THE HEALTH MANAGEMENT OF GRASS CUTTERS

Health Management in Grasscutter Farming

Health management is very important in all aspects of livestock farming. As a grasscutter or cane rat farmer, the health of your big rats should be very important to you because if they come down with diseases, you would be spending additional money to combat those diseases. Of course, your cost of production is increasing. To protect your grasscutters from diseases, the following measures should be done:

▪️ Inspect grasscutters daily in order to detect any sick animals early.

▪️ Giving your animals the appropriate feed and taking basic hygiene measures help in reducing potential losses to diseases.

▪️ Avoid rough handling of your animals and unnecessary noise. 

▪️ Regularly disinfect the pens, sheds, cages its environment and materials. Wash the feeding and drinking troughs twice in a week.

▪️ Quarantine new grasscutters for 2 weeks before joining them with the main stock.

▪️ Keep feed away from rodents by making the feed store rodent-proof.

▪️ Give minerals and vitamins supplements bi-weekly. You can also give sweetened lemon juice which has been recognized as an immune system strengthener. To make this juice, get 400 ml of pure lemon juice and add 55 cubes of sugar and mix with 20 litres of water.

*How to Identify a Sick Grasscutter*

To know if a grasscutter is sick, there are some observable signs you will see. These include:

▪️ Loss of appetite

▪️ Dull-looking or matted fur

▪️ Social withdrawal or isolation from others

▪️ Inability to escape capture

▪️ Liquid or soft faeces

▪️ Paralysis

▪️ Coughing

▪️ Inflammation of certain parts of the body

▪️ Abnormally long incisors 

For more information on health management you can email us: thygabgrasscutterfarm@gmail.com for complete manual guide. 

*Additional Information*

Grasscutters should be provided with food always. Also, the grasscutters should be fed with fodder 2 hours before feeding them concentrate in the morning and evening. It is also very important to provide water always to the animals. Hence, grassy fodder needs to be dried in the sun for 1-2 days before feeding them to animals.

Concentrate could be combined with fodder. The concentrate can be made up from just one ingredient or several ingredients. It is advisable to alternate the concentrate if single ingredient concentrate is used. If the concentrate is a mix of more than one ingredient, then it could be given to the grasscutters continuously. 

*Importance of conserving and storing feeds*

And lastly let's look at the importance of conserving and storing grasscutter food

Conservation of feeds and stocking the feed barn is another aspect of grasscutter farming that should be considered. The fodder for the animals should be air-dried or sun-dried and kept in a dry place. Planting and cultivating fodder could be done to have sufficient fodder in the period of scarcity.

Concentrates should be stored in a dry place and avoid storing them for long because a concentrate feed is very sensitive to changes in humidity, temperature and/or oxidation. It could also be attacked by insects, rodents, mites, bacteria, fungi or mould. 

That's all the guide you need to start up your grass cutter farming.

*Finally a little breakdown... of profit tag in grasscutter farming. Grasscutter farming is highly profitable, more profitable than you imagined. The meat is widely consumed allover the West Africa region and beyond, making it one of the top 10 animals whose meat is in highest demand in the market. A market ready Grasscutter is sold between N8,000 to N10,000. Five hundred Grasscuters in a year could earn you between N3 Million to N5 Million.*

*The animal reproduces very quickly and in good numbers. A fully grown female Grasscutter after gestation, carries the pregnancy for 140 – 150 days and deliver about twice a year. Each pregnancy produces average of four to seven young ones. Sometimes up to ten, that means one female Grasscutter could produce 8 – 20 other Grasscutters in a year*

*It grows big and very fast too. Grasscutter is one of the biggest rodent in Africa. A fully mature female or male that is ready for market weighs between 3.5kg for the female and 4.5kg for the male. While measuring 45cm to 60cm in body length. The standing height is between 25 to 30cm. The body size of a fully grown male is about the size of a nine inches block.*

*More information on how and where to get live grass cutters to buy for you to start your own grasscutter farming, you can reach me on whatsapp here or on this group platform or you can simply dial my number.*