Antelope farming is self-descriptive, self-explanatory, and aims to reduce the percentage of hungry people. Take a walk around your neighborhood and count how many antelope farms you can find; the result only proves that a shift is required; many agricultural farmers and enthusiasts can see this as a means of obtaining food for humans and raw materials for manufacturing industries.
Because these antelopes produce high-quality meat and leather, antelope farming is a viable agricultural sector. While cattle choose from a limited number of grass species, antelopes choose from a wider variety. They, on the other hand, require a lower-cost diet than cattle. The fact that antelopes are disease-resistant is even more critical. The disease carried by the tsetse fly, trypanosomiasis, is resistant to most, if not all, of them.
Antelope farming in Nigeria: Getting started
With a budget of between N130,000 and N200,000, one can begin with a pair of antelope. There are one male and one female at this party. They are raised in pen or a free-range setting.
It’s best to buy them when they’re seven to eight months old when they’re still breeding stock. If you buy them at this point and raise them for six months, they’ll start producing babies at 12 months, and you’ll be able to start making money.
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Antelope farming in Nigeria: Profile
Antelopes are members of the Bovidae family and are found mainly in Africa. They live in several areas, such as dry scrubland, savannah, and grassland. The grassland antelope weighs between eight and ten kilograms. They have a soft, brown coat grizzled with grey, black, white hair, a reddish-brown head, wide eyes and ears, and a soft, brown coat grizzled with grey, black, and white hair.
The eyes have a ring of white hair around them. Males have horns, which are often covered by a spiky forelock. Males and females have a prehensile, elongated nose. Monogamous mating pairs are common among grassland antelopes. After a five to six-month gestation period, the female gives birth to one child.
Antelope farming in Nigeria: Home preparation
It would be best to have at least 15m2 of breeding space, and no space is too large. Just make sure their pen is fenced, dry, warm, and has enough windows to light in. It must also leave the pen (within the fenced area) regularly and return at night.
Antelope farming in Nigeria: Feeding
They eat leaves, buds, shoots, roots, tubers, grasses, fruits, and other plants in the wild. They are fed forage, a wide variety of fresh green vegetables and pasture, hay, cabbage, carrots, kitchen waste, corn mill waste, and locally formulated animal pellets/feed in domestication.
Antelopes also consume charcoal, which aids in the reorganization of their stomach in a stomach upset. They still consume a significant amount of water.
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Antelope farming in Nigeria: Market
The antelope is a rare species that is traded for tourism purposes by recreation centers, zoos, research institutes, game reserves, holiday resorts, children’s amusement parks, royal families, and others.
An added benefit is that many Nigerian households and restaurants offer antelope meals because the country’s residents are searching for delectable and tasty bush meat.
The demand for antelope meat and particularly the hide is higher than that for goats, cattle, alligators, and pythons, resulting in a price increase, making the prospect of antelope rearing as a full-time or part-time job very bright and motivating.
Antelope skin can be exported to India, Saudi Arabia, Italy, Spain, and China to be made into high-quality leather items such as handbags, shoes, wallets, belts, guitars, upholstery fabrics, and wristwatch straps after it has been tanned. Their hides can be used as high-end luxury accessories.
For any novice, consulting experts and trainers in the antelope farming sector is the best bet, and there are trainers all over the world. While having the right information and materials on the ground is essential in the antelope farming market, it isn’t as complicated as it appears. You can start making something on the side from the Antelope company with a little bit of desire and the ability to follow instructions meticulously.