Contents

1 Introduction
1.1 The scope and focus of this guide
1.2Advantages and disadvantages of grasscutter farming
2 Biology and distribution
2.1 General characteristics
2.2 Reproduction
3 Selection, handling and domestication
3.1 Selection criteria
3.2 Handling and transporting animals
4 Housing: the stable with cages
4.1 The stable
4.2 Cage types and dimensions
4.3 Cage construction
4.4 Equipment and accessories
5 Reproduction and growth
5.1 Sexual maturity and mating
5.2 Pregnancy diagnosis and gestation period
5.3 The litter
6 Nutrition and feeding
6.1 Water
6.2 Forage
6.3 Other feed
6.4 Feed quantities
6.5 Feeding schedule; the grasscutters’ daily rhythm
6.6 Weight gain and feeding profitability
7 Health
7.1 Prevention
7.2 Ailments, symptoms, treatments and preventive measures
7.3 First aid box
8 Administration
8.1 Financial administration
8.2 Stock administration
8.3 Farm administration
8.4 Record-keeping for selection
8.5 Use and examples of records
9 Marketing
9.1 Place, product, promotion and price
 INTRODUCTION
Domestication of the grasscutter (also known as cane rat) is slowly becoming a success story in
sub-Saharan western and central Africa, where grasscutter farming has proven to be a profitable
business. Because of its tasty meat – appreciated by all, regardless of ethnic origin or religion –
grasscutters have been hunted locally to the point of extinction. For that reason, farmers have
become interested in raising them in their backyards. Developing techniques for domestication
and rearing of some of the heavily hunted wild animal species is a sensible way to produce
protein-rich food for increasing human populations. After initial problems, grasscutter farming
has now become well established, leading to a spate of booklets and guides on the subject. Some
of these sources give the impression that it is an easy way to ‘get rich quickly’. Grasscutter
farming can be quite profitable, but it demands good preparation, care and commitment.

1.1 The scope and focus of this guide This book provides up-to-date information on grasscutter
farming to benefit the informed farmer and extension and rural development officers.
It targets farmers wishing to diversify their farms as well as their families’ diet, and those
considering growing grasscutters for the market. The name grasscutter is preferable to cane
rat, which refers to the animal’s reputation as a marauder of planted crops (sugar cane!). Its
popular name grasscutter (or cutting-grass) better befits a species on its way to
domestication.

1.2 Advantages and disadvantages of grasscutter farming Advantages

• There is a good market for the animal’s tasty meat. As a type of bushmeat, it is highly
valued as well as pricey. It therefore offers a good source of income that requires relatively
modest efforts.
• Farmers may profit from the experience of and research results on grasscutter rearing from
well-established grasscutter farming ventures in Cameroon, Gabon, Ghana, Nigeria and
Benin.
• Grasscutters are naturally clean animals; they urinate little and their enclosure is not
smelly, so they can be kept near the house in a quiet place.
• Feeding costs can be low, since grasscutters mostly eat forage that possibly can be
harvested in the wild.
Disadvantages
• Docility. Grasscutters are not (yet) established farm animals, though docility seems to be a
heritable trait that might be improved through selective breeding. This may also be true for a
number of the following characteristics.
• Relative low productivity. Average effective litter size is 3-4; they have a long gestation
period and hence on average fewer than two litters per year
Stress prone: Stress-related injuries are a major cause of death. A frightened animal may
panic and jump from one corner to the other, often injuring itself. Stress can be caused by
noise and wind, to which grasscutters are very sensitive. In suburban zones, the difficulty of
finding a quiet site for the grasscutter pen might be a limiting factor.
• Choosy feeders. They do not eat soft, powdery food and reject forage after lying or
urinating on it.
• Sensitive internal organs. The animal may die if held with force around the abdomen; this
requires the use of a catch or restrictor.
• High initial investment. Grasscutter farming demands a considerable initial investment,
particularly for the animals’ housing .
• Expensive breeding stock. The initial breeding stock (1 male + 4-5 females to start a
breeding unit) must be bought from other farmers, breeders or poachers, and they are not
cheap. • Slow returns on investment. Initial returns, in the form of youngsters ready for
eating or sale, will not accrue until after about one year.
• Feeding. Many guides advocate using the cheap ‘feed (grasses) from the wild’, more
specifically cutting (elephant) grass from empty lots and/or roadsides. Apart from the risk
that this grass may be contaminated with dung, garbage or litter, the ‘would-be grasscutter
farmer’ is competing here with fellow farmers who use the same feed source for their cattle,
goats, rabbits, etc. A farmer should consider where and how to get feed for his animals
before embarking on grasscutter farming.
• Price competition. Grasscutter bush-meat is still (readily) available in some rural areas. Its
selling price sets a maximum on the price of farm reared grasscutters grown for the market,
limiting the feasibility of grasscutter farming in rural areas.
 BIOLOGICAL DISTRIBUTION

There are two species of grasscutters, the greater (Thryonomys swinderi anus) and the
smaller (Thryonomys gregorianus). The greater species is the second-largest African rodent
after the porcupine. The average adult weighs 4 to 9 kg; males (bucks) can reach up to 10 kg,
and the females (does) remain less heavy. Their life span is up to 10 or 11 years. The greater
grasscutter occurs in savannah grasslands, forest clearings, cultivated lands and secondary
forests, where the animal is common and heavily hunted. It is found throughout western,
central and south-eastern Africa. The smaller grasscutter species with a mature weight of 3 to
7 kg, is characterised by a bulbous nose, a short tail and very deeply grooved incisors. It is
mostly found in savannah areas, where it prefers slightly moister climatic conditions (mainly
central and eastern Africa). Its life span is somewhat shorter than that of the greater
grasscutter.
1.3 General characteristics
Grasscutters are herbivorous rodents that feed mostly on a wide variety of grasses and drink
very little water. They have sharp eyesight, a good sense of smell, are smart, quick and may
jump as high as two metres. They are strong and, when caught by the tail, they sometimes
rotate vigorously in order to detach it from the body for escape. Grasscutters are active at
night; they are sensitive to wind and dry food, which cause respiratory problems. They do not
dig holes but rather use burrows made by other animals. They consume nuts, bark and the
soft parts of grasses and shrubs, much preferring elephant grass and sweet potatoes. They
commonly ‘raid’ cassava, yam or sugar-cane plantations (hence the name cane rat!) and are
then considered pests.
1.4 Reproduction
In the wild, grasscutters reproduce year-round, although births seem to peak at certain times
of the year, correlated with weather conditions. One male takes several females, and the
family group has more than one generation of young. The average gestation period is 152
days. Litters normally contain from 3 to 11 young. Newborns are fully developed, their eyes
are open, they weigh approximately 80-150 g, have thick fur, and quickly become
accomplished runners; they can launch a biting attack an hour after delivery and start eating
forage not long after. Females may be ready to copulate soon after delivery, though an
interval of 6-8 weeks between delivery and new mating is generally recommended. Captive
grasscutters can be kept in cages or boxes or in open areas enclosed within walls or other
fencing material. Males and females can be kept together, but not all the time. Depending on
the size of cages used, stocking rates of one male to five females are possible. Pregnant
females must be isolated to avoid the males killing the young.
 SELECTION, HANDLING AND DISTRIBUTION.

