MASTER DE KING (DEKING FARM)
HOW TO BREED A GRASS
CUTTER
HOW START BREEDING GRASS CUTTER
ORIGIN AND PHYSICAL FEATURES
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.
Pix of a matured grasscutter (t hryonomys
swinderianus temminck )
SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE:
In Ghana it has been ascertained that grass
cutter contributes to both local
and export earnings. About 73 tonnes of animals
are sold in a year and
recent surveys show that is is the Grass cutter
that dominates the bush meat
trade.
Most of this quantity is traded locally as fresh
or smoked form. Smoked
grass cutter is exported to US and Europe.
Grass cutter can be reared with minimal capital
outlay as inputs required
are very low.
Feed requirements for grass cutter in captivity
are low and it does not
compete with man for feedstuffs. It can therefore
serve as a considerable
income earner for the small scale Peri-urban or
rural livestock producer. A
farmer can also integrate grass cutter rearing
with other livestock farming
such as pigs, rabbits, sheep, ducks and poultry.
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 space.
The hutches are placed within the building, and
the dimension with other features can be length
can be 2.0 m X 1.5 m width X height 0.75
meters.
COMPARTMENT:-this must be two compartment
each of 1.0 meters X 1.5 meters X 0.75 meters,
it must have a small opening way of Cm X Cm
and must be made at the bottom of the
partitioning wall between both
compartments.This allows for easy movement of
the grass cutters from one room to the
other.And the top must be covered with a wire
mesh or bamboo with an opening (entrance of
30cm X 25cm).
CAGE HOUSING SYSTEM
A farmer can also rear a grasscutter in a well
covered wood wire cage, the designs of cages
for grasscutter are different with purposes.The
cages dimension and features are:length x width
x height i.e 1.6 meters x 0.6 meters x 0.45
meters, it can also be in these ranges 1.5
meters x 1.0 meters x 0.4 meters, and it must
have two longitudinal side: lenght x width: 30 cm
x 25 cm, you can see the image of the wood wire
cage system for grass cutter housing (3
steps: upstair wood wire cage system.
STANDARD CAGE HOUSING SYSTEM
The dimension of the standard individual cages
are length x width x height: 0.5 m x 0.5 m x 0.4
m and the entrance must be: 18 cm x 18 cm
which must be one on one side only.
here is a sample picture of a standard cage
housing system:-
A RETENTION CAGES:
i. Grasscutter above 5 kg: 38 cm x 14cm x 14
cm.
ii. Grasscutter between 1 and 3kg: 30 cm x 10
cm.
iii.Grasscutter between 3 and 5 kgs: 33cm x 13
cm x 13 cm.
In Hutches, 8 grasscutter are kept inside the
house, in colony cages we can put between 18 to
24 grasscutters together and same also adult
castrated males can be put in the colony cages,
and they may be up to 12 per cage.
Image of animal population for one cage floor
weaners (between two to four month old).
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
1)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.)
ii)FOOD CROP CULTIVATED/PRODUCTS
.Rice
.Maize
.Guinea Corn
.Millet
.Cassava
NUTRIENTS
Balanced feed can be found in a proportional
mixture of the following feed
ingredients that are used in preparing the
supplementary feed. Examples of
feed ingredients include:
.Maize/millet------------------ cassava
.Brewers dried grain (BDG)-----Leucaena
leucocephala
.Corn bran/wheat offal---------Oyster/snail shell
.Palm kernel cake (PKC)--------Bone meal
.Soyabean cake (SBC)-----------Salt
.Groundnut cake(GNC)-----------Vitamin -mineral
premix
DISEASE MANAGEMENT.
As said earlier, good hygiene practice reduces
the risk of disease outbreak
in grass cutters rearing. The most important
disease in grass cutter rearing
include the following:
1.ENTEROTOXAEMIA: This is caused by a
bacterium clostridium perfringens. The
organism produces toxins which are absorbed
into the circulatory system of
the grass cutters thereby causing moralities.
The most obvious sign seen is the paralysis/
pedaling of the hind legs.
Other signs are seen during post mortern.
vaccine against this condition is
available. Antibiotics (Ciprofloxacin,
Enrofloxacin) are used in the
treatment. It is useful to sprinkle some
superphosphate on pen floor
bi-monthly to break the development circle of
clostridia orgamisms.
2.STAPHYLOCOCCAEMIA:-This is caused by a
bacterium, staphylococcus Aurelius.
Most of the signs of this disease are seen at
post mortem but discharges
from the nostrils and vagina could be seen.
Antibiotics are also employed in
its treatment.
3.COCCIDIOSIS:This is caused by organism of
the Eimeria family. Symptoms of
the disease include diarrhea, prostration e.t.c
Drugs of the Amprolium
family are used in its treatment.
4.WORM INFECTION:-This is caused by worms
and can be gotten from the cane
grass being fed to the grass cutter. This is why
the cane grass must be put
in the sum before being fed to the grass cutters
in order for the larvae of
the worms to destroyed. Regular deworming
should be carried out.
5.ECTOPARASTES: e.g ticks. These could be
introduced into the pens through
inadequately dried forage. Administration of
Ivomec is used to control
ticks. Chemical bath/dipping of the grass cutters
could also be useful.
NUTRITIONAL HYGIENE TIPS TO PREVENT
FOOD POISONING AND DIGESTIVE ISSUES.
Do not serve ripe fruit to the
animals.
Do not serve animals with grass cut
the same day i.e the grass cut in
late afternoon for the next feeding
day.
Remove leftover forage and
concentrate before feeding fresh
feed.
Do not serve supplementary feed
before forage in the morning.
Avoid animals forage that is not yet
mature (too young)
Clean water and feed troughs each
day before feeding.
Provide enough water and feed
troughs in the pen.
Do not feed mouldy forage and
concentrate.
Do not source for grasses from
unhygenic places where human
waste is deposited.
MASTER DE KING
08066074558 OR 08093880909
