Ky Phu Nhan expands deer farming model for velvet antlers

Thanks to raising deer for antlers and selling the breeding animals, many families in Ky Phu commune (Nho Quan district) have become much better off.

Mr. Do Van Luat's family in Xanh village, Ky Phu commune currently owns a herd of nearly 30 spotted deer, including more than a dozen breeding females and the rest are male deer raised for antlers. Like many local families, in previous years, his family mainly grew crops and raised buffalo and cows. However, due to limited breeding and disease prevention techniques, increasingly scarce grass and feed sources for buffalo and cows, unstable product output, etc., economic efficiency was not high. With the will and aspiration to rise up, Mr. Luat always cherished finding new economic development directions for his family.

Through research on radio and newspapers, he learned about the model of raising sika deer for antlers, which is quite effective, and realized that this was a good opportunity to change the direction of economic development. Although the initial investment cost for breeding animals is high, these animals are easy to raise, have good resistance, and are less susceptible to diseases. So he boldly switched from raising buffaloes and cows to raising deer.

To save costs, he renovated the former cow barn into a deer barn, using wooden bars to divide into small barns, about 4-5m2 wide and ^2m2 high. 2-2.5m, to keep each deer separately. At first, due to lack of experience, buying poor quality breeds, and limited care techniques, many times the breeding failed. However, with his industrious nature, raising and learning more knowledge and experience, Mr. Luat has built a successful breeding model, his family's deer herd is growing healthily, reproducing well, the total herd is increasing, and the antlers are harvested regularly.

Mr. Luat shared: Deer are wild animals so they can easily adapt to climatic conditions, their main food is leaves such as jackfruit leaves, star fruit leaves, fig leaves, mango leaves, elephant grass... and agricultural by-products. However, it is necessary to clean the barn regularly to avoid mold, bacteria that cause skin diseases for deer and not let deer eat moldy food, causing intestinal diseases. During the period when deer have antlers, it is necessary to supplement food with high starch content so that the antlers reach the weight and can be sold at a good price. Male deer that are 3-4 years old will start to harvest antlers, about 7-8 months later, the antlers will be harvested once, each time from 500-1,000 grams/animal. Each kilogram of fresh deer antlers after harvest is sold by Mr. Luat for 16 - 19 million VND.

Mr. Luat said that deer antlers are considered a valuable medicinal material and are favored by consumers, so many customers come to his family to order. In addition to raising male deer for antlers, Mr. Luat also raises deer for reproduction and supplies deer breeds at a selling price of 15-20 million VND per deer. According to Mr. Luat's calculations, with a herd of nearly 30 deer, selling antlers and selling deer breeds to the market, each year brings in an income of 200-250 million VND.

Mrs. Dinh Thi Mui's family is also one of the households with a good economy thanks to the deer farming model. Mrs. Dinh Thi Mui, along with her husband, Mr. Quach Van Thanh, are both Muong ethnic people, living in Xanh village, Ky Phu commune. In previous years, her family's economy was not good with rice farming and cattle raising. Since 2002, her family has started experimenting with raising a pair of breeding deer. After that, she saved money to buy more breeds and expand the barn.

To date, Ms. Mui’s family’s model has nearly 20 deer, including deer for velvet and breeding deer. During the breeding process, she has always proactively sought out more knowledge through books, newspapers, from previous breeders and drawn from practical experience.

According to Ms. Mui, for breeding deer, it is necessary to choose tall, strong, agile, bright-eyed animals. Deer are animals accustomed to living in the natural environment, so when kept in captivity, it is necessary to comply with technical requirements, provide adequate food, especially not to keep them in the same cage because with their wild nature, when kept together, deer will butt each other, causing damage. Deer in the reproductive and antler-producing period need to be supplemented with starchy foods and fresh fruits and vegetables.

Thanks to her mastery of the technique, Mrs. Mui's family has successfully built a deer farming model. With an average selling price of 1.5 to 2 million VND/tael of velvet, her family has a stable income of 150-200 million VND/year. Mrs. Mui said that in the coming time, her family will continue to expand the barn and breed more deer to develop the deer herd.

From a few initial households, Ky Phu commune now has more than 40 households raising deer. Comrade Nguyen Thi Lan, Vice Chairman of Ky Phu Commune People's Committee, said: This is a model of raising specialty animals with economic efficiency many times higher than traditional tree planting and raising. Realizing the economic benefits of this model, in recent years, Ky Phu commune authorities have supported and created conditions for many people to access the model. At the same time, the "Ky Phu Deer and Antler Deer Cooperative" was launched with more than 20 members participating. Currently, the total herd of deer in the commune is over 1,000. Many households have become better off thanks to developing the deer raising model.

In the coming time, the commune will continue to promote and encourage farmers to replicate the model to help people develop the economy, increase income, and contribute to the locality's poverty reduction work and build advanced new rural areas and model new rural areas.

Article and photos: Thuy Lam

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