Thanks @ gadget. If I want to give an advice with 1000 snails I would go for SEMI INTENSIVE system reasons been because it is more productive and it requires less work but total monitory is not feasible in terms of management routine like knowing the actual number of your snail..... but you can harvest your snail at night by bating them with fruiting juice then harvest the matured ones and leave the immature ones..... but with proper care and management you will shake the world with your WEST AFRICA GIANT LAND SNAIL. 1000 snails can reach up to 20million snails within a year.
Price analysis
I think with that number of snails you can get each of maginata from 80-100 because in Edo state one goes for 120 naira. while fulica can will be lower than that of maginata.

Good response.
Now let us know the cost of setting up a snail farm

Are you thinking that it is only snails you will just waste such a land for just in the name SEMI INTENSIVE system...
Semi intensive system is a simple system where you want to mimic the natural habitat of those snails on a demarcated free range with planting of their feeds and likewise incorporating their artificially made feeds.
Semi intensive =Free range with demarcated post+your monitoring.
Do you know what it is called multiple land used system ( it mean using a piece of land with more than one purposes)........it goes like this
You plant arable crops and tree, shrubs and other shaded plant for the snail.
Plants to be planted most be their feeds such as
Pawpaw
Cassava
Moringa tree,
Cocoa yam
Tridax procubens
Amaranths
Maize
Banana
plantain and other choice of your plants.
And the planted crops can be harvested after reaching the harvesting point and your snails still continues flourish and grow. You will get incomes in two fold snails and arable crops without affecting the snails.Thanks Dyoung forester

While profit in Agribusiness.
Hmmmmmmm, let me start with we want quick income without much work that is why we are running away from agribusiness but it is not like that.
profit maker are you a large scale or small scale farmer all u're interested in is money but it is not so....
There are two forms of profit in agribusiness
Monetary aspect, and
Non monetary aspect
Monetary aspect is one of the crucial aspect in all business because we want more gain that we actually invested within a short period of time more so money is a driving force in all bussiness since we need money to do a lot of things that is why this monetary aspect supersede latter.
Non monetary aspects is not a visible gain like money but it exposes you to a wide range of things like you have more knowledge in your field, it make you more popular within and around your locality as farmer and lastly to a live stocks farmers you have excess meat to eat and indirectly you keep your money you ought to use to buy meat for consumption and your farm pleases you when feeding and looking at your animal or your arable crops. So everything about Agribusiness is profit but the way we manage and define it differs thanks.

Enjoy snail's meat...

You still have not answered my question.
What is the cost of setting up a farm?
I believe that's thy you started the post on the first place.

Pls my greatest worry with them is d soldier ant! Pls say sth abt it, thnks!

@ gadget....
What type of housing system do you want to use?
With 1000 snails I think free range system is good and better for you. Free range can be expensive and likewise it might be cheap depending on the managerial system of the intended venturer.
Atleast with 1000 mature snails of Archachatina maginata you can atleast budget 100K to 120K and Achatina achatina and fulica 50K to 100k for the aquisition of the snails only... But the types of housing system can be determine by you before I proceed. Thanks.

@ojac1. First, what types of housing system are you using?
Means of protective measure against ants and other predators
1. Creation of moat- is a defensive ditch. It should be made to the circumference of your snailery and the ditch must be supply with water and used engine oil.
2. Planting of plant that are use for insecticide.
3. Make sure the surroundings is clean and healthy.
Thanks

Please guess what is inside this bag and the bucket.

See snails

@ dyoungforester, can somebody actually rear all these three species in the same pen. is it possible? or is there any effect? the advantages and disadvantages. God bless you as you chose to help others.

@ mascotlawman
Yes it is possible to rear all the three species of West African giant land snail together if condition warrant it, but you will have to zero your mind that your productivity will be minimal or low and sometimes their might be regular occurence of mortality except you keep all the newly hatch snails together or young snails together their might not cannibalism within their pens
Advantages of keeping all the species of West African giant land snails together
1. It will minimize your cost and the uses of different pens for different species of snails
2. It will reduce your daily work and your delay management routine
Disadvantages of keeping different species of west Africa giant land snails together
1.Keeping of different species of snails together will reduce their productivity rate I.e they won't lay eggs since A.maginata can't couple with A.fulica and A.achatina likewise latter.
2. Their might be rampant mortality within the same pen since their morphology features are differs in terms of shape, shell and their adaptivity to survive.
NOTE:-keeping the young species of all the snails together is not detrimental to your management and make sure you sort them out when they're three (3) months old in age.
In snailery two(2) things count 'Quantity and patient' before one can really say yes I made it so, keep all the necessary pocedures ahead of you and later wait for your millions. Thanks
Dyoung forester.

