Raising Chickens to Escape Poverty: Wang Xiaoqiong, a Country Girl from Yilong, Builds Success from Nothing
No people are seen in the mountains, but the crowing of chickens can be heard. At the free-range chicken farm of Wang Xiaoqiong, a registered impoverished household in Zhaojiawan Village, Chaijing Township, Yilong County, flocks of free-range chickens sing loudly in the mountains, forming a unique sight in the village. Recently, a reporter came to Wang Xiaoqiong's free-range chicken farm and explored her "road to wealth."
Approaching Wang Xiaoqiong's home, one could see more than a dozen slaughtered chickens laid flat on wooden boards, and the farmer Wang Xiaoqiong was sorting the freshly slaughtered free-range chickens. Wang Xiaoqiong told the reporter that the chickens she raises are not only sold through connections arranged by the cooperative, but are also sold online, and can also be ordered for on-site slaughter or reserved by phone. When there are orders for chickens for banquets, she has to get up at around five in the morning to slaughter the chickens and then deliver them to the designated location.
Wang Xiaoqiong, 28 years old, is the eldest daughter in her family. Because her elderly parents are seriously ill and her only younger sister has congenital intellectual disability, she, who married young, had to return to her parents' home to care for her parents and sister, while also having to raise three young children herself. The heavy burden of the family fell entirely on this 28-year-old young woman. She said she developed the breeding business to give her family a better life.
A newborn calf is not afraid of a tiger. In February this year, Wang Xiaoqiong quit her job selling clothes in the county town and returned to her hometown. With the village's coordination, she contracted the village's mountain forest and began to engage in breeding. Wang Xiaoqiong said that working for just one or two thousand yuan was simply not enough to support this family. I came back and went to the village, and the village was very supportive. At present, my breeding area is 180 mu and I raise more than seven thousand chickens. If I fail, I will treat it as learning experience. Not only the village, but the township and the cooperative have also helped me a great deal.
He Xiangbin, the person in charge of the chicken-raising cooperative, still remembers clearly the time Wang Xiaoqiong came to him to discuss cooperation. Wang Xiaoqiong wanted to join Huicheng Company to raise chickens and came to me time and again. I thought that as a young girl she did not have the conditions to raise chickens. The village also came to tell me about her family's current difficult situation, and in the end I still agreed to let her join the Huicheng chicken-raising cooperative. We also gave her some help with chicks and the building of chicken sheds. After observing her for more than two hundred days, I feel that I did not misjudge her back then.
After setting her sights on the chicken-raising industry, she acted at once. Wang Xiaoqiong borrowed 100,000 yuan from relatives and friends to build chicken houses and buy chicks. In addition to raising local free-range chickens, she mainly raises a high-quality breed called the Princess chicken. Besides teaching herself to judge chicken illnesses, she also invited cooperative experts to pass on techniques. Now, through constant exploration, she has accumulated a great deal of chicken-raising experience. Wang Xiaoqiong said that when the chicks were first bought back, she would not let them outside, and every night she drove them all into the chicken shed. Now that they are bigger, they cannot be driven into the shed, and some even rest in the trees. Sometimes she has to get up at one or two in the morning to listen and see whether there is any wheezing or illness. It cannot be heard during the day; it can only be heard in the dead of night.
Wang Xiaoqiong's farm is built on a hillside, and all the chickens move freely in the mountain forest. Whenever Wang Xiaoqiong carries corn on her back to feed the chickens, flocks of chickens gather around her, a truly spectacular scene. According to Wang Xiaoqiong, when she feeds the chickens, she also plays music for them. When the chickens are in a good mood, they even eat with rhythm. Now she not only lets the chickens listen, but also plays it for the pigs and cattle. If the chickens do not listen, they will feel uneasy, and she also has to play them light music. If the rhythm is too fast, they cannot stand it, and eating is not so comfortable. Now the chickens are used to listening to music while eating. As soon as the music is played, the chickens will naturally come to one place. If she feeds the chickens here today and changes to another place a few days later, the chickens will naturally change location according to the music.
It is understood that, in addition to playing music for the chickens, in order for consumers to eat chicken meat they can trust, Wang Xiaoqiong also raises them according to organic, green and pollution-free standards. She also specially planted black ink grass and maggots for the chickens to eat, increasing the chickens' protein and making the chicken meat taste better. In addition, Wang Xiaoqiong also uses common rural pig feed to feed the chickens, gives them Northeast corn, and usually also feeds them winter melon, pumpkin, maggots and so on. The maggots are cultivated with bean dregs, rice straw and the like. Not only that, the chickens released on the mountain can also find natural insects and drink natural mountain spring water.
After more than half a year of effort, all the chickens at Wang Xiaoqiong's farm had been sold. On the morning of November 18, with the connection of the Huicheng chicken-raising cooperative, Yirenyitian brought platform partner enterprises to Wang Xiaoqiong's home, and in just 3 hours, her live pigs, 3,000 free-range chickens and more were all sold out.
He Xiangbin, the person in charge of the chicken-raising cooperative, told the reporter that our Princess chickens and green-shell laying hens are exposed to sun and rain, and no matter what the weather is like, they will not be shut into sheds. They all grow up in this kind of environment, so the meat quality and taste are very good and are deeply favored by consumers.
The person in charge of the Yirenyitian sales platform said that as long as the agricultural products produced by Wang Xiaoqiong meet the standards, they can be sold directly on the platform. Now that the sales channels are smooth, Wang Xiaoqiong is even more determined in her entrepreneurial direction and plans to contract the entire mountain to expand the breeding scale again. In the days to come, it is believed that with her own hardworking hands, Wang Xiaoqiong will carve out a road to wealth of her own and make life even better.