I was today years old when I learned that Australians are crazy about crawfish. They love em so much that apparently, people are setting up personal backyard crawfish farms.

Before we get into all of this, there are a few things to know about Australian crawfish.

Australian Crayfish

Australians have a few different names for crawfish. Obviously, they call them crayfish but depending on what part of Australia you're in, you'll hear them called Yabbies, Marrons, Koonac, Giglies, and Redclaws.

They have so many different names for crawfish mainly because they have many different types of them. Australia is home to the smallest and the largest crawfish in the world.

The Tasmanian giant freshwater crayfish can grow to over 30 inches long and weigh up to 13 lbs! I'm not talking about a lobster, I'm talking about a crawfish

The Tenuibranchiurus is the smallest, growing only up to one inch long at full maturity.

Also, Australian crawfish come in many different colors like blue, white, and a shade of red that makes them look like they're already cooked.

Blue Crawfish
Danny McCubbin Via YouTube
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Those super blue, huge crawfish in the picture above are what Australians call Marrons. I'll put the video of those bad boys in action below.

Now, let's take a look at how Australians are setting up backyard crawfish farms.

The YouTube channel Toon & Leigh porpeang farm Thailand has a video titled "How to hatch THOUSANDS of Crayfish Babies in a $20 setup!" in which they show and explain their backyard crawfish farm.

As I quickly noticed, apparently starting your own backyard crawfish farm is definitely a thing in Australia. There are quite a few videos of people showing off their backyard crawfish farms.

I can think of worse hobbies.

In the video's description, they claim this crawfish farm setup only costs $20 and "can increase your potential crayfish/crawfish production to 40.000 babies per year."

 

Backyard Crawfish Farm
Toon & Leigh porpeang farm Thailand Via YouTube
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Toon & Leigh porpeang farm Thailand Via YouTube
Toon & Leigh porpeang farm Thailand Via YouTube
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In the video, he teaches you how to care for the water, what temperature to keep the water at, how to feed the crawfish, proper oxygen levels, and more.

The type of crawfish he's raising in his DIY crawfish farm are Redclaw Yabbies, which is also fun to say.

This guy isn't just a casual backyard crawfish farmer, as you'll see in his videos below, he's in it to win it.

Now, turning your backyard into a crawfish farm isn't really that feasible here in Acadiana. Clearly, we've got the best crawfish farmers on the globe, coupled with thousands of acres of rice fields and the perfect climate, we've already got the most ideal situation when it comes to producing crawfish.

Louisiana is the largest producer of crawfish in the U.S., producing in excess of 100 million pounds of crawfish annually.

However, for other parts of the country whose landscape may not be as favorable, using this guy's backyard crawfish farming method could be perfect.

Besides, I can only imagine doing something like this involves quite a bit of time and effort most folks just don't have outside of their day jobs.

DIY Crawfish Pond
Toon & Leigh porpeang farm Thailand Via YouTube
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Is It Legal To Raise Crawfish In Your Backyard In Louisiana?

As far as I can tell, there are no laws in Louisiana that prohibit farming your own crawfish, but there are nuisance laws that could come into play if your crawfish make a break for it and start invading your neighbor's yards.

Below are just two of the videos this guy has posted on backyard crawfish farming. You can see many more on his YouTube channel.

Here's the video showing those humongous blue crawfish.

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