Do you know that you can make a lot of money in farming.
Farming is known as one of the best way for wealth Empowerment , which has contributed a lot to the community and the nation as a whole. This has also make's a lot of people to be self independent, while animal husbandry still remain the best way of farming which is good for both small scale and Large scale farming.
Some of the domesticated animals include Pigs,cattle, sheep,rabbits,chickens and grasscutter etc. while some of this animals can be rears in a grass fields i.e for easy accessibility.
We are going to start with grasscutter,Rabbit, Snail and livestock farming..
If you have experience rearing any of the animals stated above please feel free to share with us.
Also share your challenges while some expert are here to proffer solution to this..
Let keep the forum rolling..and empower others with our
ideas & experience
ABOUT
GRASSCUTTER
The grass cutter belongs to
the order Rodent and family Thryonomidae which contains only genus
Thryonomys.Dorst and Dandelete (1979) recognized only two species
which they describe as greater grasscutter Thryonomys swinderianus
Temminck and the lesser grass cutter Thryonomys gregorianus Temminck.
This rodent is widely known through Africa south of Sahara and it is
commonly referred as the grass cutter, cane-rat or Cutting
grass.
They are heavily built, thick set with animals with rounded
muzzle, small round ears, short tails and harsh bristly fur. They
have a peculiar bristle tail which readily fractures near the base if
seized, much like the easily atomized tail of the lizard, a
phenomenon that is of tremendous protective value. The coarse bristly
coat has no under-fur, though under magnification some sparsely
scattered extremely fine straight under-fur are visible.The overall
appearance is usually dark brown, speckled with yellow or grey above
butty white below. The chin and throat appear white. The head is a
bit small for the size of the body. The small circular ear is covered
strong and well padded and are armed with powerful straight claws.
There are five digits on the fore feet and four on the hind feet.
Females have three pairs of mammary glands on the belly, while the
male testes are not visible externally like other rodents.
The
total body length (head to end tail) ranged from 35 to 60cm and its
tail length ranges from 7 cm to 25cm. Grass cutter grows to a
considerable weight. The mature male sometimes reach more than 9kg
while females can attain between 5-7kg body weight. Its growth rate
is less than that of rabbit of an improved breed and more than that
of the local rabbit in a tropical environment. The animal has many
predators including leopards, mongoose and python, in addition to
man.
MEAT
QUALITIES AND USES
The meat
qualities of the grass cutter compare favorably with those of
domesticated livestock species. Mature live weight ranges from 5 to
8kg. It has an average dressing percentage of 65%. However with the
consumption of the head an entrails this can reach 80%. The
nutritional value of grass cutter meat is as good as those from
domestic animals. Beef, Lamb and pork also contain higher fat
percentage than meat from the grass cutter.In fact grass cutter meat
is nutritionally superior to some domestic meat because of its high
protein to fat ratio and higher mineral contents. The meat quality is
also leaner and non-cholestrogenic. The meat is very tasty when
compared to both domestic and familiar game species. The grass cutter
also play an important role in traditional African medicine for
preparation of concoctions for fertility etc. In Ghana, the hair of
the grass cutter is used to season food just as much as its stomach
and intestinal contents. Also, the pancreas of the grass cutter
contains a high concentration of insulin which is used in local
preparation for the treatment of diabetes.
GRASS
CUTTER HOUSING:
Grass cutter
housing comprised of a stable and cages/pens. stable is the main
building which houses the cages/pens. It is a normal building
constructed in such a way to allow enough light and ventilation
(air).The type of material for its construction depends on the
capital available to the farmer/breeder. cement block, wood, mud,
brick, bamboo etc are some of materials for construction grass cutter
house (stable).
Basically there are two rearing
methods:
1.Rearing on the floor (floor hutch)
2.Rearing above
the floor. (in meshed cages).
Floor hutch is the of rearing
cage constructed with either cement block, brick or mud on the floor.
Meshed cage on the other hand is the type of rearing cage made from
combination of wood and wired-mesh. Both of them however comprised of
two compartments which permit easy movement of animal.
They
can also be made into two three tiers (layers) system in order to
optimize the space.
REPRODUCTION
AND BREEDING.
A male and female
grass cutters attains their sexual maturity at 5 and 7 months
respectively. A male grass cutter can be paired with 3-5 females.
There are two methods of mating -permanent and controlled mating
methods. The gestation period is 5 months, meaning that with good
management, the animal an litter twice in a year.
The average
litter size is always four. They young ones can be weaned in about
4-6 weeks, after a resting period of about 10 days mother can be
paired with the male again.
HANDLING.
Grass
cutter can be handled either by tails or by the limb. For easy
handling, wire mesh cage can be used to move animal from one place to
other.
FEEDS
AND FEEDING OF GRASS CUTTER COLONIES.
Whatever
be the choice of grass cutter farming embarked upon by farmer
(breeding or fattening), provision of quality and adequate nutrition
is essential to the success of each grass cutter rearing. Balanced
feeding that
takes into consideration nutritional requirements
and regularity of feeding are essential factors responsible for the
animals' good growth, health and reproduction.
FEED
INGREDIENTS
FORAGE
Grass cutters normally prefer grass
with succulent stalk and such quality
can be found in the
following wild or cultivated grasses among others.
Elephant grass
(pennisetum purpureum)
Sugar cane (Saccharum spp)
Guinea
grass (Panicum maximum)
Giant star grass(Andropogon
gayanus)
Maize stem (zea mays)
Rice stalks (Oryza
spp.)
FOOD CROP CULTIVATED/PRODUCTS
Rice
Maize
Guinea
Corn
Millet
Cage Designs for both Grasscutter and Rabbit
