GRASSCUTTER PARTURITION

Parturition simply means the process of giving birth. The process of giving birth can also be referred to as to litter. The gestation period of grasscutters is averagely one hundred and fifty five days (155) that is approximately five months. After mating is comprehensive and has resulted in pregnancy, the doe begins to show physical signs of pregnancy from three months upwards. At this stage is when slight protrusion can be noticed in the stomach of the doe. The protrusion at this stage is usually convexed downwards. At four months upwards the belly signs of pregnancy becomes more obvious and a side bulge can now be visible.

The doe may also show signs like excessive sleeping, laziness in getting up from its sleeping or lying position etc. At the point where the pregnancy is advanced, if a buck is in the cage it is unlikely the doe will allow any mating though it is recommended that the buck be removed from eight weeks of been with the doe.

Once the grasscutter carries the pregnancy to term, it will litter in the cage and can litter even safely litter in the presence of other does. The process starts with the doe doing a slight push, when the birth sack appears it bends its head towards the anal region and pulls out the baby. Once the baby is out it usually looks dead or unlikely to survive but that is not a problem. The mother first eats and relishes the umbilical cord after which it then has time to give attention to the new baby. The doe licks the birth fluids off the baby until it springs to life, starts getting up and is able to stand erect. When another one is due to come out the doe repeats the same process and may even abandon nurturing the new cuttling to give birth to a new one.

A grasscutter giving birth and eating the umbilical cord

Some does are fast and do everything in a brisk and crisp manner while other could be clumsy and slow. The doe then pulls out other debris of birth remaining inside it out including the placenta and eats them all with relish. It will also lick up all the blood if the cage is a flatbed cage. Once all the cuttlings are out, the mother resumes nurturing them by licking the birth juice off them until they are neat and dry.

The whole process takes about an hour to an hour and a half to litter 4-5 grasscuttlings.  First litter usually gives 3-4 litters, litter size increases with subsequent deliveries and the grasscutter can litter as much as 7-11 cuttlings. The cuttlings are born fully haired and immediately start searching for the mother’s breast even as soon as they can stand erect.

The sucking of the breast by already born cuttlings sometimes gives the mother a hard time bringing forth the remainder. The babies are a small replica of an adult grasscutter and can run around from a few hours after birth.  The average birth weight for grasscutters is 120gm with a range of between 110-140gms. Some could weigh as low as 80gms and as much as 150gms depending how many cuttlings in the litter.

A grasscutter and her cuttlings

The doe has three pairs of teats so special care should be giving to mother and children if it litters more than six cuttlings. The doe should be well fed after parturition to avoid any transfer of aggression to the cuttlings. In the case of large litters supplementary milk should be provided or a multivitamin solution.  Powdered milk dissolved in water with glucose and a pinch of salt added to help the doe. A surrogate mothering system should also be adopted if there is another breastfeeding mother on the farm. Some of the cuttlings of the large litter are removed and transferred to the surrogate mother for nurturing.

Grasscutters have a strong sense of smell so the surrogate mother can sniff out her cuttlings from the lot. It is therefore advised that transfer of the cuttlings is preceded by masking for both the new babies and her original babies to prevent her killing them.

The cuttlings can be sexed from a day old and will start trying their teeth on forage fed to the doe from a day old too. Weaning is after a period of 4 weeks and can extend to 6weeks in the case of large litters. The doe can be reintroduced to a buck after a rest period of 7-14 days post weaning.

Download the PDF version of this post at 
https://www.scribd.com/document/329022538/Grasscutter-Parturition

See uncensored grasscutter videos including a grasscutter giving birth at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAP8XnVNvcjGA56iQpFe2tQ

HOW TO START GRASSCUTTER FARMING

Grasscutters are rodents just like rats widely found in grasslands in Africa. They are more commonly known as Cane-rats in English speaking parts of West Africa. In Nigeria, they are known as Oya in Yoruba, Gebgi in Hausa and Nchi in Ibo. Other dialects are Udi (Urhobo/Isoko), Ikiri (Ijaw), Izay (Igbirra), Unam ukot (Afik/Ibibo), Evuato (Benin) and Emi (Igala). 

Grasscutters are widely hunted in the wild which is why it is also commonly known as bush meat in Nigeria. The meat is widely consumed all over the West Africa region and beyond, making it one of the top 10 animals whose meat is in highest demand in the market.

The high market demand for the meat as it is served on the menu of high class hotels and restaurants makes it a lucrative livestock to rear. The meat also commands a high market price compared to others (N2,000 per Kg or higher). The meat is also one of the healthiest as they are reared with natural food (grass) and the supplementary feeds have no steroids contents like has been reported in poultry and catfish.

For those who like to rear livestock but have a phobia because of the smell, need for space and high cost of feeding will find grasscutter farming a veritable alternative. I don’t have space I hear you say?

