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VietNamNet Bridge – Tran Nhu Giap in Thanh Tri District in Hanoi, who owns an ornamental bird farm, has successfully bred blue-eye cockatoos after buying four eggs for VND4 million.
Giap has had the farm for the last 10 years and he has takes special pride in his Australian blue-eye cockatoos.
Several years ago, Giap heard about the species from a TV program and he was impressed by the lovely and beautiful bird.
He later found a place that sold cockatoo eggs in HCM City. As Giap was very keen on the bird, he agreed to exchange two pairs of peacocks, which could be sold for VND4 million at that time, for four cockatoo eggs, which were as small as the tip of a human big toe. Each tiny egg was valued at VND1 million.
However, Giap, after reading many documents, realized that with the conditions in Vietnam, it would be nearly impossible to incubate eggs.
But Giap did not give up. After six months of preserving the eggs and conducting research, Giap discovered a method of incubating eggs with machines which brought a high success rate.
The initial success prompted Giap to breed cockatoos, though he knew it would be complicated work.
“You need to master the incubation technique,” he said. “Besides, you need to keep taking care of the birds, from the moment they hatch to the day they grow up.”
“You also have to know how to pamper them – ensuring sufficient calories for them, feeding them with yellow, white millet, rice and baby corn,” he added.
With 10 years of experience and a good technique, Giap has produced 10 cockatoos and many eggs.
Giap said he has sold four cockatoos at VND50-70 million each.
Some sources say a cockatoo egg now sells for VND1-1.5 million in the market.
Meanwhile, a three to four- month old cockatoo is valued at $2,000-5,000. And an adult bird, well trained, can be sold at prices 5-10 times higher.
Nuts of different kinds, fresh fruits, insects and clean water are the main food for cockatoos. While food is inexpensive, the time needed to train the birds is lengthy.
Since cockatoos are smart and attached to humans, the birds can be trained to speak, sing and dance with music.
Nguyen Ba Le, director of a company specializing in providing pets in HCM City, said the blue-eye cockatoos is a rare and precious bird species.
Le said his company still could not hatch cockatoo eggs, so he sources them from Thailand and Singapore.
VTC
Several years ago, Giap heard about the species from a TV program and he was impressed by the lovely and beautiful bird.
He later found a place that sold cockatoo eggs in HCM City. As Giap was very keen on the bird, he agreed to exchange two pairs of peacocks, which could be sold for VND4 million at that time, for four cockatoo eggs, which were as small as the tip of a human big toe. Each tiny egg was valued at VND1 million.
However, Giap, after reading many documents, realized that with the conditions in Vietnam, it would be nearly impossible to incubate eggs.
But Giap did not give up. After six months of preserving the eggs and conducting research, Giap discovered a method of incubating eggs with machines which brought a high success rate.
The initial success prompted Giap to breed cockatoos, though he knew it would be complicated work.
“You need to master the incubation technique,” he said. “Besides, you need to keep taking care of the birds, from the moment they hatch to the day they grow up.”
“You also have to know how to pamper them – ensuring sufficient calories for them, feeding them with yellow, white millet, rice and baby corn,” he added.
With 10 years of experience and a good technique, Giap has produced 10 cockatoos and many eggs.
Giap said he has sold four cockatoos at VND50-70 million each.
Some sources say a cockatoo egg now sells for VND1-1.5 million in the market.
Meanwhile, a three to four- month old cockatoo is valued at $2,000-5,000. And an adult bird, well trained, can be sold at prices 5-10 times higher.
Nuts of different kinds, fresh fruits, insects and clean water are the main food for cockatoos. While food is inexpensive, the time needed to train the birds is lengthy.
Since cockatoos are smart and attached to humans, the birds can be trained to speak, sing and dance with music.
Nguyen Ba Le, director of a company specializing in providing pets in HCM City, said the blue-eye cockatoos is a rare and precious bird species.
Le said his company still could not hatch cockatoo eggs, so he sources them from Thailand and Singapore.
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