Page 42 - Koi Net - On-Line Koi Magazine - Issue 17
P. 42
BREEDING KOI CUTTLEBROOK
IN THE UK KOI FARM PART 1
David Brown. Lisa Davis.
I have been a fish keeper all my life and always bred all My name is Lisa Davis, I am Director, administrator,
the fish I kept, whether it was tropicals, goldfish or secretary, farm hand and mother to our two sons. My
african cichlids, so when it came to Koi I expected to husband (Mark Davis) and I run Cuttlebrook Koi Farm
breed them too. But when I investigated it, I was told right here in Oxfordshire, UK. This is our story.
you couldn’t breed them and it was a closely guarded
When I met Mark in 1988 I didn’t know anything about
secret in Japan. I found a reference to this in a BKKS
Koi but at the time he was writing three of the chapters
Newsletter – No. 4, February 1971. At that time any UK
for the Interpet Encyclopedia of Koi (history, breeding
bred Koi I saw were low quality, dull orange, sometimes
and feeding), a good way to impress a girl!
spotted black, not the Koi I intended to breed.
Sparsholt
David Brown (left) with Doug When I joined the BKKS South East Section in 1983 I
Holder, Show Chairman at met Doug Holder, a Founder Member, who regularly I found out that Mark had been to Sparsholt College
the 1989 South East Show.
bred Sanke, just a few, but they did actually look like from 1983 to 1985 and studied fish farming – of course
Sanke and we started our Koi breeding programme in those days you had to work for a year on a fish farm
together. We met a young man at BritKoi, Mark Davis, before they would even let you on the course. He has
in about 1986, who had lived in Japan on a Koi Farm some great stories about his year spent living in a
where he had learned about breeding Koi and coupling soggy caravan at the side of a loch in Scotland! At
this with his background of studying fish husbandry at Sparsholt he studied water chemistry, geology, fish
Sparsholt College, he proved to be, and still is a strong farm construction techniques, fish health and disease
and reliable source of information. diagnosis amongst other things.
Over the years Mark gave a number of talks at the During his time at Sparsholt he worked on several fish
South East Club and many members started breeding farms in the UK and also on carp farms in France and
Koi and I’m sure Mark’s visits to other Koi Clubs had Hungary. He had some amazing experiences during
the same result. The ill informed notion that breeding that time. It was here that he encountered his first Koi
Mark hand strips eggs from
Koi is a closely guarded Japanese secret proved to be amongst a lake full of table carp in France and it was
a female carp at Sparsholt.
totally untrue, on the contrary, all the Japanese then that he decided that he wanted to learn more
breeders I have met have been most supportive and about them.
helpful. In reality the few Koi we produce each year is
hardly going to upset the market. Sadly, when my friend Mark has always been a very creative person. A Koi
Doug died I thought it was the end of my Koi breeding breeder creates living works of art, so breeding Koi
hobby, but Mick Preston, a member of the South East combined his two passions, art and fish!
Koi Club, and our Show Chairman, invited me to join
When he graduated from Sparsholt in 1985 Mark
him, the challenge was to breed Kohaku. But before I
managed to secure a letter of introduction to
publish our records so far, and hopefully other UK
Mr. Kamihata (Kamihata Fish Industries) who agreed to
breeder’s results, I thought I would let you know about
let him spend six months working on his Koi farm in
Mark Davis and Cuttlebrook Koi Farm first and the
Yamazaki. Mark sold his MG Midget, which was his
following article written by Lisa Davis tells their story.
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