Guess what? I rear grasscutters in a room in my apartment in Lagos. The odour is not offensive. The cost of daily running in grasscutter rearing after the initial investment is low compared with other livestock like poultry or catfish. Initial investment will range from 100,000 to 120,000 naira only. They also have low susceptibility to diseases and do not require high investment in medications.

To start you need a colony of grasscutters consisting of one male and four females. The gestation period of the pregnant animal is 154 days making it possible for them to litter (give birth) twice a year with an average of four (4) grasscuttlings per female per litter. Your returns on investment in grasscutter farming is therefore high.

What do you need to start?

To start your own grasscutter farm right away there in your apartment or backyard, you need:

1. Knowledge (amply provided in our guide to grasscutter farming manual)

2. A cage suitable for their rearing (constructed by a welder or carpenter or both)

3. A breeding stock or grasscutter colony (comprising one male and four females)

This manual is detailed and covers everything you need from housing to feeding to.and health care.

T: 08060043692, 07088625468       e: moagrofarms@gmail.com
t: @moagrofarms          f: Mo’Agro Farms       blog: grasscutterstore.blogspot.com.ng

MY UNFORTUNATE FORAY INTO GRASSCUTTER FARMING

After about six months of preparing and saving up funds, I finally went to purchase and stock my first colony of grasscutters. The routine of cleaning and feeding was a bit challenging for me at first but I got accustomed with it quickly. Everything was going well and I was anticipating when they will be ready to mate, parturition day and grow my farm in numbers. But 17days after stocking, on a cool Sunday morning, I woke up early in the morning to clean the pens when I found one of the females lying cold dead in the cage. I was panicky, scared, frightened and disappointed all at the same time. My morale and enthusiasm was deflated. No one told me about this; that my animals could just die and there would be nothing to do or no one to complain to; I felt sick.

That one dead animal meant I had lost N12,000 (twelve thousand naira). Not just that, but also the potential eight (8) grasscuttlings it could have giving birth to in one year. Thinking about the multiplier financial loss from just that one dead animal gave me a headache. I couldn’t stop thinking about what could have caused the death. I was apprehensive about the remainder grasscutters. Were they going to drop dead one after the other just like that with me helpless and not able to do anything? I kept checking their pen every other minute hoping none had died again. 

My sleep that night was not the best. I woke up earlier than usual and headed straight to their pen. I can’t tell what was going through my head. On one hand I was praying and hoping they were still all alive and healthy; on another hand I was strengthening myself for the sight of another dead grasscutter. It was really not a good experience. If I didn’t have a good health myself, I would have had high BP. Yeah you are probably laughing at my experience right now or you can resonate with my experience because you have been in a similar situation :) no problem!

The essence of this experience sharing is neither to excite you nor is it to discourage you from taking the plunge into your agricultural endeavor, the purpose it to say it should not always be this way. We all want our foray into agriculture and farming to be all rosy but more often than not it isn’t always so. Risk of disasters like death of animals is inevitable but it can be insured against.

AGRIC INSURANCE

Now back to my story; do you know that with a fraction (less than 3%) of my investment into buying a grasscutter colony I could have insured the whole colony against this disaster. I would have saved myself of all the apprehension and worry by buying ‘peace of mind’.

Let us do some maths:

	Without Insurance	With Insurance
1 colony (Cost in naira)	50,000 to 70,000	51,250 to 71,750
Extra expense (assumed Loss)	(No peace of mind)	(1,250 to 1,750)
Assumption	If one female dies	If one female dies
Loss	10,000 to 14,000 + Potential 8 cuttlings for the year	The insurance pays you back 10,000 to 14,000 + cost of feeding from day of stocking to date of death.
Your action	Cry, count your loss and lick your wounds. You could even quit the farming business or advise no one to go into it. :(	Collect your compensation and go buy an extra female. You are back to where you were before the disaster. :)

 

And note that the insurance premium does not stop there. It still covers your losses for a whole year not just a one off. So while saving that money to buy 1,2,3…9 colonies of grasscutter to start the ‘silent money machine’, protect yourself by factoring into your financial plans an insurance premium of 2.5% - 3.5% of the cost of procurement.

HOW DOES AGRIC INSURANCE WORK

Agric insurance like regular insurance is a financial concept where indemnity is provided against loss or disaster due to uncontrollable occurrences after the payment of a premium. Such occurrences include fire, etc. that results in death in the case of livestock and loss of produce in the case of crops. Agric insurance service is provided by insurance companies licensed to provide insurance in the agric sector.

1. Pay a premium of 2.5 – 3.5% of the value of the animals you want to insure.

2. If any of your animals gets injured or dies due to any of these disasters – fire, accident, disease/illness etc. you make a claim and get your business back up.

To sign up for an insurance policy contact Mo’Agro Farms 

T: 08060043692, 07088625468       e: moagrofarms@gmail.com

t: @moagrofarms          f: Mo’Agro Farms       blog: grasscutterstore.blogspot.com.ng