Crawfish are one of the easiest aquatic species to add to a homestead with an existing natural pond. They're hardy, low-input, and highly productive. Our first full season from a 1/4-acre pond produced over 200 pounds of harvestable crawfish — and we barely did anything.
Why Crawfish?
Crawfish (crayfish, mudbugs) are omnivores that thrive in natural pond environments with vegetation, bottom structure, and moderate water quality. They don't require supplemental feeding in a well-balanced pond, they reproduce rapidly, and they're a premium food product that sells out immediately at our farm stand every spring.
They also coexist well with catfish, which eat the smallest juveniles and keep populations from becoming overly dense. The relationship is natural and self-regulating.
Stocking and Setup
We purchased 20 lbs of live adult crawfish from a local fish farm in early spring to seed the population. Natural ponds in our region also have wild crawfish, so we were essentially supplementing an existing population. For a pond with no existing crawfish, the initial stocking rate we'd recommend is 25–35 lbs of breeding-size adults per acre.
Habitat is more important than stocking rate. Crawfish need structure to hide in — especially during molting, when they're vulnerable to predation. We added:
- Brush bundles (tied branches) dropped in the shallows
- Old clay drain tiles on the bottom
- Expanded shoreline vegetation (cattails, sedges)
- Christmas trees sunk at the pond margins (excellent crawfish habitat)
Trapping: The Actual Work
We run 4 wire cylindrical crawfish traps, each baited with fish scraps or chicken bones. Traps go in at dusk and are pulled in the early morning — crawfish are most active at night. We check traps three times per week during peak season (April through June). Each morning pull averages 8–15 lbs across all four traps.
Harvested crawfish go immediately into a cooler of clean water to purge for 12–24 hours before cooking or selling. Purging removes the earthy taste and cleans the digestive tract. It makes a significant difference in flavor.
Water Quality Management
Crawfish tolerate a wide range of water conditions but do best at pH 7.0–8.0 and dissolved oxygen above 4 ppm. Our 2 HP paddle aerator runs overnight during warm months to maintain oxygen levels. We test water monthly — crawfish are genuinely good indicators of water quality because they'll burrow into the banks and reduce activity before you see any visible problems.
What Sold, What We Kept
We sold approximately 150 lbs at the farm stand at $8/lb live, which more than covered our initial costs. We kept the remainder for personal consumption — boils, étouffée, and bisque. The flavor of our pond-raised crawfish compared to commercially farmed crawfish is noticeably better — cleaner, sweeter, more delicate.
Year two production was higher without any additional stocking. The population is now self-sustaining. Crawfish remain one of the highest-value, lowest-input components of the entire homestead operation.