Post-90s "Chicken Commander" Leads Villagers to Rapid Prosperity
Yuan Jun, 24 years old this year, is a native of Baocheng Village, Baiyun Town, Zitong. He once worked as a chef in Mianyang and Chengdu. In 2015, Yuan Jun returned to his hometown to start a business and opened "Junmei Family Farm", specializing in raising free-range chickens. This year, he expanded the family farm into "Junlin Free-Range Chicken Professional Cooperative", which has already developed more than 60 member households and is expected to market 70,000 free-range chickens annually, making him a veritable "Free-Range Chicken Commander".
Recently, when the reporter met Yuan Jun in Baocheng Village, Baiyun Town, he was busy in the brooding room putting firewood into a stove converted from an old oil drum. A chimney was attached to the stove, and there was not a trace of smoke in the room. This was his traditional method of raising the temperature for newly hatched chicks. In the brooding room, several hundred chicks were drinking water and eating feed; others huddled together playing and running about, looking very cute.
Every day around 10 a.m., Yuan Jun carries a full bucket of corn to the commercial chicken coop. Instantly, guinea fowl, Jiujinhuang chickens, and partridge chickens come flying out from the woods, the grass, and the mountain hollows, gathering toward their "base" and scrambling to peck at the corn kernels on the ground. Yuan Jun told the reporter that guinea fowl have a good market, reaching 70 yuan each. In addition, this year the cooperative also introduced partridge chickens and green-shell laying hens.
This year is Yuan Jun's second year of returning home to start a business. He found that his income had increased considerably, but relying solely on individual farming meant small scale and weak strength, and he was still a "commander without troops". In January this year, with the help of the Baiyun Town government and relevant departments, Yuan Jun took the lead and joined forces with 60 farming households, 10 of which were impoverished households, to register and establish the "Junlin Free-Range Chicken Professional Cooperative". So, in addition to raising his own chickens well, Yuan Jun often goes from village to village and household to household, distributing medicines free of charge, guiding impoverished households in chicken-raising techniques, and sharing his chicken-raising experience.
Afterward, the reporter followed Yuan Jun to the home of impoverished household Yuan Dengquan to check on the growth of the free-range chickens and guide him on disease prevention techniques. A year ago, Yuan Dengquan, who was already not well off, borrowed money from many sources because of a car accident involving his son, and the whole family fell into difficulty. At the beginning of this year, Yuan Jun took the initiative to approach him and brought his family into the cooperative. In addition to providing chicken-raising techniques, he also guaranteed market sales, thereby helping his family increase income and prosper through chicken farming.
After looking things over on site, Yuan Jun said: "Uncle Yuan, give the chickens some cold medicine. If the weather is damp, put down some bedding material. The medicine I brought you today can all be added to the water for them to drink." Seeing Yuan Jun come to his door on a rainy day to teach techniques hand by hand, Yuan Dengquan seemed to see the hope of getting rich by raising chickens. His face full of gratitude, he said repeatedly: "Good, good, that will do."
Long years of working life forged Yuan Jun's tough, hardworking character. Using the money he saved from several years of working and raising chickens, he developed the chicken-raising industry. Yuan Jun did not dare be the least bit careless, getting up "at the sound of the chickens" every day and acting as a "Chicken Commander".
"This year is the Year of the Rooster, and also my zodiac year. This year the cooperative's chicken-raising scale will reach 70,000, and the expected income will also be around 700,000 yuan. The villagers will get rich together with me." Facing the prospects ahead, Yuan Jun said he has expectations and even more confidence.