Dong ThapSince becoming involved in raising ducks in the fields, Mr. Bui Thien Thanh’s family has always spent Tet away from home. They built a temporary hut, bought a few flower pots, rice bowls, and jam cakes to welcome spring.
In the days leading up to Tet, Mr. Thanh, 52 years old, returned to his hut near the economic zone 6, Tan Hoi Trung commune, Cao Lanh district, with breakfast in hand, half a kilo of prepared perch, and took his wife to cook lunch. . The hut is just over 10 m2 and contains enough items for a family from pots and pans, stove, blankets, fans, lights… neatly arranged.
“This morning the duck laid five centimeters,” Mr. Thanh informed his wife of more than 30 years of “hardships and hardships”. “Five stools” is slang for duck farmers, referring to the laying rate of a flock of ducks when 10 hens can lay five eggs. The flock of nearly 5,000 ducks lays only 2,300 eggs, selling for 22,000 VND per dozen, after deducting costs the owner almost breaks even.
Mr. Thanh and his wife’s hut in the middle of the field was used as a temporary residence while tending their flock of laying ducks. Image: Gem Finance
Sitting and resting in the hut, Mr. Thanh said the ducks were old and had been raised for more than 17 months but could not change to another flock because of a lack of capital. “Ducks from 7 months to a year lay the best, every night they produce 8-9 centimeters,” said the man from Tam Nong. According to him, when the ducks lay a lot, when they return to the coop, they just lie down and breathe, not chasing or biting each other. At midnight they swarmed until morning. On days when there are few babies, the barn is quiet all night.
Unlike conventional poultry farming, laying ducks are forced to be brought to newly harvested fields so that they can eat scattered rice, snails, crabs, and insects to supplement nutrition and reduce industrial feed. There is a lot of food in the field, the ducks lay the wrong eggs, the eggs are big, the owner makes a lot of profit. The duck breeder must fence the ducks with a net so that they can only eat in the purchased fields, and at the same time chase away dogs that bite the ducks and thieves. Every day, ducks go out to the fields from early morning to late afternoon, they will be driven back to the coop, and will lay eggs at night.
From a young age, Mr. Thanh followed his mother to work as a hired duck herder. When he grew up, even when he was rich, he still stuck to the profession. He said that in the early 90s of the last century, there were few farmers, only two crops were sown in the field, there was a lot of time for ducks to hunt for food, and the farmers’ profits were “broken”. Every year like that he could buy hundreds of fields, but because he did not want to grow rice, he continued to invest in the ducks.
In 2002, from a few thousand ducks, he built the most spacious house in the region, worth 12 gold bars at that time. Later, seeing that he was doing well, many people followed suit, competing with each other, causing costs to increase and profits to decrease. A few more years of bird flu epidemic, he had nothing and started over.
Duck farming spreads all over the country. The fifty-year-old man does not remember how many fields he has passed, but he has traveled close to the Mekong River upstream provinces. In each field, he built a close relationship with the people there. When they cut rice, they would “tell” him about it. Over time, “brokers” formed who bought the copper in advance, waiting for him to bring the ducks to eat. For each hectare of cut rice, he pays the field owner 500,000 VND, which the ducks can eat for 10-20 days depending on the time of sowing the rice. When the field owner brought in the tractor to till the land, he drove the ducks to another place.
Because of that, Tet with his family is no different from normal days, in the morning collecting duck eggs, in the afternoon and afternoon watching over them in the fields, waiting for dusk to bring them back to the coop. “Rich is also used to it,” he said and did not forget to emphasize that only people who are passionate about their work stick with it for so many years even though it’s hard and rarely stay at home.
Ducks look for food like scattered rice, crabs, snails, insects… in the fields of Tan Hoi Trung commune, Cao Lanh district, Dong Thap province. Image: Ngoc Tai
“This job is for living on the street and sleeping in the bush, many people curse at it,” said Ms. Tran Thi Bien, 57 years old, Mr. Thanh’s wife, and explained that because the ducks smelled bad and eroded the land, many people chased them away every time they asked. The intention was to build huts and enclosures for the herd to reside in. However, over the years, she and her husband have met many kind people who helped in times of trouble.
“We know every penny, even those who work in the same profession. Now in Dong Thap, maybe tomorrow we will go to An Giang, Long An, Kien Giang,” the woman from Hong Ngu said, then she discussed with her husband about the day to make the tray. An offering of rice to the ancestors with “Mr. Chuong and Mrs. Chuong” (gods protecting farmers in folk beliefs). This year, the profit is not much, she plans to just cook a few dishes, buy some flower pots, and cakes to have some atmosphere. They also don’t plan to sing or party on the three days of spring because the ducks still have to graze and their work doesn’t stop.
In a nearby field, Vo Van Tuan, 27 years old, has only been in the profession for nearly a year, watching a flock of several thousand ducks. With 2,000 m of net, Tuan circles a few fields enough for the ducks to find food for a day. On the bank of the canal, he placed a water pump into the field so that livestock could drink water. Although he doesn’t have much experience, Tuan can estimate the flock of ducks when he brings them back. If there are a few missing, he will know immediately. Ducks are also familiar with their shepherds, and the times they go to the field and enter the coop are quite coordinated and don’t take too much time.
Mr. Tuan is new to the job of raising ducks in the fields, and this is his first Tet away from home. Image: Ngoc Tai
“In the morning, I collect eggs for about 40 minutes, then drive them out to the field and back in for more than an hour. The rest I just sit on the dike and look after them. If I’m tired, I can hang a hammock to sleep, but I have to keep my ears open to detect trouble with the ducks,” he said. about a day in the fields. The work for the young man is quite light but boring, lonely in the middle of the field, planning not to stick around for a long time. During the three days of Tet, Tuan did not buy anything because he had no plans to go on a spring trip or watch fireworks displays. He only looks forward to the day when the rice fields near his house will be cut, and the ducks will be brought home ready to visit home and relatives.
Even though Mr. Thanh and his wife have celebrated dozens of Tet holidays in the fields, they still feel homesick and miss their children at the time of welcoming the new year. Without needing to remind each other, as New Year’s Eve approached, he and his wife took advantage of the opportunity to make video calls to ask questions, advise their children and grandchildren, and promise to buy Tet gifts when they had a chance to stop by.
Throughout the Western provinces, there are hundreds of people raising ducks in the fields and celebrating Tet away from home like that. Even though they lack the atmosphere of spring togetherness, they hope for good health and good business to continue holding on to their jobs.
Ngoc Tai