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taylorpositive:
Grasscutter Farming; A Complete Guide on How to Start Grasscutter Farming in Nigeria


Are you searching for information on how to start a grasscutter farming venture in Nigeria? Then you’re in the perfect spot as this grasscutter farming guide will teach you everything you need to know about grasscutter farming techniques in Nigeria.

Have a good read.


Grasscutter Farming – An Introduction

Animal farming has always been an important aspect of the Nigerian agricultural sector.

Over the years, we experienced the rearing of farm animals like cattle, sheep, goats, rabbits, poultry, and the likes.



But one animal whose rearing hasn’t gained as much popularity as it should is the grasscutter.

Commercial grasscutter farming in Nigeria is a highly lucrative business, and you might want to look into it if you want to be unique in the world of animal rearing.

Read on if you want to find out more about grasscutters and how to start grasscutter farming in Nigeria.


Related Cucumber Farming in Nigeria; Complete Guide on How to Start (2021)


Grasscutters
The Greater Cane Rat (Thryonomys swinderianus), popularly known as Grasscutter is a wild herbivore generally found in the riverbeds and swamps of sub-Saharan Africa.

In size, they are second only to Porcupines in the rodent family.

However, they do not possess long pointy spikes like their immediate cousins.

Species of Grasscutters are captured and reared mainly for their meat, which is highly-stacked with protein, therefore making it of great economic value.

Grasscutter in Yoruba is known as “Oya”.

Grass cutter animals proliferate in large numbers and very quickly too.

A mature female Grasscutter has a gestation period of 140 – 150 days (5 months or approximately 22 weeks).



They may deliver two times annually, giving birth to an average of four to seven offspring each time, and in some cases, up to ten.

In other words, a single mature female grasscutter can produce between 4 to 20 offspring in a year.

Since it can be quite difficult to capture these animals, rearing them in domestication is the better option to access their meat.


Facts You Should Know about Grasscutters
Their limbs, fur, tails, and skin can detach easily, making it difficult to capture and handle them
Grasscutters are quick runners and swimmers
They live above ground and are nocturnal in nature
Grasscutter fur color ranges from a mixture of brown-reddish and gray hairs that vary depending on its habitat, depending on their habitat.
These rodents can live up to 4 years in captivity.
They have relatively poor vision. However, they possess impressive hearing and a great sense of smell.
They are important pests of cane fields – hence the name Cane Rats in some regions. They are also known to mainly feed on grasses.
A fully mature female grasscutter may weigh up to 3.5 kg, while a fully mature male may weigh up to 4.5kg.
The Suckling period for baby grasscutters is 40 days (6 weeks) before weaning
Grass cutters live in colonies. A grasscutter colony in captivity consists of one male and three to four females. In the wild, a single male can service up to ten female grasscutters.
Two males cannot co-exist in one colony, so never put two male grasscutters in a single colony.
The presence of a male grasscutter triggers the ovulation periods of the females.

How to Start Grasscutter Rearing in Nigeria
Grasscutter farming/rearing in Nigeria is steadily becoming a lucrative animal farming option in the country and Africa as a whole.

Grasscutter farming in Ghana is also quite lucrative.

This is due to the great taste of grasscutter meat and its rarity in the market.

Grasscutter and rabbit farming have some similar principles, but they are not the same.

Grasscutter rearing is more popular in rural areas because of the availability of grasscutters in the region.

Moreover, businesses operating in the urban regions are mostly big-time companies and white-collar establishments.





In this article, you will learn some of the best grasscutter farming and management practices in Nigeria.

By the time you’re done reading this article, you will have learned all about grasscutter farming in Nigeria.

Think of it as a free grasscutter farming manual for beginners.

Note that you may need to hire or seek advice from a grasscutter farming expert for some practical aspects of this venture.


Advantages of Rearing Grasscutter in Nigeria

Requires Little Capital to Start
Compared to rearing other animals like goats, cattle, pigs, sheep, and even chickens, kickstarting a grasscutter rearing business in Nigeria requires only a little capital to start.

You can begin your grasscutter rearing journey with as low as 50,000 Naira, and you can upscale with time.

High Market Demand
Grasscutter meat, also known as bushmeat is widely eaten by many Nigerians and Africans. Its meat is one of a kind, and many people crave to have a taste.

However, grasscutters are not as common as other sources of meat like chicken, pig, and cattle, which makes their meat rare in the market. This rarity makes grasscutter meat of high demand in the market.

