Blue Peafowl Farming Paves a New Road to Prosperity
The peafowl, with its gorgeous appearance and long-standing reputation for beauty, has now also become a great helper for people to build wealth. In Liuweizi Village, Dushan Town, Juye County, Liu Yicheng's blue peafowl breeding base has now begun to take shape, with more than 300 blue peafowl roaming there, each priced at more than 2000 yuan.
A few days ago, the reporter walked into this blue peafowl breeding base and saw the blue peafowl, some strolling leisurely and some bowing their heads to peck at food. Aren't peafowl a nationally protected animal? How can they be bred artificially? Base manager Liu Yicheng told the reporter that peafowl are divided into green and blue; the green peafowl is a national first-class protected animal and hunting it is strictly prohibited. The blue peafowl, however, is a rare semi-herbivorous non-protected animal that can be bred artificially.
Liu Yicheng explained that blue peafowl farming has just begun across the country, and not many people in our city raise them either, so the market prospects are good, which is why he invested in this line of work. "When my son was working in Shanghai, he saw someone raising blue peafowl and found it very unusual. Later, on TV, he saw that blue peafowl farming had broad prospects, so we introduced breeding stock and started raising them."
Of course, the road of peafowl farming has not been smooth sailing, and Liu Yicheng put in considerable effort. "By day I watch the peafowl eat, and at night I sleep alongside the peafowl. You could say we are together day and night." Liu Yicheng said that by consulting relevant materials and accumulating breeding experience, the blue peafowl have grown well, and the breeding base has gradually gotten on track.
"Peafowl like sunlight, but they are timid and afraid of loud noises, so they need a quiet growing environment." Liu Yicheng told the reporter that a large blue peafowl can lay about 50 eggs a year, and the survival rate of hatching them into young peafowl is about 70%. "At present, young birds on the market reach more than 200 yuan each, and hatching them yourself can reduce costs considerably."
"Now the farming task is very easy. With more than 300 peafowl, they mainly eat some chicken feed every day, occasionally paired with some green vegetables and Chinese cabbage, and only two people are enough to 'wait on' them." Liu Yicheng said that raising blue peafowl not only requires little manpower, but the feeding cost is also not high. Because peafowl have a rather mixed diet and are not picky eaters, the feeding cost for one peafowl is only three or four jiao per day.
"They are mainly ordered by tourist attractions, and some nearby villagers also buy them because they like them and take them home for viewing." Liu Yicheng explained that a blue peafowl generally weighs 10 to 12 jin when grown, with an average selling price of more than 2000 yuan each. It is reported that the price of one blue peafowl breeding stock is about 240 yuan, and generally it can grow to be sold in 1 year.
"There are many buyers who come to the base to discuss purchasing matters, but in order to expand the farming scale, I am not planning to sell this batch of blue peafowl. I plan to hatch more blue peafowl breeding stock next year. By then, nearby villagers who are interested can buy breeding stock and raise them at home." Liu Yicheng said enthusiastically that he has already established a blue peafowl farming professional cooperative, hoping to make the business of raising blue peafowl bigger and stronger and to drive neighboring villagers to become prosperous together.