3.1 Selection criteria

Animals for starting a grasscutter farm must be obtained from hunters, from other
grasscutter farmers or from certified breeders. To avoid inbreeding never buy animals
from a farmer who does not keep proper stock records. Good health is the first
selection criterion, obviously. Healthy animals are characterised by a smooth, shiny
and thick fur, and by their habit of jumping from one corner to another if air is blown
into their cages. A good grasscutter female should:
• have a big body;
• have at least two pairs of teats (the number of teats determines the number of pups
the doe can nurture successfully);
• be fertile (sometimes a female turns out to be infertile).
A good grasscutter male should:
• have a big body
• have strong hind legs
• be able to stand well
• have two testicles of the same size
• be able to mate with and impregnate females without causing casualties (some
males are bad-tempered and easily kill any females brought to them for mating).
Unfortunately you cannot verify a female’s fertility or a male’s temper when
acquiring them, but such animals should be culled when their malfunctioning
becomes evident. If any symptoms are diagnosed, treat the animal immediately after
buying it in order to minimize risks of introducing disease or parasites

Grasscutter sex determination

It is easy to determine the sex of grasscutters, even soon after birth. Sexing is done
through the determination of the distance between anus and genitals, which in males
is over twice the distance of that in females. To be sure of the sex of the male, a little
abdominal pressure can be applied towards the tail to bring out the testicles, which
usually lie hidden in the abdomen.
3.2 Handling and transporting animals.
Grasscutters are essentially wild animals and therefore have to be handled with care.
Although some animals can be as tame as a rabbit, most frighten and panic easily.
The wild grasscutter in its natural habitat sleeps where it feels comfortable and safe,
eats what and when it feels like eating, mates and plays with its group members.
Imagine the animal’s panic when it is caught, stuffed into a bag and transported on
someone’s shoulder or dumped into the back of a pick-up lorry! Wild grasscutters
bought from hunters need to be handled and transported with special care to avoid
casualties. The safest way to move newly acquired animals is to transport them in a
cage stuffed with grass. A double jute bag – a bag with another one inside – fully
padded with grass is a possible alternative. Poor handling during transportation may
result in internal bleeding and serious losses.
Grasscutter handling on the farm A grasscutter farmer needs to handle his/her animals
manually for a number of reasons:
• sex determination of young animals or of grasscutters brought in from outside;
• pregnancy check
• moving grassscutters from one cage to another, for copulation, delivery etc.; or
• isolation and treatment in the event of a (suspected) disease ( Handling grasscutters
is both a dangerous and delicate task, because the animal has sharp incisor teeth
(rarely used on their handlers), powerful claws (sometimes used to scratch their
handlers) and a weak tail. They can be handled by holding the tail carefully, by
holding the back of the neck or by holding the rump/ waist, again carefully to avoid
damaging internal organs. The procedure for handling a grasscutter by the tail is as
follows.
• Grasp the animal’s tail at the third section towards the end (with your left hand if
you are right-handed).
• Lift it quickly with its hind legs above the ground while keeping its front paws on
the ground (if lifted clear off the ground it may rotate quickly to break off its tail and
escape).
• Grasp the fore-shoulder firmly and quickly turn the animal upside down to lift it
from the ground.
• Examine it in this position (sexing and pregnancy test on tame animals), or put it
into a restrictor.

Domestication
Grasscutters bought from another farm or a certified breeder have been born and
raised in captivity, so they should quickly settle down in their new environment once
accustomed to their cage and their keeper. Wild grasscutters bought from hunters
need special care after arriving at the farm. When put into cages they may race around
and injure themselves. Their immediate environment should be shaded and quiet
without other animals or people around. Feeding and handling should be done on a
regular basis and by the same people, so the animals become accustomed to their
attendants. For domestication the grasscutter farmer should provide similar conditions
as in the wild. The cage should be fully stocked with grasses before a newly acquired,
wild animal is put into it. This prevents the animal from injury itself as a result of
running and hitting its head against the sides of the cage. Aggressive males should be
paired with matured tamed female(s), which are ready to be crossed and vice versa.
Feeding new, wild grasscutters with sugar cane, cube sugar and salted cassava has
proven very effective in taming them. The housing unit should be constructed to
allow enough light into the cage so the grasscutter can see the attendant, especially
during the day.
Domesticated grasscutters exhibit the following characteristics:
• They are able to feel at ease and eat well in the presence of the caretaker. They are
docile; that is they are amendable to stroking or accepting feed from the farmer’s
hand.
• They are able to reproduce in captivity and to care for their pups. Agitated
grasscutters tend to run as if they are blind. If the keeper wants to catch an animal
from its cage or from the ground he should set it moving and quickly block all escape
routes except the one into the metal restrictor or the nylon mesh restrainer. Some
grasscutter experts prefer the netting restrainer to the all-metal restrictor, which might
injure the animal if it runs in at high speed
 HOUSING
A farmer raising a few grasscutters for household use just needs a few superimposed
individual cages with a thatched roof on top. Any more ambitious grasscutter farming
venture requires one or more stables/sheds with hutches or cages inside. (Note: some
publications speak of ‘hutches’, others of ‘cages’. The words mean roughly the same
thing: an enclosure for housing individual animals or small groups of animals. This text
uses ‘cages’). Good grasscutter housing should give the animals conditions comparable to
those in the wild, while offering accessibility and easy handling to the farmer. Good
housing is indispensable for animals and farmer alike. The grasscutter stable should
protect the animals from bad weather (wind, rain, high temperatures), poor ventilation,
noise (busy road, rumbling trucks, market, disco, etc.), predators (ants, snakes, cats, dogs)
and thieves.

3.3 The stable Main considerations:

• The size and type of stable should be in accordance with the farmer’s ambition and
means. • Construction and maintenance costs should both be taken into account.
• Local materials should be used wherever possible, such as bamboo, wood, thatch,
bricks, cement blocks, mud blocks, zinc sheets, wire mesh, etc. Materials must be
solid and easy to clean.
• Moist or swampy environments should be avoided because cement plastering is
easily destroyed by moisture.
• The location must provide protection from noise, predators and thieves. • Roofing
must be safe from leakage. The gradient of a thatched roof should be steep. A zinc
sheet roof should be laid with an adequate overlap between the sheets to prevent
leaking. Zinc roofing may become unbearably hot during the dry season, in which
case it should be covered with thatch.
• Good grasscutter housing should be spacey, dry, and well ventilated, maintain
normal temperatures and be protected from direct wind. It should provide light during
the day and darkness at night – the animals need both for metabolism and growth.
 • Grasscutters are very sensitive to dust, which causes respiratory problems and
mortality Stable and cage construction should restrict dust entering from outside.
Stable(s) as well as cages must be kept dust-free as far as practicable.
• A corridor of at least 1 m wide is needed to allow easy passage of persons, wheel
barrows, etc. without frightening the animals.
• A forage farm around the house is sometimes necessary. The stable’s outer wall
should be at least 1.2 m high to minimise the risk of animals escaping and predators
or thieves entering. If constructed with cement-blocks the outer wall may double as
the back wall of cement-block cages. The stable floor should preferably be plastered
with cement to facilitate proper cleaning.
Cage positioning within the stable can be:
• peripheral: a spacey central corridor with cages on either side;
• central: cages in the middle and a walkway all around; or
• combined: cages along the outer walls and in the middle.
The stable’s dimensions obviously depend on the number of cages needed. A few medium-
sized stables are preferable to a single large one, to facilitate management and reduce
contamination in the event of disease.
Cage arrangement
The arrangement of cages within the stable has to meet two requirements:
• It should make efficient use of stable space while providing adequate ventilation and
sufficient room for allowing easy passage of a wheelbarrow and other equipment.
• It should enable farm labour to work professionally, efficiently and in a comfortable
position. Labour, whether hired or your own, is expensive; it should not be wasted by
working with poorly constructed and badly placed cages or poor-quality equipment. Both
cement-brick and wood + wire mesh cages are customarily constructed in layers of three or
even four on top of each other (see Figure 11). This forces the attendant to stoop down or
kneel when working on the bottom tier, which is uncomfortable and inefficient! It is better to
limit the number of superimposed cages to three tiers, with the bottom one raised sufficiently
above the stable floor to permit easy tending. The space underneath can be used to store feed
and equipment. The floor of the top cages should be below eye level, allowing the farmer to
inspect every cage. Special cage types have been developed to facilitate cleaning. shows a
three-tiered wood + wire mesh double-room family cage arrangement, where the roof of the
bottom- and second-layer cages doubles as a collecting tray for droppings and forage scraps
falling through the wire mesh cage floor. Grasscutter stable photographs often show such
cages placed with their back against the outer wall, and with the waste-collecting trays
slanting upwards towards the front. This makes good cleaning difficult. Dust and debris
accumulating against the outer wall may easily cause respiratory problems and grasscutter
mortality.
3.4 Cage types and dimensions Cage types
A grasscutter farm needs individual cages and group cages. Individual cages are used
for:
• housing male grasscutters > 4 months old (they will fight if housed together);
• housing pregnant females about to give birth (the male may kill the young);
• isolating a sick animal from the healthy ones, for observation and treatment.
Obviously the quarantine cage(s) should be situated away from the other cages.
Group cages are used for:
• housing family groups, 1 male + 4-5 females (until the females are ready to deliver);
• housing a female with her suckling pups;
• raising up to 10 youngsters until they are 4 months old (when the males have to be
kept in separate cages);
• raising females until they are ready for mating. Obviously the number of animals
per cage should be reduced gradually according to their size; up to five females of
similar weight may be housed together. Cage dimensions Cage dimensions
recommended in various grasscutter booklets differ. They depend in part on the
construction material used for the cages (cement blocks or wood + wire mesh). For
individual cages the following dimensions are cited:
• height (bottom to top) 35-45 cm
• width/ depth (front to back) 40-60 cm
• length/ width (left to right) 40-70 cm For group cages:
• height as above, 35-45 cm
• depth 60 cm, up to 80-100 cm in some designs
 • width 160-200 cm, usually with a partition in the middle, with an opening between
the two sections, so the animals can be moved from one side to another to facilitate
cage cleaning. (In some designs the two-section cage width is just 100 cm or even
less.)