Relatively Cheap to Maintain
After purchasing your grasscutters, you don’t need to break the bank to keep or maintain them.

If you’re starting with one colony (one male and three to four females), you will only need to construct a small pen which won’t cost much.

Also, you can feed them with grasses and other relatively cheap supplements.


Combines Well with Crop Farming
Since grasscutters will eat grasses and other crops like rice, corn, millet, and so on, you can easily combine it with crop farming.

Instead of having to buy or source for feed for these animals, you can just take some of the proceeds of your crop farm and feed it to them.

This will also help in minimizing losses when you cannot store excess harvests and would’ve otherwise sold at cheap prices.

No Taboo
Everyone eats grasscutter meat.

There are no known religious or tribal constraints on the consumption of grasscutter meat in Nigeria, unlike other meat products like pork and even beef.

This widens the customer base for grasscutter meat.

Grasscutters are Relatively Clean Animals
Compared to other animals, grasscutters are clean animals. They do not urinate or excrete a lot, and grasscutter cages aren’t usually overwhelmed with foul smells. This means you can keep them close to the house to properly monitor them without being scared of horrid odors.


Feasibility Study for Grasscutter Farming in Nigeria
Formulating a business plan and conducting a feasibility study will put you on the right path in your grasscutter farming journey.

You have to consider all the key elements that control the dynamics of running a successful grasscutter farm by looking into past data and learning from established grasscutter farmers in Nigeria.

This step will help you prepare for possible threats and challenges, and other things like market value, and how to sell your grasscutters to make profits when they become mature.

So, conduct a grasscutter feasibility study and draft a business plan before starting any grasscutter farming procedure.

Note: It is advisable to start with one or two grasscutter colonies. This will help you understand the venture and learn from the experience at little or no risk. You can upscale as time goes on.


Grasscutter Housing
The best way of rearing grasscutters is in an intensive care system.

You cannot leave grasscutters to wander as you could do for cattle, sheep, goats, and chickens.

The method of housing could either be a cage or a specially-designed shed.

Grasscutters in captivity can be sensitive to certain environmental conditions, which can negatively affect their growth.

This is why their housing/habitat must be constructed according to certain specifications.


Specifications for Grasscutter Housing
For sheds:
Properly roofed pens with wire hutches
Proper aeration and lightening
The length of the shed should be 1.5 m tall, with the upper half covered with chicken wire.
Close proximity to a clean water source
Easily accessible
Far from noise and thick bushes
Materials for the shed can be straw, bamboo, or bricks. The roof can be made up straw, corrugated iron, or any other water-proof material.
The size of the building is dependent on the number of grass-cutters to be reared and production objectives. To put this in perspective, here’s an example:

The space required for a colony of reproductive grasscutters comprising one adult male and four females is 1.6m to 2 m.

For cages/pens:
Grasscutter farming cages represent a more conservative housing system for grasscutters.

In this case, the grasscutters live in pens constructed inside the shed.



The farmer’s production objectives will determine the number of pens.

The recommended protocol is to have one breeding female per pen.

The recommended surface area per mature grasscutter in the pen is 0.2 m2.

You can construct different pens for different purposes and stages of grasscutter growth.

For example:

A pen for mating
A pen for adults
Pen for giving birth and feeding the young
A pen for fattening young grasscutters
Metal or concrete are the preferred materials to construct grasscutter rearing pens.

However, note that metal pens will be moveable, while concrete pens will be fixed and therefore, immovable.

It is advisable not to use bamboo and straw as Grasscutters can eat through them and escape into the wild.

Also make sure that there is enough room for grasscutters to move from one pen to another.

Types of Grasscutter Pens
In addition, there can be two types of grasscutter pens;

Open Pen:

This describes a type of pen without any roof above it.

Specifications for construction include a surface area of 3m2 and a height of 1.5m.

Open pens also come with an opening on the side that leads to the aisle, thereby creating easy access to the grasscutters for the farmer.


Closed Pen

In contrast to an open pen, a closed pen will have a roof over it and it will be divided into various compartments.

Specifications for construction include a surface area between 2 and 3m2 and a wall height of 0.8 m.

Note: Pens with two compartments should have the same surface area specifications. The compartments should be separated with partitions, with a 15 cm opening to allow the grasscutters to move from one compartment to another.

Grasscutter Breeding

Continue here to read about Grasscutter Breeading, Feeding, Diseases, Treatment, Handling, Sale, FAQs and More.

williams54321:
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BusinessCity:
People should read the Bible themselves and get to understand the intent of God's heart as well as the letter.


