Posted by:
Sonya
at Sat Dec 22 22:18:47 2007 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by Sonya ]
>>Issue 1: >>Wild mice or rats are chewing into my mouse bins! I use large cat litter pans in a rack. I have a few traps set out but they are too smart to fall for them... How can I keep this from happening - oh, the racks are in the garage. >>Issue 2: >>This one may take a bit of time... >>What is the difference between the two most common breeding techniques? Continuous and Cycle. Which is best for productivity? >>Thanks you for your help and Happy Holidays from Blue's Bayou!
Issue one is the sucky part of outside. The best you can do is to vermin proof your garage. Traps will only work for a short while and then they stop using them. Good luck.
The two techniques are preferences. I think some of us sat down with data a year or so ago and came up with the conclusion that the number of litters raised by any given female using either method was about 6 . Size of litters and growth of pups was a factor of care and genetics.
I keep mine continuous, but tend to move the males around to keep their interests. Each group always has a male . I retire breeders after 5 or so litters and they are sold as jumbo fat things usually at 7 or 8 months. I don' t have issues of skinny pups or smaller litters.....again, I think this is largely influenced by genetics and care.
I find that continuous takes up less space. Once you start separating and all that you have a madhouse of smaller cages that are a PITA to keep up with. I have larger 18X18X24 cages with 1.4 or 1.5 in and a wheel. So I can get 20-30 pups out of a cage a month.....from pinks to weaned. ----- Sonya
I'm not mean. You're just a sissy. Happy Bunny
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