The largest ostrich breeding farm in Southeast Asia

After 19 years of establishment and development, Khatoco Ninh Hoa Ostrich Breeding Center located in Dai Cat village, Ninh Phung commune, Ninh Hoa town, Khanh Hoa province with an area of 150 hectares has become the largest ostrich breeding facility in the country; contributing to the diversification of local agricultural products and creating jobs for workers in Ninh Hoa town. This is also one of the leading breeding centers in Southeast Asia in terms of scale and quality of ostrich flocks.

This is a commercial ostrich flock, currently the farm's total flock is the largest in Southeast Asia.

According to Mr. Nguyen Tan Tuan - Chairman of Khanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee, Khatoco Ninh Hoa Ostrich Breeding Center is a state-owned enterprise managed by the Provincial People's Committee. After nearly 20 years of development, the farm now has a system of barns and workshops built to meet national standards, water sources, food, and wastewater are strictly controlled and meet the prescribed conditions. The center's barn system is large, invested in modernly, meeting the standards of livestock farming and food hygiene and safety.

Ms. Phan Thi Hanh - Head of Technical Department of Khatoco Ninh Hoa Ostrich Breeding Center shared that the Center is a closed "production" model, from the stages of breeding, hatching eggs, raising commercial ostriches, veterinary care... The hatched eggs weigh from 1.2 - 2.2 kg, after about 42 days in the incubator they will hatch. The baby ostriches are given special care. When they are young, they are raised in a covered house, then brought out into the yard to get used to the sunlight and the surrounding environment. This nurturing process lasts about 3 months before they are moved to a larger barn area.

Workers sort eggs into commercial and breeding types.

The center's large-scale ostrich farm currently has 1,000 ostriches breeding each year, providing about 20,000 eggs. Of these, 10,000 eggs are used for hatching, the rest are sold commercially. Egg prices range from 160,000 to 600,000 VND each, while ostrich meat costs about 100,000 to 150,000 VND/kg. In addition, the Center also provides the market with many other high-end products for food, cosmetics, and trendy jewelry.

Currently, the Center also supplies ostrich chicks from 7 days old to 2-3 months old to breeding facilities with a total of up to 4,000 chicks per year. Notably, the chicks cost from 1.6 million VND (7 days old), 11 million VND/chick (12 months old), depending on market demand and transportation suitability. Young ostriches are fed industrial feed and when they grow up, they switch to eating vegetables and grass with an amount of 2 kg/day. An adult ostrich can lay over 50 eggs per year and starts laying the first egg from 24 months old.

Ostriches that are in good health and free of disease, after 12 months of raising, are selected for breeding, raised until the 20th month with female ostriches and the 26th month with male ostriches, then they are combined into a family. Mr. Nguyen Minh Dung, an employee of Ninh Hoa Ostrich Breeding Center with 15 years of experience, shared that ostriches have a very sensitive nervous system, and are easily startled by loud, sudden noises or when they see strangers. At that time, they often run around, can trample each other, crash into any obstacle, which can easily cause injury and death.

Knowing this characteristic, to reduce the rate of ostriches dying due to accidents, the Center has applied the method of letting ostriches listen to music. Ostriches' food is mainly vegetables, elephant grass VA06. All are ground, however, to supplement nutrition for egg-laying ostriches, the Center has added bean sprouts to nourish and stimulate ostriches to lay eggs. One of the techniques being applied by the Center is the process of artificial incubation of ostrich eggs. The purpose of artificial incubation is for ostriches to lay more frequently, increasing egg production, because letting ostriches incubate will stop the egg-laying period.

Currently, the Center has used software to manage information about each ostrich to ensure that, during the entire breeding process, staff can fully monitor the health problems of the ostriches, what drugs are used, whether they are on the permitted list or not, ensuring food safety for consumers. Mr. Nguyen Tran Dang Khoa - Head of the commercial breeding farm, Ninh Hoa Ostrich Breeding Center said that the commercial breeding area has about 4 thousand ostriches raised outdoors, with a large yard, ensuring the requirements similar to the natural environment, suitable for the wild instincts, and frequent running of this "giant chicken".

Khatoco Ninh Hoa Ostrich Breeding Center operates a closed-loop farming chain, self-sufficient in food sources to ensure quality. Starting with 800 breeding birds from Australia (since 2004), the Center now has 14,000 birds, annually supplying thousands of breeding birds, over 700 tons of meat, and 3,000 skins for the leather tanning and high-end handicraft manufacturing industries. In particular, the Center creates stable jobs for 155 people, with an average income of 12 million VND/person/month.

Products of Khatoco Ninh Hoa Ostrich Breeding Center are currently distributed nationwide and exported to South Africa, Korea, and China. The farm is certified to ISO 22,000 - 2018, international standards.

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