9X youth in Nghe An raises spotted deer and earns hundreds of millions of dong

While collecting grass to feed the deer, Vu Van Que (born 1993) in block 1, Quynh Xuan ward, Hoang Mai town shared about his chance to start raising sika deer.

After graduating from high school, Que passed the entrance exams to two universities at the same time, but after two years of studying medicine, Que realized that it was not suitable for her and decided to drop out of university, surprising her family and friends.

Leaving the lecture hall, Que struggled everywhere with many jobs such as construction, YouTuber... When he had accumulated a little property, Que and his brothers and friends pooled their money to open a garment factory in his hometown. During this time, Que participated in the Youth Union and held the position of Secretary of the Youth Union of Block 1, Quynh Xuan Ward. However, when he started to make a little profit, the Covid-19 pandemic hit, causing orders to stagnate. The goods made had no place to sell, and there was no money to pay the workers, leading to Que's garment factory having to close.

With experience in taking care of sika deer and support from his family, Que rented about 2 hectares of agricultural land in the village to build a system of barns to raise sika deer. With support from the Ward Youth Union, Que borrowed capital from the Social Policy Bank to invest in building barns and buying 10 breeding animals.

Overcoming difficulties, from the initial 10 deer, Vu Van Que's family's barn system now always has 30-40 spotted deer for velvet and breeding, supplying the market. Recently, Que has also invested in raising deer for velvet, raising cows and hundreds of chickens for meat to increase income. Each year, after deducting expenses, Que's model of raising spotted deer for velvet and providing breeding makes a profit of hundreds of millions of dong.

According to Que, raising sika deer is not too difficult. This is a livestock with good resistance, few diseases, easy to adapt to all climate conditions, so it only requires some experience in caring for and recognizing diseases for timely treatment. Moreover, sika deer mainly eat grass and bananas, so the cost of raising them is not high.

Que said that the main food for deer is grass, corn, leaves... so it is possible to take advantage of agricultural by-products, reducing costs. On average, each year, 1 deer only costs about 300,000 - 400,000 VND for food and medicine. For mature breeds, after 6 months of care, the first antler harvest can be done. Each year, deer can harvest 2 antler crops, equivalent to 2 - 2.4 kg of antler per deer. In addition to selling fresh deer antlers, Que also learns techniques for deer reproduction to sell breeds. After 3 - 4 months, the deer can be sold for 10 - 15 million VND/deer.

Talking about future plans, Que said that he will continue to develop the deer herd to about 50 pairs, thereby having a stable source of raw materials to supply deer antlers and breeding animals to the market. Therefore, Que hopes that the local government will have policies to support rural households in raising livestock as well as create opportunities for rural youth to establish themselves, start a business and get rich in their own homeland.

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The deer raising model of member Vu Van Que is a pioneer model of the ward Youth Union in the field of animal husbandry. Although it is just a trial, Que's deer raising model opens up a new way out of poverty for young people, and many members and young people in the province come to visit and learn.

Mr. Ho Van Huu - Secretary of the Youth Union of Quynh Xuan Ward (Hoang Mai Town)