3.5 Cage construction

The following general rules apply to cage design and cage size. Cages must be easy to
clean. Grasscutters are very neat animals, so the cage should be easily cleaned or the
wire mesh cage floor should allow waste to fall through. Wire mesh cage floors of
pregnant or lactating mothers must have a mesh size of 1 cm (or ½ inch) at most, to
prevent newborn animals from getting stuck. Cages must allow the animals sufficient
space to move. Cages for a lactating mother or a group of growers must be bigger
than a single male’s cage. Grasscutter cages should be:
• well ventilated (a factor to be taken into account in cage door construction);
• sufficiently spacious, and have at least one closed wall, to make the animals feel
secure and to provide warmth during cool weather;
• made from durable materials (grasscutters are capable of gnawing through any soft
building materials such as non-durable wooden boards or sticks unless protected by
wire mesh, however closely fitted bamboo may also be used);
• easy to maintain and clean, and designed such that it is easy to feed and handle the
animals. Over the years two main types have emerged: brick or cement-brick cages
and cages of (ply-) wood + wire mesh. Providing a list of materials and cost estimates
is beyond the scope of this text. These factors depend on the planned number of
animals on the
farm. The farmer should check and compare availability and price of different
building materials, and calculate cage construction costs before deciding what type of
cage to use.
Cement-brick cages
Cage dimensions are more or less dictated by the customary size of the standard
building block, often 10 × 20 × 40 cm. Floors and roofs of multi-layer brick cages
have to be constructed in reinforced concrete, because horizontal brick masonry will
collapse. Cage floors and, preferably, the walls as well should be plastered with
cement, to facilitate cleaning and good hygiene. Ventilation must be provided through
the top lids (or slats covering) of single-layer floor cages, or by the vertically hinged
steel rod doors of superimposed cages. Note that the cages’ back wall should have a
ventilation hole as well, fitted with nylon mesh to prevent vermin from entering. A
cement-brick outer stable wall may be used as the back wall of a cement brick cage,
to economize on construction costs.

Wood + wire mesh cages

Basically this type of cage consists of a wooden frame (boards or plywood) fitted
with wire mesh to protect it from gnawing by the animals. Walls are made from 3 cm
crimp square wire mesh; and cage floors are made of 1.5 cm crimp mesh to protect
the animals’ feet if the floor is not fitted with plywood underneath. Steel wire mesh is
sold in fixed heights. The farmer is well advised to adjust cage size to the dimensions
of the construction materials available in the market, to avoid costly waste of material

Steel + wire mesh cages

Steel + wire mesh cages are sometimes used, constructed along the lines of the wood
+ wire mesh cages. Given the price of steel they are normally more expensive than
the other two types, unless made from cheap scrap metal.

Transporting box
The farm must have at least one transporting box for moving grasscutters safely to
the farm, or from the farm to market. Tools Each stable should have the following
tools:
• wheelbarrow;
• dustpan + broom;
• waste bin;

• a bucket or watering can;

• at least two catchers or restrictors, of different dimensions, depending on the size of
the animal– the catcher is used for holding and restraining a grasscutter when moving
it to another cage, for weighing it, in pregnancy diagnosis, or for examination and
treatment in case of a disease);
• a weighing scale;
• a (small) sprayer.
Note: on a two-stable farm, the individual stables might share some equipment.
Accessories
Each individual cage needs the following accessories:
• A drinking trough (rectangular, e.g. 18 x 18 cm, 10 cm high or round) and a feeding
trough for concentrates (similar dimensions). Both should be made from cement,
preferably, to prevent them from being toppled over by the animals and for easy
cleaning.
• A rack (horizontal or – preferably – vertical) for grass or vegetable feed. Drinkers
and feeding racks might be placed on the outside of small cages.
• A stick, bone or stone for the grasscutters to gnaw on and thereby keep their
continually growing incisors under control.
Final advice
Stable(s) and cages make up a substantial part of a farmer’s investments in
grasscutter raising. Remember that grasscutters resemble other farm animals in that
their health and welfare are closely related. Well-housed animals that feel at ease eat
better, grow better, procreate better and are less prone to diseases than poorly kept
and fed ones. Better growth, less disease and lower mortality mean higher profits
from the grasscutter farming venture. On the other hand ‘animal welfare’ costs time
and money: money for stable and cage construction and maintenance and time for
tending the animals, cleaning their cages and providing proper feed. The farmer has
to balance benefits and costs.
 REPRODUCTION AND GROWTH

