The capital of spotted deer, Ha Tinh, is estimated to earn more than 200 billion VND from selling antlers during Tet.

For over a month now, deer farmers in Huong Son (Ha Tinh) have been focusing on taking care of their animals so they can collect good quality antlers before the Lunar New Year of Giap Thin.

Previously, deer farmers would only start harvesting antlers after the full moon of January, but now, thanks to regular herd screening, the quality and yield of antlers are increasing. Therefore, at this time, many deer have begun to shed their antlers and can be harvested before Tet. Therefore, farmers also invest time, food and equipment to keep deer warm when needed to have more income for their families before Tet.

Raising a herd of 20 deer, including 10 male deer that are old enough to produce antlers, Ms. Nguyen Thi Linh (Song Con village, Quang Diem commune) is actively taking care of the deer. Currently, in Ms. Linh's herd, there are 4 deer that have just shed their soles and are preparing to grow antlers, expected to be harvested near Tet.

During this period, Ms. Linh focused on increasing the deer's food rations.

Ms. Linh said: "In addition to the 4 male deer that have just calved, the remaining 6 will likely also produce antlers after Tet. Therefore, during this time, my family is very interested in supplementing nutrients for the deer. To ensure good quality antlers, I increase the food portion, providing enough nutrients with leaves that deer often eat such as: jackfruit leaves, elephant grass, milkweed or starchy foods such as cassava, corn... These foods are rich in nutrients, helping deer antlers grow quickly. In particular, the food must always be clean, so that the deer will not suffer from intestinal diseases."

Green foods such as grass, corn, and leaves are grown by Mrs. Linh. Mix with corn flour or vitamins to provide enough nutrients for the deer to grow well.

With 20 years of experience raising deer, Ms. Linh has a lot of experience in taking care of and anticipating the antler season. That is why her family "wins big" almost every year. During the Lunar New Year of the Cat, her family harvested nearly 4kg of antlers. With a selling price of 11 million VND/kg, her family had a more fulfilling Tet.

Sika deer is the main livestock of Huong Son district, therefore, most communes and towns of the district have households raising deer, of which, the most concentrated are in the communes of Quang Diem, Son Truong, Son Trung, Son Giang, Son Lam, Son Chau... At this time, local deer breeders are actively taking care of deer to wait for the day to harvest "luck" on the occasion of Tet.

Mr. Nguyen Hong Tiep's deer farm (village 8, Son Giang commune) currently has 160 deer, of which 70 are male deer of antlers. At this time, the farm has 25 deer that have just shed their soles and grown antlers. To help the antlers develop best, Mr. Tiep is urgently supplementing the deer with food.

Increasing food rations, supplementing starchy foods, and mixing in vitamins are the methods Mr. Tiep often uses to help deer antlers grow well.

Deer are not picky eaters but require clean food, especially before the time the deer shed their eggs, they need to have a more special care regimen than usual. In addition to green food such as leaves, grass, corn, Mr. Tiep prioritizes adding starch for deer such as corn, sticky rice, minerals, and vitamins to improve the health of the deer, helping the antlers develop to reach the standard weight.

In addition to providing food for the deer, Mr. Tiep focuses on hygiene and ensuring a source of drinking water to help the deer grow healthily.

Mr. Tiep shared: "The quality of velvet depends on many factors during the process of raising and harvesting velvet. Understanding this, I pay great attention to supplementing nutrition for deer during the antler preparation stage. In particular, I regularly change the types of food to avoid deer losing their appetite. In addition, occasionally, I will add vitamins A, D, E for deer antlers to grow well. Besides, I always ensure a safe and clean water source. If in the summer, deer need to be provided with 6 - 8 liters/day, this winter, deer need from 4 - 6 liters/day. The deer's water trough is also cleaned daily to avoid bacteria and pathogens."

Besides taking care of male deer to harvest velvet, Mr. Tiep also takes good care of the female deer so that they can grow best.

Thanks to the attentive care, although he only started raising deer in early 2022, Mr. Tiep's farm has achieved initial results with a profit of about 2 billion VND (including selling antlers, breeding deer, female deer and fawns). In addition, the farm has also expanded its deer farming links in the provinces of Nghe An, Lao Cai, Quang Ninh, Lam Dong...

It is expected that during this year's Lunar New Year, the whole Huong Son district will collect about 18.9 tons of deer antlers.

In addition to paying attention to the diet of deer, breeders are also very concerned about the weather factor. Currently, the weather in Huong Son district is quite erratic with low temperatures in the early morning, sunny at noon but cold in the afternoon and at night, so deer are very susceptible to disease. Therefore, strengthening the resistance of deer is extremely important. In the near future, the weather is forecast to be rainy and cold for a long time, so deer breeders also invest in carefully covering their barns and maintaining hygiene to ensure the health of deer, avoiding affecting the development of antlers.

The entire Huong Son district currently has a herd of more than 44,500 deer. This year's Tet holiday alone, it is expected that about 21,000 deer will produce antlers with an estimated output of more than 18.9 tons. With a selling price of about 11 million VND/kg, the entire district is expected to earn more than 200 billion VND from selling antlers. At this time, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has directed localities to focus on guiding and helping people with techniques for caring for deer during the antler growth period.

Mr. Tran Quang Hoa

Head of Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Huong Son district

Thuy Anh - Phong Linh

Source: https://baohatinh.vn/nong-nghiep/thu-phu-huou-sao-ha-tinh-uoc-thu-hon-200-ty-dong-ban-loc-nhung-dip-tet/258730.htm