Returning home with an entrepreneurial dream to raise Silkie chickens
The more than 2,000 Silkie chickens are a meat poultry breed that Ye Honglian specifically introduced from Guangdong after spotting a gap in the Ji'an market. This is her entrepreneurial dream, carrying her "three hopes." Ye Honglian is a self-reliant and independent girl. Having left home in her teens and spent many years making a living in coastal cities, Ye Honglian, who does not have a high level of education, worked as a knitting factory worker on an assembly line and as an odd-job clerk... Although she endured many hardships, the unyielding Ye Honglian knew how to keep improving herself. She used her spare time to learn computers and attended secretarial training, single-mindedly determined to put down roots in a big city through her own efforts.
"Life in the big city is good, but I still constantly miss my hometown and miss my parents at home." As her homesickness grew stronger, especially after seeing the encouraging development and changes in her hometown, in 2011 Ye Honglian returned home with an "entrepreneurial dream." Seeing that some friends in her hometown raised cattle, some raised pigs, and some grew Jinggang honey pomelos, each having developed their own business, Ye Honglian also began to think about it.
Baishui Town is nestled against the mountains and beside the water, with a beautiful ecology, and especially in recent years it has become famous because of Jinggang honey pomelos. Taking a fancy to her hometown's unique advantages, after many rounds of investigation Ye Honglian took out her savings from many years and introduced from Guangdong the Silkie chicken, known as the "king of anti-cancer foods," starting her journey of returning home to start a business at the Mountain Land Farmer Ecological Park beside Yuanbei Reservoir.
Not understanding breeding technology, she traveled thousands of miles to Zhejiang to learn from experience; lacking management experience, she "shamelessly" went to nearby breeding bases to learn and asked breeding "veterans," learning bit by bit and exploring step by step. Other people's chickens are raised confined in sheds to put on meat, but her chickens "slim down" all over the mountains and fields; other people feed their chickens feed, but her chickens eat corn and insects... She hopes everyone can eat "safe chickens" and "safe eggs." For this "first hope," Ye Honglian would rather pay higher breeding costs and always insists on playing the green, ecological card.
Through hard work all along the way, Ye Honglian has long since gone from knowing nothing to becoming half a "chicken master." "Silkie chicken meat is tender and nutritious, rich in 17 amino acids and more than 10 trace elements. Its selenium and zinc content is 3 to 5 times that of ordinary poultry, and it has the reputation of 'nourishing better than soft-shelled turtle, healing wounds better than white pigeon, and beautifying like pearl'..." When chatting about Silkie chickens, Ye Honglian can always talk about them in thorough detail. Because Silkie chickens are a new breed in Ji'an and breeding has just started, the market and returns are not yet stable, but Ye Honglian firmly believes that as long as she sticks to ecological breeding methods, her Silkie chickens will certainly be welcomed by the market.
"I hope not only to provide everyone with 'safe chickens' and 'safe eggs,' but also to provide more and richer safe agricultural products, so that more people can enjoy nature's gifts..." Ye Honglian's "second hope" is actually her next development plan - with Silkie chickens as the feature, to set up an original-ecology agricultural product experience center, "open free of charge every weekend, so everyone can taste the most authentic, original-ecology, green and healthy delicious food..."
A dozen plans are not as good as one action. At present, Ye Honglian has already dug a pond in the ecological park, planning to raise ducks on the water and fish under the water, raise chickens and sheep on the mountain, and plant purple potatoes, purple yams, and honeysuckle in the soil. As it happens, the honeysuckle she planted has already been harvested this year. Smelling the fragrance of the honeysuckle flowers, Ye Honglian revealed her "third hope" - "Once I make a name for myself, I will lead the elders and fellow villagers of my hometown to work together and prosper together toward a moderately prosperous life!" In her firm words, her smile blooms beautifully, like a flower.