Grasscutter reproduction is one of the business objectives of your grasscutter farm:

breed and raise young animals for sale or slaughter, and for replacement of your
ageing breeding stock. Obviously proper feeding is essential in making grasscutters
reproduce well. Chapter 3 lists criteria for selecting and bringing in breeding stock
from outside and describes grasscutter sex determination. Reproduction terminology
(copulation, conception, gestation, delivery, etc.) is explained in the Glossary.
5.1 Sexual maturity and mating
Sexual maturity
Females (does) can be mated when about 6 months old and weighing some 1.5 kg.
Male grasscutters (bucks) become sexually mature at the age of 6 months, but it is
advisable to start using them for copulation at 8 to 9 months or when they weigh at
least 2 kg. Grasscutters show no clear signs of heat.
Mating
It is advisable to use males from different origins for mating to compare breeds and
avoid incest. This provides variation in the offspring and gives the opportunity to
select for desired characteristics (fertility, docility, growth rate, maximum weight,
etc.). To initiate mating first place one male in an empty group cage (see section 4.2).
One day later, when the buck feels at ease, bring 4 to 6 females – depending on cage
dimensions – to the male. The buck should be larger and heavier than any doe
brought to it for copulation; but small females, especially virgins, should not be given
to oversize bucks. The farmer should observe the level of aggression between male
and females from a distance. Buck and does may have to be separated if serious
fighting develops. Female grasscutter ovulation is reflex, or induced, ovulation; the
doe releases eggs only after a successful mating. For that reason it is usually advised
that the females are left with the male until clear signs of mating and pregnancy are
observed. Mating studies at the University of Ghana showed the highest rate of
female sexual receptivity, conception and parturition during the first three days. This
supported the conclusion that the customary prolonged mating period is not
necessary.
5.2 Pregnancy diagnosis and gestation period.
Signs of mating, pregnancy diagnosis After a successful mating, marks such as fur
removal or scratches appear around the doe’s ear and ribs. The vagina becomes red
and swollen and the membrane on the vulva disappears and opens. Blood secretions
may be observed on the tip of the clitoris 30-45 days after mating as a result of the
implantation of the foetus. Pregnant females can be differentiated in the following
ways:
• Observation. The pregnant doe’s belly increases in size.
• Handling. Gentle palpitation of the abdomen can reveal a pregnancy.
• Weekly weighing. An above-normal weight increase indicates a pregnancy.
• A pregnancy test.
By inserting a clean end of a cotton bud half-way into the vagina, rotating it a bit and
removing it the nature of the secretion can be observed (see Figure 17). Dirty or
blood-stained mucus indicates a positive test. Testing still-untamed animals may be
difficult. Pregnant females should be separated from the male to prevent further
copulation, fighting and possible harm. The test should be repeated on the other does
every two weeks until they prove to be pregnant. A female can be considered sterile
after three unsuccessful tests; an infertile doe should be culled.
Pregnancy, gestation period
The average gestation period (the time from successful mating to delivery) is around
152 days (140-160), or about five months. The pregnant female should be given
production rations, including minerals and vitamins in its feed and drinking water
Several females at the same stage of pregnancy may be kept together in a group cage,
though each should preferably have its own separate cage towards the expected
delivery time. After four months of pregnancy sufficient clean grass should be left in
the cage for the expectant mother to make a nest. Do not disturb females showing
strange behaviour (e.g. not eating) just before delivery.

5.3 The litter

Delivery, litter size, suckling, weaning The young are born at an advanced state of
development, weighing from 80 to 150 g and not requiring any intensive care. They
start suckling and eating succulent grass a few hours after birth. Obviously both
mother and pups should be fed good forage and supplements. If a doe dies during or
soon after delivery her young could be suckled by another doe with pups of
approximately the same age. Litter size (number born at one time) ranges between 2
and 11, averaging 4 at birth (in Ghana), and fewer at weaning, because of pup
mortality. The potential litter index (deliveries per year) is 2, though the average is
around 1.8 because most females deliver less frequently, especially young does. To
maximise the litter index the young should be weaned at 4 weeks preferably, or when
they have attained a weight of 500 g, which may take up to 6 weeks. The doe can be
crossed soon after giving birth, but it is advised to allow her some 10 days’ post-
weaning rest before she is brought to the buck for the next mating. This brings the
(average) minimum interval between successive deliveries to 152 + 28 + 10 = 190
days (4 weeks suckling to weaning), or less than 2 deliveries per year.
 NUTRITION AND FEEDING
For a farm to be profitable the animals should reproduce well, remain healthy, and put
on weight at a steady rate with the lowest possible input of feed and concentrates.
Good nutrition is essential for good health, vigorous growth and high fertility
Note: this book uses the following terminology
• Feed is whatever animals eat, in the wild or in captivity (‘food’ usually refers to
what is eaten by humans or their pets).
• Fodder is feed brought to animals in captivity.
• Forage is feed containing more water and fibre than digestible material when green.
Grasses, legumes, leaves and crop residues are all forage. Forage may be dried (hay)
or otherwise conserved (e.g. by silage) for use in the dry season(s) when green forage
becomes scarce.
• Roughage is the indigestible portion of plant feed (some texts use ‘roughage’ and
‘forage’ as equivalents). In the wild, grasscutters collect their feed by foraging. They
consume a wide variety of grasses (both fresh and dry), tubers, leaves and fruit. They
ingest soil when digging for tubers to get essential minerals. Although basically
herbivores they are known to consume insects and small rodents. Even cannibalism is
not uncommon. In captivity grasscutters need feed (forage and concentrates), water
and minerals/vitamins. A grasscutter is a rodent; it holds its food in its paw/hand
before eating it. Therefore, its feed should be solid and not powdery. Powdery feeds
tend to block the animal’s respiratory tract due to the closeness of its nose to its
mouth.
Maintenance and production ration.
Animals need water and feed to live, grow, work and reproduce. Even at rest an
animal needs energy and protein to stay alive. If these maintenance requirements are
not covered, the animal will lose weight, it might fall ill and it will not reproduce. For
instance: a grasscutter pregnancy might disappear through embryo resorption if the
pregnant doe is underfed. The farmer wants grasscutters to grow, reproduce, carry a
pregnancy, produce milk to suckle pups and to put on weight. These production steps
require proportionally more protein and other nutrients than maintenance. Therefore
the grasscutters’ production requirements include the addition of extra nutrients.
Incisor control (see also Chapter 7 on dental problems) The grasscutters’ incisors
grow continuously and will overlap and cause wounds on the gums if not controlled.
In the wild, the animal will gnaw hard objects such as sticks, stones and bones to file
its teeth. Such items should be available in their cage.
6.1 Water
Grasscutters drink very little because fresh forage supplies them with some of the
water they require. Nevertheless, clean water should be available in the cage at all
times, its quantity depending on the number of animals housed together. Pregnant or
suckling females need more water.
Water should be provided in small troughs that should be emptied daily and washed
before being refilled with fresh water from a clean source.
6.2 Forage
Grasscutters are mainly herbivores so about 70%-80% of their feed should be forage.
Other types of feed, including fruits, cassava and maize, should be given in smaller
quantities. Grasses, legumes, leaves and crop residues may all serve as forage. Forage
may be dried (hay) or otherwise conserved (e.g. by silage) for use in the dry season(s)
when green forage becomes scarce. Grasses A wide variety of grasses can serve as
forage (see the list below). Grass may be harvested from a forage farm lot and/or
from ‘nature’: roadsides, vacant plots, etc. Forage must be cut well above the ground
from around noon, when insects have moved downwards. It should be allowed to wilt
in the shade for at least 24 hours to prevent grasscutters from developing stomach
problems. Before being fed to the grasscutters, the wilted grass must be shaken well
to make insect eggs and larvae, bacteria and some worms fall off. It should then be
tied into boats (bundles) of about 30 to 90 cm in length to minimise the space it will
occupy in the cage. Putting the bundles against the cage wall prevents the animals
from lying or urinating on the forage, which they will then reject. Forage must be free
of dry leaves and flowers and it should be replaced daily. Grasscutters prefer the basal
parts (stem) of grasses even though they are less nutritious than the leaves. Therefore
the caretaker should feed more leaves than stems. In many cases forage grasses will
be harvested along roads and other common places. There may be a shortage of such
grasses in areas where many farmers keep grasscutters or other grass-eating animals,
e.g. near villages. A farmer could grow his own grass for feeding on a small plot or in
hedges.

