River ducks sell for high prices, supply cannot meet demand

In 2021, when the Covid-19 pandemic broke out, Mr. Bo and his wife, Ms. Vo Thi An, returned to their hometown to avoid the pandemic. “The children are still young, the couple is far from home, the jobs are not stable, the income is not high. Meanwhile, there is an unused land in the hometown. Therefore, the couple discussed and decided to stay and start a business on their own land,” Mr. Bo shared.

But what to plant and what to raise to have high economic efficiency and a stable consumption market is something that needs to be calculated and carefully considered. Finally, the couple decided to raise ducks, and grow corn and rice to raise pigs, chickens, buffaloes and cows. The farm is close to the riverbank, so he decided to experiment with the model of raising ducks in the river.

Accordingly, after selecting healthy ducks, he fully vaccinated them, kept them in captivity for the first month, and fed them with powdered food and roughage to increase their resistance.

In the second month, he herded the ducks to the river next to his house to release them. Every morning, he herded the ducks to the river, using a rowboat to monitor the ducks. The ducks would stay on the river from morning until evening before being herded back to the coop.

During that time, the ducks foraged for food and swam freely. “This is a branch of the river, the locals call it the Gang fence, the riverbed is narrow and the river water is not too large, so it is very suitable for raising ducks.

On the river, there are all kinds of plankton such as moss, duckweed, fish, snails, and mussels for the ducks to find food for themselves. Starting from the second month onwards, we only have to supplement the ducks' food every few days, or on rainy days, the ducks have to be locked in the cage," Mr. Bo shared.

Thanks to eating a variety of natural foods and exercising continuously all day, the ducks grow quickly, have good resistance, are less susceptible to diseases, have delicious, firm meat, and are popular in the market. In the first batch, he only raised 70 ducks. After 4 months, each duck weighed an average of more than 2.5 kg, and was sold for 140,000 VND/duck, but that was not enough to supply the market. In the following batches, he continued to expand the flock. The largest batch was up to 500 ducks.

“I raise ducks in batches, about 4-5 times a year, which also brings in revenue of 200-250 million VND/year. Taking advantage of natural food from the river, I am self-sufficient in rice and corn for the ducks, so the investment cost is not much,” Mr. Bo shared.

Because the flock size is 300-500 ducks/batch, the ducks are delicious and very popular, only enough to meet the needs of local people, not enough to import to large restaurants or wholesalers.

“Currently, most people invest in raising ducks with high technology, eating industrial feed, in cold cages. Raising ducks in this form requires high costs, and must be linked to have a stable output. My wife and I have just started a business, and we do not have much capital, so we choose to raise ducks on farms, the main market is retail to the people.

Compared to industrial ducks, free-range ducks have a higher selling price and are more popular in the market. In the near future, when I have enough experience in raising ducks, I will expand the flock, build the brand "Gang fence duck" and connect to consume the products," Mr. Bo shared his plans.

On the other hand, to equip themselves with livestock knowledge, the couple learned on YouTube and TikTok and applied it in practice.

At the same time, to promote and gradually build a brand for the family's duck products, the couple also regularly updates the process of raising and caring for ducks on social networks, and do not hesitate to live-stream to invite people to the farm to experience and enjoy... Thanks to that, his family's river ducks are known and ordered by many people.