@genesis This is mostly aimed at you, but I figured our conversation might interest others and that we should move it off of the happy new year thread as it is mostly unrelated.
How long have you been breeding ducks? What kind of controls do you keep in place to monitor breeding?
How do you rear the young? Or are you going complete natural, just imprinting them with home and hoping for the best?
Also, do you keep any charts or records regarding the rats?
I’m all about research, and I’m hoping to benefit from the experience of others, I’ve got lots of learning that I’ve done but basically zero experience and I want to compile a series of useful guides for myself to reference in three months or so in order to temper my ADHD and keep me focused on what matters.
Generally, I binge learn and then get distracted by new projects, but I really want to stick with this one in the most methodical way I can.
Any other user’s input would be greatly appreciated as well, doesn’t matter what species you’ve bred, I am just want to learn general best practices.
Here is an early version of my technical manual for wasp breeding, it covers everything from environmental concerns and basic biology to safety protocols and nesting box designs.
How long have you been breeding ducks? What kind of controls do you keep in place to monitor breeding?
started during the second locdown, in the spring, so 2021 (second lockdown destroyed my plans to get black maglica pigs… changed the plans to ducks)
How do you rear the young? Or are you going complete natural, just imprinting them with home and hoping for the best?
I trow the eggs into the incubator (tried letting them hatch natural, but that causes always some kind of porblems with a momy duck attacking a daddy duck that wants to eat a baby duck… or compleatly ignoring the babys and tryin to hatch more instead…
Once they know where the food is, they come home. In the morning they go truh all neighbours gardens in search of slugs, then jump into the local stream and then come hunry home.
Problems only apear with smaller species i introduce for hybridisations. Because they find enough food in the wild ad therefore have not as much insetive to come back home…
(if any of your bollys will runaway and never come back, blame my ducks, because i told steve the storys how i tried to get them back)
Also, do you keep any charts or records regarding the rats?
No, however i contacted an diabetis researcher on silvester and if everything goes well, we can establish a domesticated strain of Arvicanthis niloticus because the wild type behaves like rats from hell! Zoos even stopped having them, because they couldn’t handle them and websites recomendin them as pet meantion that you should buy a metal glove for your own protection.
I’m all about research, and I’m hoping to benefit from the experience of others, I’ve got lots of learning that I’ve done but basically zero experience and I want to compile a series of useful guides for myself to reference in three months or so in order to temper my ADHD and keep me focused on what matters.
Maybe ask in the nootropics parts of the biohacking community for ADHD options, i mainly experimeted with lionsmane. Helpsa lot in reshaping the brain as well as improvin learning abillities,however like all powerfull tools, thins need to be considered.
Generally, I binge learn and then get distracted by new projects, but I really want to stick with this one in the most methodical way I can.
Same… however breeding is different. You can let the animals grow and wait, do othwer stuff in the meantime. And onnce breeding season starts you focus on the breedin colony.
Oh ad about hormoes, experimented with those as well. I would recomend givin a few worker wasps some maca powder as food. Had a human test subject who was official infertile, it made him into a dad within 1 month + 9. Also gave it to my one year old smew, they should get fertile at 2 years. The hybrids i got say it worked (before he released himselfinto the wild -.- )
Something else you can test, young meat of animals in different growing stages (i would recomend baby cow as well as adulecent cow, since you can just buy their meat) and give that the wasps. Never frozen or heated above 40°C because that destroys the hormones. However no idea if mammalian hormones work on insects….?
Here is an early version of my technical manual for wasp breeding, it covers everything from environmental concerns and basic biology to safety protocols and nesting box designs.
…uhm… it needs insuline for growth? Made many experiments with an alternative source of insuline like growth factor 1 (IGF1)
Get some raw liver of a young animal (i used calf or lamp liver) – other youngmeat should work as well, since hormones float around in thw whole body. But the liver got the highest concentration. Importand, never freeze or heat above 40°C , that destroys it. You also get the compleate mamalian hormone coctail. Since you give it to insects, we don’t need to worry about the side effects. Oral administration works suprisingly well.