Dried forage
In the wild, grasscutters consume both dry and fresh grass; and some grasscutter
farmers obtain favorable results by feeding them both fresh and dried forage.
Checking for insects and worms remains necessary. Feeding dried forage is an option
in the dry season, when fresh grasses are not easily available. Hay, supplemented with
other feed and concentrates, is a good replacement for fresh forage. According to
information from Ghana (Richmond and Nyalemegbe, 2006), grass silage is rarely
used, though grasscutters will probably eat it if they are hungry and some salt is
added to it.
Changing to other types of grasses
The grasscutter farmer could introduce his/her animals to new, non-poisonous grasses
that are common in the locality or easily grown on the farm. Starving is the best way
to have your animals accept new feeds. Pregnant or lactating females should never be
starved. The best time to start training the grasscutters to eat local feeds is when they
are very young. The following types of grasscutter forage could be used:
Grasses (Poaceae)
Elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum), also known as napier grass
Guinea grass (Panicum maximum)
Maize (Zea mays): cob, leaves, husk
Sugar cane (Saccharum officinarum): leaves
African giant star grass (Cynodon sp.)
Gamba grass (Andropogon gayanus)
Sheep grass (Brachiaria decumbens)
Bamboo (Oxythenanthera abyssima): young shoots
Rottboellia (Rottboellia exaltata)
Wild sorghum (Sorghum spp.)
Other plants and weeds
Stylo (Stylosanthes spp.)
Spurge weed (Euphorbia heterophylla)

6.3 Other feed

Because forage is relatively poor in nutrients, the captive grasscutters’ diet needs to
be balanced by the daily intake of carbohydrates, proteins, fats, minerals, salts and
water. For that reason, the animals should be provided with a variety of feeds other
than forage every day, such as fruit, tubers and grains. In addition, carbohydrates,
proteins and minerals are often provided in the form of concentrates.
Some of these additional nutrients can also be provided in the form of meal leftovers
and agro-industrial by-products that are safe for consumption.

Recommended fruits and tubers

Fruits
Banana, plantain (Musa spp.): leaves, stem Oil palm (Eleis guineensis): young shoots
Mango (Mangifera indica) Paw paw (Carica papaya) Pineapple (Ananas spp.): leaves,
peels
Tubers
Cassava (Manihot spp.): tubers, stem Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) Taro
(Xanthosoma sagittifolia) Yam (Diascorea sp.)
When feeding the animals fruit, make sure it is hard enough for the grasscutters to
hold in their paws. According to several manuals, fruits should be fed preferably in
the afternoon. Train your animals to accept fruits of high nutritional value common in
your locality.

Concentrates
Grasscutters in their natural habitat eat not only grasses but also other feeds like fresh
groundnut hull, plantain pseudo stem, sugar-cane, cassava tubers/stem, oil palm and
cocoa-nut seedlings, shells and rice (leaves, stem and grains) to obtain extra protein,
minerals and vitamins that their bodies require for growth and reproduction.
Therefore, grasscutters in captivity should be given these nutrients in the form of
concentrates to supplement those obtained from grasses in order to enhance
productivity. Concentrates contain more digestible material than water and fibre.
 They are fed to the animals in the form of grains, chips or pellets placed in the
feeders; large lumps should be sliced into chips. Concentrate must neither be dusty
nor pasty. Whatever is left uneaten by the grasscutters should be collected so that the
feeder is completely empty before new feed is introduced. The leftovers can be fed to
chickens. Feeding should never be done during resting/sleeping periods. You can formulate
your own concentrate from locally available ingredients like (roasted) groundnut, maize,
wheat bran, shells, salt and minerals and vitamins. Compact the concentrate into
small pellets before feeding it to the animals. Annex 1 describes the ingredients and
procedure for making concentrates.

Concentrates should be introduced tactfully to grasscutters that have never eaten them
before to avoid putting unnecessary pressure on the animals, especially on pregnant
or lactating mothers: • Add sugar or some salt to the concentrate to make it more
appetising. • Starve the animal from morning and give it only the concentrate and
water. Never starve pregnant or lactating does. • Pair grasscutters used to the
concentrate with those being introduced to it. • Introduce concentrates early to very
young grasscutters from two weeks old and above.
 Never feed mouldy concentrates.

Minerals

As explained above, captive grasscutters need minerals in their feed, specifically: • salt •
calcium, from ground egg shell, ground oyster shell, or burnt snail shell (Achatina spp.) Minerals
can be given through the drinking water or in the form of pelleted concentrates in a separate
trough.

Coprophagy

Coprophagy is a special form of grasscutter feeding. During its sleeping time, especially around
4.00 in the morning, the grasscutter recycles its droppings, moving them directly from its anus to
its mouth. This peculiar practice recycles a part of its intestinal bacteria that is indispensable for
cellulose breakdown and protein synthesis. It also provides the animal with vitamin B.

6.4 Feed quantities

Table1 shows the recommended quantity of feeds per animal per day depending on the
physiological state of the animal and the type and nutritional value of the feed

AGE FORAGE / GRASSES SUPPLEMENT /

(TWICE DAILY) SUPPLEMENTARY FEED
IN PELLET (SOLID) FORM
YOUNG (1-3 MONTHS) 100-150g (1handful) 10-50g (1milk tin of
concentrate)
ADOLESCENT (4-6 150-250g (1.5 handfuls) 50-100g (2 milk tins of
MONTHS) concentrate)

