even the smallest scratch can lead to infection so be cautious please ..
hope you have fun hand feeding your koi as it will make your koi keeping a more enjoyable hobby :D
Cheers
-t0an
|
MAIN
SEARCH
WHO'S 
LOG 