Also try some ashwaghanda, it induces IGF1 production in humans, no iea what it does in insects, but it is cheap and worth a try. specially since you will have more than enough larvea!
Oh and if i remember corect, bees become agressive when they smell bananas. Because it mimics a hormonal attack signal. Trying different smells could also help, no idea if there is one that trigers queen development, however just try a few different smells that are cheap?
I might be able to select for certain species and life stages of insects for feed, choosing one that are known to produce large amounts of hormone. It turns out that most of the insects of the world share similar hormonal setups, and I hadn’t considered naturally sourced hormones so far, so thank you for that!
@foggygoofball most don’t consider natural hormonal sources. How i started that idea, asked experts. They all said oral IGF1 won’t work. None had sources, just “trust me bro” on an expert level. Found a single study of genetically altered lettuce feed to rads producing IGF1, there it worked oraly.
Next logical step, search where IGF1 expression is the highest (crossreferencing igf1 tissue expression in rats and mice with growth charts of cattle) showed me i need calf liver. Found no data on the way IGF1 can be destroyed. But since IGF1 is litteraly named insulin like growth factor 1, i hust copy pasted the insulin temperature maximums and minimums.
And afterwards i ate 2,5kg raw calf liver (never frozen or heated above 40°C) in one weekend out of spite.
Suffered around one month acromegaly symptoms and the rest of the time was just figuring out dosages, recepies and managing side effects. And since human savety was shown, i could proceed to animals and feed my fancy rats (previous rat species i had) raw calf liver if a runt showed up in a litter of 12+ and get them to normal size within 1-2 days. Previously uncurable. Told that an other breeder with dwarf rats. Now she can have genetical dwarf females with normal size. Great for breeding purposes.
(be warned, if you got cancer, you speedrun it, because cancer grows the fastest, therefore don’t do this kids, seriously! Don’t coppy the crazy german!)
And afterwards i ate 2,5kg raw calf liver (never frozen or heated above 40°C) in one weekend out of spite.
Would it being frozen actually have any meaningful effect?
@robowaifu-technician yes, freezing destroys the IGF1 and similar hormones. IGF1 is insulin like growth factor 1 and therefore the storage protocols of insulin can be used.
@genesis I was afraid of that. Your posts made me want to do some experimenting with raw organs, but my work schedule combined with open hours of nearby butchers makes going every day an impossibility, so preserving enough to last a week without it filling my home with a putrid smell is out of my reach unless I can find a way to desiccate the organ meat to the point it’s a mummified leathery jerky. (and that might make it taste a lot better if seasoned right)
@robowaifu-technician every day? Dude that’s way to strong! Once a month 500g is a high dosage!
If you consider this, we need to talk first. Because half of my experiments where managing side effects.
And the biggest risk is speedrunning cancer. Harmelss if you got no cancer but if you got some it grows fast!
Gave my dog some raw young meat (yeah impossible to eat a pund calf liver without your dog compleatly pestering you for scraps …)
She had a dormant tumor that was just a small lump of cells, it grew fast after that meal. And i mean fast. She survived because it was possible to remove. But it showed how big the risks are.
the effects are enorm and impressive, but defendly recless.
Talked with a former classmate who works in cancer research, he freaked out when i said him what i did. So did steve when i told him.
I have no ethical breaks, therefore i have no problem telling you how it is done. But be warned, the cancer speedrun is a real risk. (However the muscle growth is impressive as well)
Also about preserving, just ask thw butcher at what day they get fresh calf/lamp and buy on that day. Meat lasts around a weak in a fridge (vacum sealed is better, most butchers can do that) and organs last less. Colder fridge lasts longer.
And blood transports hormones in the whole body anyway, meaning all hormones are everywhere. The concentration is just different. Oh and the age and gender influence more.