ADULTS (6 MONTHS Adults (6 months and older 100-200g (3 milk tins of

AND OLDER concentrate

6.5 Feeding schedule the grasscutters’ daily rhythm

The feeding schedule should be adapted to the grasscutters’ daily rhythm. Different
authors cite different daily activity rhythms, but all agree that strict feeding regimes
are essential. Grasscutters spend about 13 hours a day resting or sleeping, 6-7 hours
eating, about 2 hours grooming themselves, and the remaining time playing.
According to research, grasscutters eat intensively from 8.00 to 12.00 in the morning
and intermittently between 18.00 and 22-23.00 hours in the evening. They sleep
(deeply) between midnight and 6.00 in the morning and groom themselves between
8.00 and 10.00. This would indicate a twice-daily feeding schedule: once in the
morning and once in the late afternoon or at nightfall. Other grasscutter manuals
advocate three or even four daily feeding times, for example: 8-10.00, 16.00, 21.00 as
well as at 4.00 in the morning; or 7-8.00 (grass + water), 13-14.00 (supplementary
feed), 17-18.00 (grass + other forage, fruit).
Grasscutters are wasteful feeders, regardless of whether they are eating forage or
pelleted concentrates. To minimise waste, they should therefore not be fed more than
twice, or at most three times, a day. A strict schedule is in any case essential; all work
in the grasscutter stable, whether feeding, cleaning or tending, should be carried out at
set times, in a regular sequence and by the same attendant(s). No one should be in the
stable in between these set times.
Summarising:
• Always give feed during fixed feeding hours.
• Remove leftovers of the previous feeding before giving any new feed
• Allow harvested grass to wilt in the shade for 24 hours before giving it to the
animals in order to prevent diseases. Fresh grass must also be inspected thoroughly
for insects and worms before being fed to the animals.
6.6 Weight gain and feeding profitability
Observations on the monthly weight gain of grasscutters in captivity show that bucks
rapidly grow to about 2.5 kg by the recommended first mating age of 8 months and to
3.5 kg by 12 months. Monthly weight gain continues until the animal weighs more
than 4 kg at around 16 months, before slowing down rapidly. Does reach around 1.5
kg by the recommended first mating age of 6 months, growing to around 2 kg at the
age of 10 months and 3 kg at 24 months. Daily weight gain of bucks rapidly rises
from 8 g at birth to just below 10 g per day at around 11 months. The profitability of
feeding them starts to decline from that age, so they are at this time ripe for sale or
slaughter unless they are considered essential breeding stock. Daily weight gain of
does is stable at about 7.5 g per day from birth to around the first mating age of 6
months, declining from then onwards (to around 4 g per day at 24 months of age).
Since does are kept mainly to produce offspring this reduction in daily growth is less
important than that for bucks. Infertile does should be culled.
 HEALTH
Grasscutters are naturally clean animals in the wild and they are less susceptible to
disease than most other farm animals. Nevertheless crowding animals on a farm
always increases the risk of ailments or diseases. This chapter categorizes the various
types of ailments a grasscutter farmer might be confronted with, describing
symptoms, cures and preventive measures. Note: antiseptics and antibiotics are
regularly mentioned. Farmers should consult their local veterinary officers to select
the best and cheapest medicine while keeping in mind the general caution on
indiscriminate use of antibiotics, which can lead to multi-resistant bacteria.
7.1 Prevention
Prevention is better than the cure! Some general measures to prevent disease and
trauma are the following:
• Always give your animals adequate and complete feed.
• Make sure the feed is clean and free of dust or mould, and that forage has been
allowed to wilt in the shade for at least 24 hours.
• Fresh forage must also be inspected well for insects (eggs, larvae) and worms before
being fed to the animals
• Inspect your animals visually every day.
• Regularly check their excrements (dry excrement in the form of coffee like grains
indicate that the animal is healthy; wet excrement or excrement that is not in pellet
form indicates that the animal is sick).
• Separate a sick or wounded animal immediately from the healthy animals and put it
in the quarantine cage for observation and treatment.
• Provide a healthy environment by cleaning cages daily, and by disinfecting eating
and drinking troughs once weekly and the cages once monthly with products like
alkali or soda.
• Prevent fights by not overcrowding your animals in the cages, and by separating
young bucks into individual cages from the age of 4 months.
• Disinfect any cage occupied by a sick animal.
• Thoroughly disinfect the quarantine cage after use.
• Install an antiseptic foot bath at each stable entrance
• Construct a perimeter fencing around the entire grasscutter compound to prevent
unauthorised visitors or stray animals from entering.
Only one general preventive treatment is currently known, namely a sugarlemon-
water mixture. It is prepared by squeezing 4 lemons in 2 litres of water containing 8
cubes of sugar. It is provided as drinking water during periods of stress, including
after changes in season, environment or feed, when an animal has a mild infection, or
when it is experiencing pain caused by wounds.
Main causes of disease and mortality
Studies on grasscutter disease and mortality in captivity show an average monthly
mortality of 2.5%. Trauma is the main cause (wounds caused by fighting, or
panicking animals hurting themselves by trying to escape), followed by ‘unknown
causes’, blood poisoning and respiratory problems, in that order. Mortality is highest
in the sub-adult group (animals between weaning age and first mating). Stress seems
to be an important predisposing factor in grasscutter diseases. This underlines the
need to: provide a clean and quiet environment for your animals; avoid overcrowding;
• separate young bucks;
• follow a strict daily feeding and cleaning routine carried out by familiar attendants;
select and breed your grasscutters for docility!
7.2 Ailments, symptoms, treatments and preventive measures
Trauma: wounds, fractures, abscesses
Trauma is a frequent cause of mortality. Wounds are often caused by fighting, by
animals panicking and hurting themselves or from grasscutters struggling while being
handled.
Symptoms
Wounds and abscesses are easily diagnosed. Fractures are diagnosed by observing
the animal’s movements or by gentle palpitation. Treatment of wounds
• Treat light wounds affecting only hairs and skin with an antibiotic aerosol spray,
e.g. Pedospray or an antibiotic powder.
• An animal with deep wounds that affect its muscles will need to be isolated. The
services of a veterinarian may be necessary as well.
• In situations where suturing is necessary, anaesthesia is required.
• In the event of serious wounds, like exposure of the viscera, slaughter is
recommended.
Treatment of fractures
• Isolate young animals to restrict their movement. Let them grow to slaughter
weight if they eat. If they lose appetite slaughter them.
• For (nearly) fully grown animals slaughter is recommended.
• A veterinarian may treat and heal the fracture; the farmer will have to decide
whether benefit outweighs cost.
Treatment of abscesses
• Abscesses may result from wounds or from influences like blood poisoning.
Hygiene is important in their prevention.
• Incise them when they are ripe; apply any antiseptic afterwards.
Prevention
• Avoid overpopulation in the cages.
• Constitute groups of animals of roughly the same weight.
• Separate males, from each other and from females, when 4 months old.
• Maintain a calm attitude when feeding or cleaning.
• Be careful when handling a grasscutter to prevent it from getting fractures or losing
its tail. Lifting by the tail may cause the animal to start rotating rapidly to break its
tail and escape. If this happens, quickly let the grasscutter’s forelimbs touch the
ground, or release the animal completely. It is advisable to catch the grasscutter in a
metal restrictor or a netting restrainer before examining, treating or transferring it.

Respiratory problems: cough, pneumonia

Symptoms
Cough, nasal discharge, sneezing, heavy, slow breathing; diarrhoea may be present
as well. Cough or aspiration pneumonia may be caused by inhalation of dust from
forage or feed. Bacterial pneumonia may result from exposure to cold and wind
during the rainy season. A high concentration of ammonia gas emanating from the
excrements may also cause respiratory problems.

Treatment
Cough can be treated with the sugar-lemon-water solution, or by giving the animal
small chips of ginger and garlic in its feeder. Bacterial pneumonia possibly requires
antibiotic treatment, e.g. Oxytetracycline or Tylosine (at the recommended dosage).
Put the affected animal into the isolation cage.
Prevention
Avoid dust, both in the forage/feed and in the environment. Do not give spoilt or
mouldy feed to your animals. Cut and dry forage in the way described in Chapter 6, to
prevent the animals from ingesting insects, harmful plants and worm eggs. Regular
de-worming every four months is recommended by injecting an Ivomec solution (e.g.
Ivermectine, against roundworms and parasites). Stable construction must permit
fresh air circulation, while avoiding cold, dust and moisture from entering the stable.
The stable may even have to be heated during cold nights with a kerosene lantern.
Covering a stable or cages with polythene sheeting might be preferable, to avoid
noxious kerosene fumes. Prevent grasscutters from coming into direct contact with
the polythene sheet. Clean out the cages regularly.

Digestive/intestinal problems
Symptoms
Diarrhoea, constipation, loss of appetite, eating but still becoming increasingly weak,
weight loss. The cause might be (1) eating spoilt or mouldy feed, (2) a protozoa
infection (Coccidiosis), (3) bacterial infections like E. coli, Salmonella, etc., or (4)
intestinal parasites: worms, nematodes. Worms may be suspected or seen in the
faeces; feeding insufficiently dried grass is often the cause.
Treatment
Diarrhoea caused by eating spoilt or mouldy feed may be cured by feeding dried paw
paw seeds of unripe, but matured paw paws. The same cure is recommended for
worm infections. Coccidiosis can be cured by applying coccidiostats-containing
Amprolium at the recommended dosage.

Prevention
Do not give spoilt or mouldy feed to your animals. See recommendations on cutting
and drying forage and on regular de-worming above.
Skin problems: ticks, mites
Symptoms
Ticks can be observed in the animals’ fur. Mites cause mange, resulting in loss of
hair and scaly skin.
Treatment
Ticks are treated with a 0.5% Bromocycline bath rubbed on the affected animal’s skin
against the grain. Usually the other animals within the same cage must be treated as
well. Mange is treated by rubbing the whole body with Ascabiol powder mixed with
palm oil. All in-contact animals and those suspected of having had contact with the
affected animals should be rubbed in as well.

