Migrant worker from Bazhong returns home to start a business and becomes a "Chicken King," prospering without forgetting his fellow villagers
"Cluck, cluck, cluck, cluck, cluck..." Following this sound, a reporter recently walked into the ecological chicken farm of Group 4, Fengliang Village, Mingyang Town, Enyang District, Bazhong City, and saw a white tiled house of more than 100 sq m nestled among the lush woods. Around the house and under the trees, large flocks of chickens were gathered, some chasing and playing, others leisurely foraging.
"So many people have come to place orders these past few days that I can hardly keep up with catching the chickens!" said Chen Xinxuan, the smiling owner of the chicken farm, who was gathering eggs.
Chen Xinxuan, 52 this year, is a native of Fengliang Village. In 2003, because his family was poor, he and his wife set out to work in Hainan, taking jobs at a chicken farm.
"Working away from home all year round and being unable to care for the elderly and children at home was the deepest pain in my heart," Chen Xinxuan said. In 2012, when his father's condition worsened, he resolutely returned home to start a business.
"I must find a path suited to developing in my hometown." After returning and seeing the backward conditions of his hometown, Chen Xinxuan secretly made a vow.
"Because I had worked at a chicken farm before and had solid chicken-raising skills, I decided to return to my old trade." He acted as soon as he decided. In June 2014, Chen Xinxuan took out all 40,000 yuan in savings from working away from home and 30,000 yuan scraped together from relatives and friends, and spent it all on buying chicks and building chicken sheds, setting up a chicken farm behind his house and beginning scaled breeding.
The reporter found that, in addition to raising native chickens, Chen Xinxuan and his wife also raise the more valuable silkie chicken. Compared with the days of working away from home, Chen Xinxuan frankly said that returning to his hometown feels more grounded and gives him a sense of belonging.
"Raising chickens is skilled work. In raising chickens, I insist on doing three things well: first, do a good job of disease prevention, vaccinate the chickens on time, observe the chickens' growth at all times, and treat them immediately when signs of disease are found; giving injections and treating illnesses is second nature to me. Second, feed the chickens at fixed locations, because the site is fairly spacious, so each time feed is placed at fixed locations and times, and when it is 'mealtime,' the chickens will grow well. Third, the chicken farm must be ventilated and clean, and in winter good insulation work must be done, with manure in the chicken coop removed promptly, creating a comfortable growing environment for the chickens." When talking about raising chickens, Chen Xinxuan spoke fluently and knowledgeably.
"I raise chickens using an under-forest ecological free-range model. The woods are a natural 'gym,' and ample exercise makes the meat firm," Chen Xinxuan said. The chickens usually catch insects in the mountain woods to eat, are fed coarse grains such as corn and rice husks, and drink natural mountain spring water, which not only is rich in various trace elements but also improves quality and taste.
The chicken farm prospered. After a year of effort, Chen Xinxuan's chicken farm marketed more than 4,000 finished chickens, with income reaching 180,000 yuan, and his fellow villagers all called him the "Chicken King."
A single flower does not make spring; a hundred flowers blooming together fill the garden with spring. "My greatest wish is to lead a few more fellow villagers to raise chickens and make money, so that they will not have to go out to work," Chen Xinxuan said. Prospering without forgetting his fellow villagers, he explains chicken-raising theory and breeding techniques to those who seek to learn without holding anything back, provides free services, and conducts chicken-raising technical training on various occasions.
In 2015, with the support of the village "two committees" and village-stationed cadres, Chen Xinxuan established the Bazhong City Enyang District Botao Breeding Professional Cooperative. Driven by him, the village has already developed 3 scaled breeding households raising more than 1,000 chickens.
"This year I will expand the scale to 5,000 chickens and reach 200,000 yuan in income, striving to make something of myself in my hometown," Chen Xinxuan said. "I raised chickens away from home for more than ten years, but I never expected to make my fortune in my hometown."