Raising chickens under the forest helps a returning migrant worker get rich

In the photo, Jiang Hu is feeding the chickens.

"Cluck cluck, cock-a-doodle-doo, cheep cheep cheep..." Following the sound, the author walked into the under-forest ecological chicken farm in the Banjiehe villager group of Hujiaba Village, Zhaile Town, Nayong County, and saw a blue-tiled house of more than 100 sq m hidden among the lush mixed woods, with a large flock of chickens all around the house and under the trees, some chasing one another and some foraging.

Jiang Hu is a farmer from the Banjiehe villager group. Years ago, he and his wife set out to work in Zhejiang. In Zhejiang, seeing the development and changes of the city and thinking of the backward conditions in his hometown, Jiang Hu secretly made a vow: once he earned money, he would find a path suited to developing his hometown. During their time working away, the two discovered that modern urban residents have an ever-growing demand for ecological food, and that their hometown has large forests, making ecological chicken farming a viable path. During this period, they learned while working for others and mastered some chicken-raising knowledge, preparing to return home to develop their business.

Hujiaba Village in Zhaile Town is only 6 km from the connecting line of the Xiarong and Ruihang expressways, with convenient transportation. The hills are covered with mixed woods, lush trees and dense weeds, very suitable for raising chickens. In 2016, Jiang Hu and his wife returned to their hometown and, after discussing with their family, chose to raise chickens under the woods around their own house. "The front and back of the house are all mixed woods, and the woods block the sun, which suits the chickens' growth; this patch of land is more than 3 mu, and raising several thousand chickens is no problem," Jiang Hu said, pointing to the chicken coop he had built.

In early July last year, Jiang Hu invested more than 10,000 yuan and bought the first batch of more than 1,000 chicks to raise.

During this year's Spring Festival, the chickens Jiang Hu raised began to be sold at surrounding markets as well as in Bijie, Dafang, Nayong county town and other places. Jiang Hu told the author: "In the fresh-aired forest land, the chickens have a large space to move around. Besides eating corn, they can also eat grass, leaves, insects and so on. Chickens raised this way are different from others, taste better, and are very popular with consumers."

This year, Jiang Hu bought an incubator and hatched the chicks himself. "Hatching the chicks myself means I don't have to buy them from elsewhere, and the survival rate is 96 percent," Jiang Hu said. At present, more than 1,000 chicks have been hatched with the incubator and are being raised.

To improve his chicken-raising skills, Jiang Hu also keeps learning breeding techniques through the internet and the "Farmers' Book House."

Speaking of future development, Jiang Hu is full of confidence. He plans to further expand the scale, increase the varieties of chickens, and set up a chicken-raising professional cooperative, which will provide chicks and handle sales on behalf of members, driving the surrounding people to raise chickens and prosper together.