Prevention
Tick infestation can be prevented by drying and shaking forage before feeding it to
grasscutters.
Dental problems
Symptoms
An affected animal grips feed, then drops it. General lethargy and loss of weight are
other symptoms. Dental fractures do occur; and they are easily noticed.
Treatment
Grasscutter incisors grow continuously and would overlap and cause wounds to the
gums if not controlled. A hard object, e.g. a bone or stone, in the cages allows the
animals to control incisor growth by gnawing. Incisor filing may be necessary in
severe cases. Treatment of fractures: if healing is considered possible, feed young
forage and provide soft moistened feed, e.g. boiled cassava or potatoes. If the fracture
is inside the gums requiring a long period for regrowth, slaughter is recommended.
Prevention
A stick, bone or stone in the cage is the first line of defense against dental problems.
Providing correct forage and feed and stress-free conditions are essential as well.
Loss of appetite, loss of weight
Loss of appetite is rare for a healthy animal. It may result from dental problems,
diarrhea or internal bacterial infection (Staphylococcus aureus and others in the lungs
and other internal organs). Dental problems and diarrhea have been discussed. If
bacterial infection is suspected and the cause cannot be identified, veterinary services
may be necessary if the affected animal’s qualities outweigh the cost. Otherwise
slaughter is recommended. Weight loss is indicated by visible spine and ribs. It is
common with gestating and lactating females due to poor feeding. Females that are
emaciated after weaning should be allowed to regain weight before the next
copulation.

7.3 First aid box

The grasscutter farm’s minimum first aid box
Note: the anti-stress sugar-lemon-water solution (see section 7.1) should always be
the first line of defense in most situations.
Pharmaceutical products
• Betadine as a local antiseptic
• Antibiotic aerosol spray for wounds
• Piperazine against worms
• Broad-spectrum antibiotic, e.g. Banoecine (in powder or injectable form)
• Oxytetracycline 20% (in powder or injectable form)
• Imalgine as an anaesthetic

Equipment
• A sharp blade for incising abscesses, etc.
• Gauze for cleaning wounds (cotton would leave fibres in the wound)
• Pliers
• Teaspoon for administering medicaments orally, or for mixing
• Syringe for administering medication orally or intra-muscular Injectable antibiotics
should be administered around the base of the animal’s tail on the underside.
Anaesthesia may be required for easy manipulation during treatment. It consists of
20 mg xylazine2% (Rompun) + 100 mg ketamine (Imalgine 1000), administered
intra-muscular at a dose of 0.35-0.2 ml/kg live weight of the animal treated. The
injection takes effect after five minutes and the effect lasts for about one hour.
Regulate the position of the animal’s head to ensure good respiration while it is
unconscious.
 ADMINISTRATION
Accurate records are indispensable in running and improving any business, farms included. Good
records are the key to successful farming and they help a farmer to access commercial bank
loans. Farms with livestock in whatever form, from grasscutters to cows, need to keep stock
records as well as financial records. Stock records are necessary to prevent inbreeding and to
improve the offspring by crossing the best male animals with the best females.

8.1 Financial administration

All farm activities are aimed to provide an income for the farmer and his/ her family (or, in the
case of part-time farming, to augment an income from other sources). Whether or not they
actually do yield a positive return can only be ascertained by keeping track of income and
expenditure. On a grasscutter farm money flows in from the regular sale (or household use) of
live animals or their meat, and incidental sales of live animals as breeding stock. Expenditure
comprises two distinct elements, fixed costs and variable costs.

Fixed costs

Animal sheds, cages, durable equipment and tools, building up the grasscutter stock, land for
growing forage, etc., are fixed costs. They demand care, regular maintenance and, possibly,
payment of land rent and/ or interest on a loan. Annual maintenance costs of buildings and cages
are usually calculated as a fixed percentage (e.g. 5-10% for buildings) of the original investment.
Fixed costs continue, whether your grasscutter farm provides any income or not!

Variable costs

Direct or variable costs are directly linked to running the farm; they increase or decrease with
the level of production. Labour, whether hired or your own, forage and concentrates, cleaning
chemicals, hand-tools, drugs, veterinary services, etc., are examples of variable costs. A sound
financial administration is essential for keeping track of expenditure and income – not just for
knowing ‘where the money goes’, but also for taking management decisions on where and how
costs might be reduced and income improved.
8.2 Stock administration

Grasscutter farms need a good stock administration that records data on each individual animal.
This is essential to improve breeding and avoid inbreeding. Some animals are more disease
resistant than others. Some does deliver and raise two healthy litters a year, whereas others
reproduce less well. Docility is a heritable trait. Of course you want to select the healthiest, most
productive and most docile animals for breeding replacement stock. Accurate stock records
indicate which grasscutters to keep and which to cull. Inbreeding, i.e. bucks copulating with their
own siblings or their own female offspring, is a proven cause of increased morbidity and
mortality. Here again, accurate stock records will indicate when to replace your breeding bucks
with fresh ones, brought in from outside (taking care not to import siblings of your own stock!)

8.3 Farm administration

Diary

Keep a daily diary to record all ‘events’ in the daily work routine immediately when they occur,
because information is easily forgotten. Financial events are purchases of inputs (the variable
costs), and sales, each with total value and unit price. Farm events include breeding data
(copulation, delivery, litter size, etc.), information on operations (animal a transferred to cage b
for reason c, etc.), feeding records, veterinary treatment, and so on. Be precise in recording such
events in your diary and regularly transferring them to permanent stock records and financial
records. A farmer just keeping a few grasscutters for family consumption might well argue that
detailed records are not necessary. But do not forget that you need a reasonable estimate of the
production cost of 1 kg grasscutter meat for the household pot, to decide if it would not be wiser
to invest your labour and money in some alternative crop or livestock and simply buy meat in the
market.

Identification

In order to keep track of all the different financial and farm events the farmer must be able to
identify the stables/sheds, the different cages in each stable and the individual grasscutters.
Stables

Stables are simply identified by a painted letter or number near the door of each one, in order of
construction, e.g. A, B, C and so on.

Cages

Cages are identified by numbering them clockwise from the stable door, from top to bottom and
from left to right in the case of superimposed cages. The numbers, e.g. A.1.1. (top cage, first
column of cages on the left in stable A) can be written or painted on individual tags (made of
plywood or cardboard) hanging on a nail at the top corner of each cage. They could also be
written on the cage with writing chalk. Grasscutters Identifying individual animals is important
to keep track of breeding and growing performance, and of each animal’s parental lineage to
avoid inbreeding. The following identification methods can be used:

• Record visual characteristics, such as the animals’ size, shape, coat colour and natural marks.
This is practicable only on small farms.

• Paint a specific colour on the animal’s fur. This is a temporal solution as hair is lost and the
mark eventually disappears.

• Tattoo the animal. A code number can be pierced on the skin with a special iron, and then
rubbed with a special ink. The imprint lasts a long time, but it can be difficult to read because of
the grasscutter’s thick fur.

• Notch the animal’s ears. This involves making ‘v’-shaped cuts in the animal’s ears with a very
sharp, thoroughly disinfected knife or pincer. Location (left or right ear) and orientation (top,
side or underside of the ear) of the notches indicate a numerical code; . Notching is an easy and
cheap identification method; however the time involved in learning to decode the notching
patterns is a disadvantage. Moreover, hairy ears may make the notches difficult to see; and
fighting between the animals may destroy the markings.

• Attach ear-tags. Ear-tags are metal or plastic tags with a number or other information that are
clipped to the ear. This is a useful method, although it is more expensive than notching. The
same disadvantages apply: the tags are difficult to read quickly, and the grasscutters may destroy
their ears in a fight.
Note that grasscutters may be identified by a tag on their cage provided each animal has its
own cage, the tag is always kept up to date and it moves with the animals when they are
transferred.

