Transcript (en)

This is why China's farming is 100 years ahead of the world. They feed crawfish to turtles as feed. You might be thinking, crawfish are expensive? Isn't this a waste? But actually, it's not. The farmer isn't tossing whole crawfish into the pond. Instead, he uses leftover crawfish heads and small, low-quality ones. These parts are nearly worthless to consumers, but much cheaper than regular feed for farmers. Soft-shelled turtles are carnivores that need a lot of protein and fat. Crawfish heads are rich in these nutrients, plus calcium and phosphorus, which help with muscle and shell development. Feeding soft-shelled turtles, crawfish heads not only satisfies their nutritional needs, but also speeds up their growth. The scent of crawfish spreads in the water, triggering the turtle's appetite. Even when stressed or picky, turtles will eagerly consume these heads. As a result, turtles grow faster and healthier. By turning low-value byproducts into high protein feed, farmers increase the turtle's size and weight, with each pound of turtle worth more than the crawfish.