I believe no seed sown towards Kingdom growth is without Heavenly reward, however while I maintain this believe, I don't subscribe to first fruits paid annually.

First Fruits offering is the seed that opens the ground/business/productivity like a child giving the first salary he or she earns to the parents. Making it an annual event as skewed and project as we've seen of recent memories is to only excite one's feelings to milk people of their resources



Before Christianity came, every one gives their first salary to their parents as a seed of thankfulness for their parenting them. This is the reflection of what first fruit offering is, but people chose to replace parents there with their pastors


Pastors too are unduly taking advantage.


Don't bother to criticise me because you want to fill your stomach with other people's blood, sweat and means of livelihood. I'm a minister of the Gospel as well and have mentored hundreds. But guess what, I work


First Fruits should be directed lyrics dedicated to God in a ( sober some way) that will provoke God's blessings and sustain ones livelihood. This giving is not putting in offering basket ideology we continue to perpetuate...

or


Given to ones parents. Your parents are also God's representative on earth as much as your pastors.


Your parent command higher spiritual right to receive this blessings, cry upon receiving it and command transference of blessings to your life. Thus is the history and essence of first fruits. Don't let hungry ministers deceive you




If you're a minister and want to take me up on this discussion, I am willing to educate you. But first check the scriptures about what God instructed Moses and Joshua about first fruits. When you're done with that come back and I'll open your spiritual eyes clearer and brighter with first fruits throughout scriptures where none of this occurrences were carried out like annual pagan rites




Pastors and ministers allow parents too eat of the works of their hands. Many of you have turn yourselves to demigods and devils and go as far as killing the sheep because of the greed and last for material things. Remember in the end it's not the tithes and offerings that matters to God as He's the owner of the earth and all in it and the cattle over the thousand hills.



Careful exacting resources from people. Let the people also bless the souls that brought them into this existence.


I'm an elder in the kingdom to atleast more than the top 80% of ministers of my generation. So I can correct you and Heaven will understand. We didn't start this journey yesterday. No. We did not.



Build the sheep up and when they're built, when you don't recall, what is bigger than first fruits is what they will do to you. Let's stop draining life out of God's children. Please and please




Scriptural references :


Cain and Abel - Abel gave the fruits that opened the earth. No other records of him doing that before His demise


2. God instructed Joshua when they entered Cannan, this is God Himself doing the talking, He said when you begin to produce, make sure the first fruits of your harvest ( First farming season year deem first productive season ) is set aside as offering because the fruits of the land wasn't yet purified for them to take personally. And that after this the earth would yield it's increase massively to them



3. Jesus waded into a scenario. Check the new testament. Jesus said to certain youths who pretended giving to parents as giving to God and mixed it up. They said when they give their thier parents, they gave grudgingly and said it's what we give to you is for God. Jesus however chided them maintaining parents must be honoured given their due regards separate from. Ministerial regards. In this case what's parental should be treated as parental. And what's for the church be giving to church.



If the first fruit is for a certain pastor, when does the parent who does the whole labor get the place of honour. Mind you hardly is there any pastor in the world world that will be there on a steady daily occasion and not give up on the child until maturity and success is attained.



I rest my case.



Give it to your parents

bezimo:
Yes....There is what is called permissible will of God (You are a Christian and she is a christian) as God would have his children ONLY marry fellow believers...but that's not enough.

There is what is called absolute will of God..that is among the believers..the one God will have you marry...so your destiny will not be a misfit...nothing frustrate a man's destiny like been married to the wrong woman...Even A pastor can lose his dIvine calling sef when aligned to the wrong woman....it's that bad.I have seen and heard plenty such cases.I have seen a man called out by prophesy who abandoned the girl he was dating who was God's will for him to marry a finer girl who was not God's will for him..his frustration and suffer in that marriage..no be here..so there is God's will in marriage...

A popular man of God in Abuja asked God why is it that there are so many challenges in marriage these days even worse in the church and God said..did they ask me before they married? so he kept quiet....the answer got me seriously thinking...that if you marry outside God's will. ..you are totally on your own..anything you see..is your portion.Lol




I was listening to someone who crossed from the other side into the light..and exposing some of the hidden mysteries about marriage and women..and he said there are 2 categories of women.
Dry leaf women and the favoured woman...if you marry dry leaf woman. .you own is finished for life. .your life will keep going down with nothing to show..but if you marry favoured woman. .you don blow..small effort from you will produce big as long as you keep her happy.