Records

Stock records

Cards are a simple way to organize your grasscutter administration. Each animal has its own card
with relevant information (identification number, sex, age, etc.). Cards are sorted into a box (e.g.
one for each separate stable). Within each box they can be sorted by cage (or row of cages), sex,
age, etc. by vertically placed sticker cards. The cards can be rearranged easily when animals are
moved or sold. Some experts recommend two types of record cards: breeders’ records and
weaners’/growers’ records. Breeder record cards Breeder record cards are used for bucks and
does that are kept for further breeding. They contain the following information:

• identification number (ID#) • cage number in pencil, so it can be easily erased and replaced if
the animal is moved

• sex

• origin: wild, own farm, other growers/ farms

• bucks: date(s) of mating + number and ID# of does mounted, remarks on mating behavior
(aggression, fighting), litter size (by sex) of each female mounted

• does: date(s) of mating + delivery date and litter size by sex, number and sex of young
successfully weaned

• remarks

Note: data on mating behavior and breeding performance are essential for selecting the best
animals for further breeding.

Weaner/grower record cards

Weaner/grower record cards are used for young animals after weaning. They contain the
following information:
• identification number (ID#)

• ID# of parents

• date of weaning

• sex

• cage number (in pencil, see above)

• date of and reason for removal, e.g. dead, sold or kept as grower
• remarks Samples of such record cards are shown at the end of this chapter. They can be
modified to suit your wishes.
Operational records
Some booklets suggest that separate operational records be kept, for example of animal transfers
on the farm (date, reasons, observations, etc.). Since this information should be registered on the
animals’ record cards a separate register seems unnecessary.
Financial records, cash book
A grasscutter farm cash book should be kept up to date to register:
• cash out for purchases (feed, equipment, concentrates, medicines, etc.), wages (including for
the farmer’s own work), land rent, interest payment on loans, etc.
• cash in from sales of live animals and/or meat
Record-keeping for selection
The records on grasscutter growth and productivity are essential for drawing up a selection plan
to identify your best future breeders. For does the size and weight of the first litter at weaning is
a selection criterion. If the litter is small and/or of low weight at weaning, the breeder doe should
be replaced. Littering interval is an additional selection criterion for older does, besides litter size
and litter weight at weaning. Keep does with good litter size and weight and short littering
interval as breeders. For bucks docility and weight gain from weaning to first mating are the
main selection criteria. Docility is first tested when bucks are separated at the age of 4 months. If
they fight or are difficult to handle they should be replaced. First mating at the age of 8 months is
the next docility testing moment; bucks that fight with or wound the does brought to them for
mating must be culled. The same applies to bucks that have failed to put on sufficient weight
while growing to maturity. Keep the most docile and fastest-growing bucks as breeders.
Breeding males have to be replaced after a few copulation rounds with fresh bucks from outside
to avoid inbreeding. Bucks bought from another farmer must be well-documented to make sure
you do not bring in siblings of your own grasscutter stock!
Identification number (ID#)
Keeping track of the paternal lineage is essential in grasscutter keeping to prevent inbreeding.
For that reason the ID# should carry information on the animal’s parents. Since each male
copulates with 4-6 females at a time the male lineage is especially important. For that reason it is
recommended naming the animals according to their parental lineage. Bucks might be named A,
B, C, etc., does a, b, c, d, e and so on. The offspring of buck A with does a-d would then carry
the ID#s Aa, Ab, Ac, Ad; the young of buck B would be Be, Bf, Bg and so on. The youngsters, if
kept on for breeding, could have a simple number, e.g. Ab1, Bf3 etc. In that way the farmer
keeps track of the parental lineage and can easily avoid mating buck Ac2 with doe Ad4, etc.

Use and examples of records

With good records the farmer should know or be able to verify the following: Farm

• expenditure on housing, forage/feed, labour

• diseases and periods of incidence

• productive output of the grasscutter farm as a whole Animals

• copulation, delivery, weaning

• reproductive ability

• final weight What to tell a new caretaker or technician in case of a change.

Nutrient value of grasscutter

meat Bush-meat is an important protein source for African rural populations. In West Africa
grasscutter, crested porcupine and giant rat are the most popular bush-meats. Their meat is lower
in moisture content and higher in protein and essential minerals than beef, mutton or pork.
Grasscutter bush-meat is fatter than the two other bush-meats and the three domestic ones.
Whether this holds true for farm-grown grasscutter meat is uncertain.
 MARKETING

Grasscutter meat is highly appreciated, and around population centres the market is virtually
unlimited. Bush-meat may restrict the profitability of grasscutter farming in rural areas.

Place, product, promotion and price

Four Ps have to be considered in successful marketing:

• Place – where to sell, where is your product in demand

• Product – what to sell and what quality

• Promotion – how to attract buyers

• Price – at what price to sell

Place Grasscutter meat is in high demand as people know and like it. When starting a business it
is a range of outlets, such as the village/town market(s), roadside stalls, restaurants and even
wholesalers. Demand in the local market is a known factor. This is an advantage, as it enables
farmers to prepare the right quantity of grasscutter meat for sale, avoiding the risk of unsold
produce. You might prefer to run a roadside stall yourself, selling prepared grasscutter meat,
smoked or in the form of tasty dishes. Of course you must adhere to the general and/or municipal
regulations (by obtaining a permit, adhering to sanitary regulations, etc.) when starting and
running a grasscutter kitchen. Once your local business runs well, you might explore more
distant market outlets, starting in a nearby town and spreading out from there. Keep in mind that
meat is a perishable product, so transportation entails risks of quality deterioration, spoiling and
financial loss. (Of course this applies equally to long-distance transport of other perishables like
fruit, vegetables, fish or chicken/ goat/ rabbit/ etc. meat). For that reason you should thoroughly
explore the marketing potential before starting. Once you have decided to go ahead and start
deliveries, meat quality maintenance is of the utmost importance. This may imply refrigeration
or preservation by drying or smoking.

Product There are three product options:

• selling grasscutter meat

• selling live animals, to be slaughtered by the buyer

• selling live animals as breeding stock

A combination of several product options is also possible. When selling meat, quality is
important, meaning that the product must be well processed, clean and fresh. There are national
regulations for the trade in meat which you must adhere to. Selling live animals for slaughter by
the buyer might be an option for small farms or for members of a cooperative. Selling live
grasscutters as breeding stock to other farmers is a third product option that might provide you
with a good living. Quality breeding stock results in healthy, well-selected and well-documented
animals.

(Note: specialised farms that only raise chicks for sale to other farmers are well-known in the
poultry sector.)

Promotion

Promotion means attracting clients. Finding buyers is probably not difficult at the local level.
But you may be competing with other suppliers, for example in the case of supplying local
restaurants; so you have to promote your product. Consider how to make a restaurant prefer your
grasscutters to those from other suppliers. Apart from delivering a good-quality product, you
have to look at the quality of your service, your communication with the client, etc

Price

Price is determined by consumer demand and quantity of supply. The price will be known in a
market where others sell grasscutter meat; however, an increased supply may lower it. If you
find an outlet where supply is limited you may get a better price. You can use price setting in
your business strategy. When you are new in a market, you might consider lowering the price
slightly to attract clients. Once you are known as a reliable supplier of quality meat you may
raise prices gradually. You may offer a discount to regular clients to tie them to your business,
e.g. a restaurant ordering a certain quantity periodically. Regular sales at a modest price might be
preferable to irregular sales at a higher price. Finally: whatever your business strategy, make sure
that important clients do not play off you against your fellow farmers by forcing you and them to
sell a product below the cost of producing it. Cooperation is in this case preferable!