Thai Hoa farmers expand deer farming model

Listening directly to households that have raised deer share their methods and the situation of raising deer for stable income in Thai Hoa town shows that raising deer is promoting economic efficiency and is attracting the attention of many farmers here.

Mr. Ho Sy Dieu is currently maintaining a herd of nearly 20 deer. Photo: HT

Mr. Ho Sy Dieu's livestock farm in Nghia Tien ward is located more than 6 km from the center of Thai Hoa town. Mr. Ho Sy Dieu's deer barn is located right next to the right side of the main entrance.

While introducing how to build a cage suitable for the characteristics of deer, Mr. Dieu showed us the herds of deer of all ages that were growing healthily, bringing his family a good income from selling deer meat and deer antlers.

For the deer herd to develop well, households with experience raising deer in Thai Hoa town share that a suitable pen for deer to live in must have a clean floor, be cleaned regularly, and have a flat and high floor.

If using biological bedding, the cage only needs to be cleaned once every 6 months. The bottom of the cage needs to be cleaned regularly, and a layer of bedding should be added to keep the floor dry. The cage walls can be made of wood, iron or steel poles, with many compartments suitable for the growth stage of the deer. In particular, male deer must be kept separately to avoid conflicts between males and other animals in the herd.

Deer raised for antlers are kept in separate cages. Each deer can have its antlers harvested once a year. Photo: TP

According to the owner of the farm, Ho Sy Dieu, because before investing in raising deer, he had researched and understood the techniques of raising this animal, so in more than 2 years of raising deer, no deer has gotten sick.

Deer and deer are of the same species, but deer are larger in size, weight, and taller than deer. Therefore, if raised for commercial meat, deer have a higher economic value than deer, almost twice as much. However, if compared to the quality of antlers, deer antlers are of better quality and more expensive than deer antlers, but deer antlers have a larger volume and weight than deer antlers.

At the current selling price, each deer can reach 12-15 million VND. Fresh deer meat costs from 220-250 thousand VND/kg. At Mr. Ho Sy Dieu’s farm, there was a time when there were up to 40 deer, both for meat and for velvet.

“Last year I harvested a set of antlers from a deer weighing 4.8 kg. The average selling price for each tael of fresh deer antlers is about 1 million VND. Normally, deer give antlers weighing about 1-2 kg each depending on age, and the antlers are harvested once a year. The weight of the antlers will gradually increase as the deer ages.

Currently, Thai Hoa town has 34 households raising deer with a total herd of 161 deer. Photo: HT

Currently, Mr. Ho Sy Dieu maintains a herd of about 10 deer for meat and 6 deer for antlers. He said that deer are very easygoing animals, and their food is made from grass and vegetables that the family grows or collects around the fields and gardens, without spending much money on food.

In early August 2023, the Thai Hoa Town Farmers' Association organized a training conference on plant and animal care to increase the efficiency of production models, including the deer farming model.

Mr. Bui Quoc Anh - Vice Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Thai Hoa town said that currently in the town, in addition to Mr. Ho Sy Dieu's household, there are many other families that are also implementing the deer raising model, earning "double" profits from selling deer meat and harvesting deer antlers, with a total herd of about 160 deer in the whole town. Of which, the most concentrated is in Nghia Thuan commune with 8 households raising 46 deer; Long Son ward has 3 households raising 30 deer... The town is researching to replicate this effective model.

Source: https://baonghean.vn/nong-dan-thai-hoa-mo-rong-mo-hinh-nuoi-nai-post274708.html