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putofftheideaasaresult. Casamassa ' s solution is to offer a guaranteed buy-back of either slaughter-weight live animals, or slaughtered carcasses,( subject to certain conditions) and he in turn assumes responsibility for selling and distributing the produce to interested restaurants, supermarkets and butcheries. The same applies to a fullscale grower looking to earn a handsome income from commercial rabbit production. Casamassa ' s system is designed for maximum production and minimum stress to the growing animals. Each breeding doe is allocated four adjoining cages, with four sets of cages constructed in a multi-tiered set up to a height of about 1,8m. The doe occupies one cage while pregnant and for the first few weeks after birth.
Each breeding doe, breeding for eight months of the year, should produce 72kg of meat
After four weeks, when she is ready to breed again, her litter is removed from her and placed in the adjoining cage from where, although they have no physical contact with her, the youngsters can still see and sense her, thus limiting their stress. When her second litter is ready to be separated from her, the first litter is moved to the third cage, and the process repeats itself when the following litter is ready, by which time, at twelve weeks, the first litter is at slaughter weight of 2,2- 2,5kg live weight, resulting in a dressed carcass of 1,4- 1,6kg. Casamassa ' s does breed for only eight months of the year, with four months of rest allowing them enough time to regain their strength to ensure
healthy youngsters during their breeding time. Each breeding doe should thus produce about 72kg of meat per year, he says. The cages themselves are constructed of small aperture weldmesh on steel supports. Under each tier of cages is a sheet of corrugated roof sheeting curved into a channel which acts as a sluice for droppings and urine. These are hosed down every couple of days, the resulting wash water entering a channel running the full length of the rabbitry, which discharges into a twochamber storage tank much like a septic tank. Here the solids ferment a little and separate out from the fluid which constitutes a concentrated liquid fertilizer,
BUSINESS
a handy by-product of the meat-production process which can also be sold, says Casamassa. Each cage is fitted with two nipple drinkers( one simply a spare in case of a blockage), a wire“ crib” attached to the inside of the door for feeding greens and hay and a feed tray for the animals ' dry ration, which is commerciallyavailable rabbit pellets. Thus, in addition to the pellets, the rabbits always have access to dry fodder( eragrostis), and also receive fresh greens daily, in the form of spinach leaves or similar, and lucerne, grown on the plot and fertilized with Casamassa ' s liquid rabbit manure. Good ventilation is important in an intensive rabbit production operation and the cages are housed under cover but with the sides open to ensure maximum airflow. The
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