Post-90s college graduate gets rich raising chickens, with ever-broadening prospects
"Mom, look, there's an egg here, and another one over there..."
On May 15, the reporter saw at the "Xiashan" free-range chicken farm in Houxiajingzi Village, Liutiangezhuang Town, Lulong County, that tourists were picking eggs and feeding chicks, enjoying the joy of being close to nature. This kept the owner Sun Yu and his wife Wang Xueyu very busy. These two post-90s college graduates ran around attending to guests, packaging eggs, and preparing food... "I've been exhausted lately, but seeing the guests having fun and approving of our farming methods and products fills me with motivation," Sun Yu said happily.
"Now that living standards have improved, people not only want to eat enough, but also want to eat well. Truly good free-range eggs can sell for more than 10 yuan per jin on the market, and still demand exceeds supply. The market prospects are very good. At the time, my wife was pregnant, and we didn't want to keep working for others, so we decided to go home and start a business raising free-range chickens," Sun Yu explained their plan at the time.
With their family's support, they invested more than 100,000 yuan, contracted 200 mu of mountain land in the village, built a chicken coop with an area of 150 sq m, and purchased 2,000 chicks, releasing them to range freely in the mountains. The chicks ate natural insects, grass, and pine nuts on the mountain, drank mountain spring water, roamed all over the mountain, grew up happily, and were lively and robust. Gradually, some chickens began to lay eggs, and the quality of the eggs was delightful.
"Compared with ordinary farm eggs, the eggs from my home have a deeper yolk color and a stronger three-dimensional appearance, and the egg white is clearer and more viscous. The yolk can be picked up with chopsticks, and when the egg white and yolk are held on the palm of your hand, they won't spread out." Sun Yu held an opened egg in his hand, looking very satisfied. This is because free-range chickens are physically robust and their food is purely natural, so the eggs they produce are more nutritious, and most importantly, green and natural, containing no artificial additives.
The egg quality was beyond doubt, but sales became a problem. Because they had just started and lacked brand recognition, the eggs did not sell well. Sun Yu adopted a WeChat "Moments" promotional approach and also visited many supermarkets and small shops. What really couldn't be sold could only be wholesaled to merchants at the price of ordinary eggs.
Later, the young couple thought of a "secret weapon." Since selling outward was so laborious, why not invite customers in? Developing rural tourism and letting visitors experience the fun of picking eggs, wasn't that also quite novel? So Sun Yu and his wife Wang Xueyu tried contacting "traveler groups" and inviting them to visit the mountains. In mid-November last year, the first group of tourists from Shanhaiguan visited the "Xiashan" free-range chicken farm and were immediately attracted by the chicks running all over the mountain and the eggs seen everywhere, taking away 100 kg of eggs. Most importantly, the new tourism style of enjoying the mountains and waters while picking eggs spread by word of mouth, bringing a steady stream of customers to Sun Yu's farm.
"Now quite a few tourists come every weekend to experience the joy of rural tourism, and our egg sales channel has finally opened up. Next, we plan to continue expanding the farming scale, adding another 1,000 roosters and 1,000 Beijing You chickens. In addition, we want to join with nearby farmers to develop more purely natural local specialty products, improve the tourism chain, and lead our fellow villagers to get rich together," Sun Yu said confidently.