Is sika deer farming profitable? Analysis of prices, sales channels and prospects
As consumption levels rise, people are becoming increasingly picky about what they eat. Among these, game meats such as pheasants, peacocks and sika deer are very popular, and precisely because of this, a wave of specialty farming has taken off. The sika deer is one of them, but can sika deer farming actually make money? Where are the sales channels? And how much per jin can sika deer fetch on the market? Let's take a look together below.
Prospects for sika deer farming
The sika deer is a national first-class protected animal, and every part of it is treasured. Its velvet, antlers, teeth, bones, meat, marrow, brain, semen, blood, kidneys, gall, skin, feces and fetus can all be used as medicine. In particular, the velvet antler taken from the unossified young antlers of the male deer, known as deer velvet, can regulate the body's metabolism and enhance physiological functions, and is a traditionally prestigious Chinese medicine.
In recent years, the international trade volume of deer velvet and deer products has continued to expand, selling particularly well in South Korea, Japan, Southeast Asian countries and the Hong Kong and Macao regions of China, with prices rising continuously. The economic benefits of sika deer farming are very significant, making it an ideal project for developing high-efficiency animal husbandry.
Sales channels for sika deer
As long as the sika deer are raised well, there is no need to worry about sales channels. If all else fails, you can go door-to-door to large restaurants to promote them, or call them up to ask. The bigger the city, the better the sales at large restaurants, so approach several of them.
Sika deer prices
It is said that the price of fresh deer velvet is 2000 yuan per jin, and 12 jin can be cut at one time. Calculated this way, selling fresh deer velvet can bring in 24000 yuan, and that is without counting anything else. This shows that sika deer really are very profitable.
Can you believe that raising one deer can earn 100,000 yuan? Due to the popularity of "farming game," sika deer have become a delicacy on citizens' dining tables in recent years. What few people know is that when a domesticated sika deer is served on the table, it is actually the very last link in the industry chain: deer velvet blood can be drunk fresh, deer velvet slices, deer blood wine and deer whip can be made into gift boxes for sale, and deer skin can be processed into leather clothing. Only when a male deer can no longer produce velvet is it sold as "game" to hotels and restaurants...
On September 16, the reporter came to Qujialing in Jingmen, Hubei, the most concentrated base for sika deer farming in Hubei. On this land with nearly 50 years of sika deer farming history, deer farmer Li Pingyuan spoke knowledgeably about how this "northeastern guest," the sika deer, took root in Hubei.
Feeding
Sika deer are not picky eaters
"Even though sika deer are quite large, they are very timid and very alert; at the slightest noise they will run around." On the morning of the 16th, walking into the farming area of the Qujialing Wusan Sanjing Stag Farm, person in charge Li Pingyuan instructed the reporter that although the sika deer had been domesticated for many years, they are still very afraid of people, and that after going in, one should not make any big commotion.
The reporter saw that the entire farming area was separated from one another. The rooms where the sika deer live are about 100-plus sq m, divided into a rest area and an activity area, somewhat similar to the "one-bedroom, one-living-room" homes we live in. In each "suite," a dozen or so sika deer are raised, and there are about a dozen such "suites."
Hearing the reporter's voice, several sika deer that had originally been "hiding" indoors to escape the heat immediately stood up from the ground, pressed closely together, and "stared" at the reporter's every move.
Farm owner Li Pingyuan began raising deer at age 18. "At that time we introduced deer breeds from Jilin, and now we raise more than 1600 deer," Li Pingyuan said. "Raising sika deer is similar to raising cattle or sheep. Our company has raised sika deer for more than ten years, and our farming methods are now very mature."
Sika deer are relatively easy to raise and are not picky about food or drink. Li Pingyuan said that the feed for sika deer is divided into two types: coarse grain and fine grain. The coarse grain is mainly fresh corn stalks, while the fine grain includes bean cake, corn, bran and so on, plus additives such as salt and calcium. "An adult sika deer generally eats more than ten jin of food a day, and the annual farming cost for one deer is about 2000 yuan."
Mating
One male deer can "marry" multiple wives
Li Pingyuan told the reporter that the lifespan of a sika deer is generally about 15 years, and a male sika deer can have its velvet antler harvested once it is more than three years old.
The reporter saw that the male deer and female deer all "sleep in separate rooms." Li Pingyuan said with a smile that under normal circumstances each male deer can mate with about 15 female deer, a typical "polygamous" system. During the raising process, although the sika deer have been domesticated, some of their original wildness has been retained in order to ensure quality. "To avoid male deer fighting over mates and injuring the antlers on their heads, during the sika deer mating season we appropriately add some drugs to the feed or water to suppress estrus, which can prevent bloody incidents from happening."
It is said that female deer that fail to conceive for two consecutive years and male deer with low velvet antler yields will both face culling. Li Pingyuan said that the farm has an assessment mechanism: if a male sika deer produces less than 3 jin of velvet antler in a year, or a female deer fails to conceive for two consecutive years, they will be sold to restaurants.
