A chicken farming expert paves a path to shared prosperity
"These chickens are intelligent; they know who treats them well and who doesn't. Sometimes when a stranger enters the coop, the lead rooster will crow loudly, as if afraid someone might steal the chickens." Standing beside the coop, Ma Yongzhong of Team 7, Lingbai Village, Jinyintan Town, Litong District, had endless stories to tell.
In Lingbai Village, Ma Yongzhong's chicken farming story is known to every household. From 2001 to now, he has gone from an "outsider" to today's "chicken farming expert," expanding from one coop to three coops. Ma Yongzhong's chicken farming journey has seen failure, hardship, doubt, and rejection. But amid difficulties and skepticism, Ma Yongzhong never lost heart; he firmly believed that whatever others could accomplish, he could accomplish too. It was with this drive that Ma Yongzhong worked his way out of life's hardships through chicken farming.
"Raising chickens is just like taking care of small children; you have to put your heart into worrying about them and care for them attentively. You have to get up in the middle of the night to feed the chickens and add water, and normally you have to pay attention to disinfecting and ventilating the coop. Even I myself spray disinfectant on my body." When talking about chicken farming, Ma Yongzhong spoke with great expertise. He said, we never use chicken feed for our chickens; all the chicken food is made by roasting grains such as soybeans, corn, and wheat in certain proportions. The cost is a bit higher, but the quality of the chickens raised this way is good.
With more than ten years of chicken farming history, Ma Yongzhong achieved success and filled his wallet, and at the same time he also motivated his fellow villagers to join the ranks of chicken farming. When the villagers came to ask for advice, he always imparted his experience to them without reservation and guided them patiently. Whenever a fellow villager came to seek advice, he would smile and say: "Wait a moment, I'll write down the chicken food formula for you right now. Roast the chicken food according to this formula, and I guarantee the chickens raised this way will taste better than those raised on feed, and be healthier too."
A neighbor surnamed Wang in the village joked with Ma Yongzhong, saying, you give everyone the formula, aren't you afraid everyone will take away your livelihood? He smiled and told this neighbor, our village was originally a poor village; if one more person learns breeding techniques, then one more person can escape poverty and become prosperous. Today, the number of chickens raised by farming households in Team 3 of Lingbai Village has already reached more than 12,000, setting off a wave of increasing income and achieving prosperity through chicken farming.
Ma Yongzhong paved the road to success with his hard-earned sweat. Facing success, he said: "Poverty is not frightening; what is frightening is losing the courage to live. A person must have a spirit while alive: start a business through hard work, and only the fruits of labor created through one's own efforts are sweet."