Nghe An farmers raise ostriches and earn 700 million VND per year

Mr. Bui Van Quang's ostrich farm in Hamlet 5, Quynh My Commune is the first ostrich farming model in Quynh Luu District. Photo: Hong Dien

After carefully studying the characteristics of the African ostrich breed and visiting and learning from some models of raising this animal in the North, in 2016, Mr. Bui Van Quang in Hamlet 5, Quynh My Commune, Quynh Luu District (Nghe An) invested in building a barn on an area of ​​nearly 2,000 m²At the same time, buy 56 breeding ostriches in Ba Vi (Hanoi) to raise.

Mr. Quang shared: Ostriches are a type of wild bird that has just been domesticated and thrives in the natural environment, so he designed a spacious living area for the birds, with the ground below, allowing the animals to run and jump freely. The main food of ostriches is grass, water hyacinth, bananas, moss and can eat all kinds of other green plants and leaves. For the vegetables and grasses that he collects, he grinds them, mixes them with rice bran and corn bran, and puts them in a trough for the ostriches to eat gradually.

Currently, Quang's farm has 120 commercial and breeding ostriches. Photo: Hong Dien

According to his calculations, an ostrich eats 7 thousand dong worth of food per day. Therefore, to reduce investment costs and have a source of green food on site, he planted 2 hectares of elephant grass around the barn area. During the care process, the ostriches are almost disease-free, easy to raise, and grow quickly.

Thanks to the application of science and technology in animal husbandry, his family's farm has now grown to 120 ostriches. After 10-12 months of raising, the meat ostriches reach a weight of 100 kg/head or more, then he sells them to the market, at a price of 100,000 VND/kg of live weight. For commercial meat, he sells 250,000 VND/kg.

An ostrich breeds, laying 40 - 50 eggs a year. Photo: Hong Dien

According to Mr. Quang, the ostrich breeding season starts from mid-December and lasts until the eighth lunar month of the following year. An ostrich lays 40-50 eggs per year, each weighing 1.4-1.5 kg. After collecting the eggs, Mr. Quang puts them in an incubator, and they hatch after 42 days. On average, he sells 70-100 ostriches per month, with prices ranging from 1.7-2 million VND/each. Every year, from selling commercial meat, ostriches, eggs and skins to the southern provinces, his family earns about 700 million VND.

Ostriches have the advantage of being easy to raise and care for, and Quynh Luu is a locality with many favorable conditions for raising ostriches, so Mr. Bui Van Quang hopes that in the coming time, more households in the localities will boldly raise ostriches to link up to find stable product consumption outlets./.