What factors affect velvet antler yield and conception? Li Pingyuan said this is related to individual differences, and also to inbreeding "mating." "So every few years, we spend a high price to introduce breeding stock from the Northeast and buy wild sika deer to improve the breed." Li Pingyuan said that in the second half of the year, he planned to invest 2 million yuan to introduce 200 female deer and 50 male deer with high velvet yields, in order to raise the yield and quality of the velvet antler.
Doing the accounts
Raising one male deer can earn 100,000 yuan
There is a saying in the industry that every part of a sika deer is a treasure, but when it comes to the most valuable part of the body, it is of course the velvet antler, known as one of the "Three Treasures of the Northeast."
In Li Pingyuan's office, the reporter saw a price list for deer products: a box of 50-gram premium velvet slices costs 320 yuan. The most astonishing item is "fresh velvet blood drink." A "three-branch" deer antler can have its velvet blood cut twice a year, and each time the velvet blood obtained can sell for 1800 yuan.
"Every year in May and June is the season when sika deer gather velvet, and large numbers of customers come from Wuhan, Shanghai, Chengdu and other places, precisely to taste fresh deer velvet blood." For this reason, Li Pingyuan specially set up a VIP room of more than 100 sq m at the deer farm. This year, the single item of drinking deer velvet blood raw brought the deer farm nearly one million yuan in income.
So how much velvet antler can one male sika deer produce in a year? Li Pingyuan said that depending on the deer's size and age, velvet yield can vary greatly. One male sika deer can have its velvet antler cut twice a year, with the amount varying each time. "The most ever cut at one time was 12 jin, which is very rare." Cutting 12 jin at one time, with fresh deer velvet priced at 2000 yuan per jin, means selling fresh deer velvet can bring in 24000 yuan.
Of course, a male deer cutting 12 jin of velvet antler at one time is still relatively rare. Li Pingyuan said that a male deer can generally have about 5 jin of velvet antler cut in a year.
It is well known that velvet antler is valuable, but in fact every part of the sika deer is a treasure. Li Pingyuan told the reporter that after each velvet harvest, a "corner cap" harder than stone grows at the cut site. Only after the "corner cap" falls off does new velvet antler begin to grow, and the "corner cap" can be ground into powder to treat diseases such as pharyngitis and mastitis.
In addition, the deer whip, deer skin and some of the deer's internal organs are also quite valuable. The deer whip can be used to make wine, the deer placenta is 800 yuan each, the deer skin can be used to make clothing, and even the feces of the sika deer can be sold for money.
During the interview, a customer happened to call to ask about buying deer feces, and one cart of deer feces plus shipping cost more than one hundred yuan. It turns out that sika deer feces contain a special component that not only does not attract flies but can also repel insects. Therefore, many farm owners in the surrounding area pay to buy deer feces to improve the environment.
The reporter made a rough calculation: the velvet antler produced by one male deer in a year can sell for about 10,000 yuan, and a male sika deer can live up to 15 years. Excluding the three years of growth when no velvet antler is produced, the velvet antler produced over a sika deer's lifetime can sell for 120,000 yuan. Sika deer that no longer produce velvet antler can also be slaughtered for meat. The price of deer meat is 30 yuan/jin, and an adult sika deer weighs about 200-plus jin. Add in the deer whip, deer placenta and deer sinew, and after deducting the farming cost of 2000 yuan/year for one adult sika deer, raising one male deer can earn more than 100,000 yuan.
Processing
Deer meat and deer skin have not yet formed an industry chain
Qujialing, where Li Pingyuan's deer farm is located, was formerly the site of the Wusan Farm and has nearly 50 years of sika deer farming history. At present, there are 5 sika deer farming bases locally, with about 3000 sika deer on hand, an annual output of 1400 jin of velvet antler and 150 tons of deer series liquor. A deer farm like the one Li Pingyuan is running, besides farming, also has its own production and processing product line. "The deer antlers from which guests have finished drinking the velvet blood can have the remaining velvet blood extracted with a vacuum rod and processed into velvet blood wine." A 500ml bottle of velvet blood wine has a wholesale price ranging from 70-100 yuan. "I can sell more than 40,000 bottles a year," Li Pingyuan said.
According to the plan, in the next 3 years, the Qujialing Management District will make use of its sika deer resource advantages, with sika deer domestication and breeding and product development and utilization as the theme, actively develop sika deer farming and deep processing of deer products, sika deer ecological health preservation and leisure tourism, protect and develop sika deer resources, increase population quantity and quality, form a high-tech deer product processing system, and raise the added value of products. By 2015, it aims to build Qujialing into the country's largest sika deer breeding center, deer series product processing center and deer culture exchange center.
It is understood that the main business of the local 5 sika deer farming bases is velvet antler and liquor made from velvet antler and deer whip. Deer meat, deer skin and so on have not yet formed an industry chain, and this is also the direction of future development. Air-dried deer meat and clothing made from deer skin may appear around citizens before long.