A project on raising ostriches has been carried out for nearly 10 yearsin the sunny and windy land of the central coastal province of QuangBinh and has brought big profits for the locals. It has proved to be asound direction for economic development in the province.
In 2004, Hoang Thi Minh in Hai Trach commune, Bo Trach districtstarted raising ostriches on a small scale. After attending a trainingcourse on essential farming skills, Minh invested over 20 million VND(about 1,000 USD) to build breeding facilities and bought breedingostriches from an experimental centre in Hanoi's Ba Vi district.
Seeing her success in the business, many families in the provinceestablished farms which brought them a great income. Since then, ostrichraising has strongly developed and opened a sound direction fordeveloping the province’s economy.
One of thelargest ostrich raising farms in the province is owned by Hung BienSeafood Company in Bao Ninh commune in Dong Hoi city. In 2008, thecompany started raising ostriches in an area of 500m2 and only afterfive years the company’s total area for the job was expanded to 2ha withhundreds of breeding and commercial ostriches. According to Nguyen VanDung, Director of Hung Bien Seafood Company, it is not difficult toraise ostriches because this bird is able to adapt to the climate andterrain in Quang Binh.
To develop the ostrichbusiness, Hung Bien Seafood Company established a ostrich breedingfacility, including an administrative area, a system of facilities forbrooding eggs equipped with modern incubators, raising chicks, a storeof feed and a slaughter house.
In the area forraising chicks, the company invested a system of lights to ensuresuitable temperatures and always pays much attention to the feed and theregimen. Therefore, chicks develop well and only after 12 months eachostrich weighs about 120-150kg. A male mature ostrich is 2.1-2.75m talland weighs 120kg-150kg while a female, 1.75-1.9m and 90-110kg and canlay about 40-50 eggs/year. Each year, Hung Bien Seafood Company earnsabout 700 million VND from commercial ostriches and 800 million VND frombreeding ones.
According to statistics of theAgricultural and Fishing Promotion Centre in Quang Binh Province, theprovince sells about 500 ostriches each year. Ostrich meat is good forhuman health so it has now become a favourite in the market. A kilo ofostrich meat is priced at about 200,000-220,000 VND. Ostrich skin andfeathers and egg shells can be made into valuable products, such asshoes, wallets, bags, jackets, and fine art articles.
Good outcomes from pilot farms have encouraged locals to expand theostrich raising farms and invest in breeding technology to develop theflock to meet the demand in the domestic market and export to foreigncountries in a near future.-VNA
In 2004, Hoang Thi Minh in Hai Trach commune, Bo Trach districtstarted raising ostriches on a small scale. After attending a trainingcourse on essential farming skills, Minh invested over 20 million VND(about 1,000 USD) to build breeding facilities and bought breedingostriches from an experimental centre in Hanoi's Ba Vi district.
Seeing her success in the business, many families in the provinceestablished farms which brought them a great income. Since then, ostrichraising has strongly developed and opened a sound direction fordeveloping the province’s economy.
One of thelargest ostrich raising farms in the province is owned by Hung BienSeafood Company in Bao Ninh commune in Dong Hoi city. In 2008, thecompany started raising ostriches in an area of 500m2 and only afterfive years the company’s total area for the job was expanded to 2ha withhundreds of breeding and commercial ostriches. According to Nguyen VanDung, Director of Hung Bien Seafood Company, it is not difficult toraise ostriches because this bird is able to adapt to the climate andterrain in Quang Binh.
To develop the ostrichbusiness, Hung Bien Seafood Company established a ostrich breedingfacility, including an administrative area, a system of facilities forbrooding eggs equipped with modern incubators, raising chicks, a storeof feed and a slaughter house.
In the area forraising chicks, the company invested a system of lights to ensuresuitable temperatures and always pays much attention to the feed and theregimen. Therefore, chicks develop well and only after 12 months eachostrich weighs about 120-150kg. A male mature ostrich is 2.1-2.75m talland weighs 120kg-150kg while a female, 1.75-1.9m and 90-110kg and canlay about 40-50 eggs/year. Each year, Hung Bien Seafood Company earnsabout 700 million VND from commercial ostriches and 800 million VND frombreeding ones.
According to statistics of theAgricultural and Fishing Promotion Centre in Quang Binh Province, theprovince sells about 500 ostriches each year. Ostrich meat is good forhuman health so it has now become a favourite in the market. A kilo ofostrich meat is priced at about 200,000-220,000 VND. Ostrich skin andfeathers and egg shells can be made into valuable products, such asshoes, wallets, bags, jackets, and fine art articles.
Good outcomes from pilot farms have encouraged locals to expand theostrich raising farms and invest in breeding technology to develop theflock to meet the demand in the domestic market and export to foreigncountries in a near future.-VNA
