Planting elephant grass to raise ostriches, Bac Giang farmer, sells one for millions of VND

After completing his military service in 2002, Mr. Khiem learned a job as a truck driver and went to work in Quang Ninh province. This profession gives him the opportunity to travel to many places and approach many economic development models.

Mr. Khiem, Ha Long village, Giap Son commune, Luc Ngan district (Bac Giang province) takes care of ostriches.

Once in a visit to an ostrich hatchery in Ba Vi district (Hanoi), Mr. Khiem was attracted by this large bird. With the thought that his hometown is large, he can develop a new economic model, but he does not have to travel everywhere, so in early 2019, Mr. Khiem discussed with his wife to invest in building an ostrich farm.

Initially, because he did not have the technique to take care of him, he only bought 50 seeds, priced at 2.2 million VND/head to raise. Through the care process, he noticed: Ostriches have good resistance, almost no diseases. The cages only need to be filled with sand as the foundation and cleaned regularly.

The main food of the ostrich is elephant grass, vegetables, tubers and cereal grains… After 10 months of rearing, from the initial seed about 1.5 kg, the ostrich reaches a weight of about 90 -100 kg/head and sold for sale.

Mr. Khiem's family sold the first batch (mainly to the hatchery to pay for the output), minus the average cost of profit of 3 million VND/head. Realizing that raising ostriches is not difficult, the product is favorable, so in 2020 and 2021, his family will increase the herd to 100 ostriches/ litter, earning more than 200 million VND per year.

With a food source of nearly 2500m2 of elephant grass to raise ostriches, in early 2021, he and his wife continue to invest 100 million dong in building a fattening barn for 100 commercial goats per litter, which will be sold to restaurants and restaurants in town within and outside the province. According to Mr. Khiem's experience, the most important fattening of commercial goats is the selection of good breeds.

Goats bought for fattening are small goats, weighing about 25 kg/head. After about 3 months of rearing, each animal's weight increased from 15-20 kg to be sold.

Each child ostrich earns from 900 thousand to 1 million dong. According to Mr. Khiem, fattening goats is only confined to cages, so in addition to providing enough food and clean drinking water, farmers need to add rock salt so that goats have enough minerals and develop well.

Mr. Tran Van Minh, Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Luc Ngan district (Bac Giang province) commented: "The model of ostrich breeding and goat fattening of Mr. Nguyen Van Khiem's family is a new form of household economic development in Luc district. Ngan, very suitable for the conditions of the mountainous district. At this time, the District Farmers' Association will study and encourage replication in the area."

Source: Duc Tho (Bac Giang Newspaper)/ danviet.vn