dyoungforester:
@ mascotlawman
Yes it is possible to rear all the three species of West African giant land snail together if condition warrant it, but you will have to zero your mind that your productivity will be minimal or low and sometimes their might be regular occurence of mortality except you keep all the newly hatch snails together or young snails together their might not cannibalism within their pens
Advantages of keeping all the species of West African giant land snails together
1. It will minimize your cost and the uses of different pens for different species of snails
2. It will reduce your daily work and your delay management routine
Disadvantages of keeping different species of west Africa giant land snails together
1.Keeping of different species of snails together will reduce their productivity rate I.e they won't lay eggs since A.maginata can't couple with A.fulica and A.achatina likewise latter.
2. Their might be rampant mortality within the same pen since their morphology features are differs in terms of shape, shell and their adaptivity to survive.
NOTE:-keeping the young species of all the snails together is not detrimental to your management and make sure you sort them out when they're three (3) months old in age.
In snailery two(2) things count 'Quantity and patient' before one can really say yes I made it so, keep all the necessary pocedures ahead of you and later wait for your millions. Thanks
Dyoung forester.

Thanks for ur response, but I used to think that snails are haemophrodite? God bless

I TELL U

Oh yes thought so @hermophrodites! Need to check dat! , n sir, didn't knoW it takes .more than 3 months oh! Lol. Wat was I thinking? Pls when can we Expect to get verry mature snails?

Oh yes thought so @hermophrodites! Need to check dat! , n sir, didn't knoW it takes .more than 3 months oh! Lol. Wat was I thinking? Pls when can we Expect to get verry mature snails? Thank u

dyoungforester:
@ gadget....
What type of housing system do you want to use?
With 1000 snails I think free range system is good and better for you. Free range can be expensive and likewise it might be cheap depending on the managerial system of the intended venturer.
Atleast with 1000 mature snails of Archachatina maginata you can atleast budget 100K to 120K and Achatina achatina and fulica 50K to 100k for the aquisition of the snails only... But the types of housing system can be determine by you before I proceed. Thanks.

Free range system

@ dyoungforester please can you supply me with breed stock of Achatina achatina, and Achatina marginata. I will need like 200 pieces of each.

Yes, It is true that snails are haemophrodite but they can not fertile their eggs by themselves so they need the assistance of other snails with the same species to cohabit with each other in other to fertile their eggs and later lay eggs in their respective places after mating.
Note: You must have seen some snails clinging together with each either after rain fall or at night when the environment is cool that is when they are mating. Thanks
Dyoung forester.

Mating process

@ Georgoye, please where is your location sir and moreso Achatina achatina is a scarce species of snail so I only have Achatina fulica and Archachatina maginata. Thanks and sorry for late in reply.

@ Gadgetmobil.
Free range, if I were to construct free range system by myself atleast with a minimum of 30-50 thousand will be ok to start the construction. And the system will be simple and accomodating but with the exclusion of land aquisition. Thanks and I hope I have manage sir to answer your question.
Dyoungforester.

@dyoungforester pls can u post pix of ur snailnery both small and large one.apart from tyre made ones.so will can know how it look like.thanks

@MTM5 I had once shared the pics of my newly constructed snail housing unit here before but I will re-share it if u're still intrested may be later on sir.
Do you know that I served my snails Garri ijebu tonight plus unripe pawpaw fruit and leftover bread, they really enjoy it.

Why are you down cast, hey share up, are you thinking on how to establish your snailery housing types, how to get a good breeder stocks for your farm, how to take care of them, or you need a special snails consultant about their well-being , quick and relyable methods to adopt when you to incubate your snails' egg, kindly contact dyoung forester for a better service. Thanks
Motto: Breeding to be the best.

I really do appreciate the good and enlightening work done here, nice work from great farmers all around.

I'm looking into diving into a semi-scale snail rearing too with a friend come October and I must say, I have really learnt a lot from this thread.

With all other things in place, pls I want to know if there is a snail farmer in the house around oyo town that can supply me a hundred brooding stock (60 A. Marginata and 40 A. Archatina).

Waiting for ur kind response and following always too...

@ Holars, Don't worry I will make findings for you for the snails' farmer around OYO state.
THe following snails are available for sale
Archachatina maginata,
Achatina fulica
For more enquiring contact Dyoungforester on 0706644450
Thanks
MOTTO: Breeding to be the best.

Do you know that selling of snails requires measuring of the total length of the snails before selling which the outcome measurement will determine how much each snails can go for when I first heard it, it sound strange to me but with proper explaination from my CO-FARMER with several years experience I later understood while it is done so.

White Archachatina maginata

Thanks so much, will be expecting ur response soonest
And where is ur farm located

dyoungforester:
@ Holars, Don't worry I will make findings for you for the snails' farmer around OYO state.
THe following snails are available for sale
Archachatina maginata,
Achatina fulica
For more enquiring contact Dyoungforester on 0706644450
Thanks
MOTTO: Breeding to be the best.