Raising Ring-necked Pheasants Lights Up Li Kaifei's Dream

"Only when a person dares to dream can he accomplish something great. If you don't even dare to dream, you are destined to achieve nothing in this life." Yesterday, Li Kaifei, owner of a family farm in Yanji Town, Yongcheng City, said these words while feeding pheasants in the chicken coop.

In 2010, Li Kaifei, who had just graduated from junior high school, did not choose to continue his studies to change his fate, but instead chose to go out to work and build up his wealth. Later, unwilling to remain a migrant worker, he tried his hand at three-dimensional ecological agriculture, but for various reasons it did not succeed. In 2014, just when Li Kaifei had no way to get rich, he suddenly saw CCTV broadcasting "The Road to Wealth." "That episode told the story of a farmer who got rich raising Ring-necked Pheasants," Li Kaifei said. "I was drawn in by that story, and I thought to myself: why can't I raise pheasants too?"

"At that time I went online to look up the living habits of Ring-necked Pheasants and found they were very suitable for raising at home," Li Kaifei said. So Li Kaifei decided to set out again. "In June of that year, I rented three mu of land, bought chicken-raising equipment, and ordered 600 Ring-necked Pheasants from out of town," Li Kaifei said confidently. "And just like that, my business began."

But life is full of uncertainties. Unexpectedly, as soon as these birds arrived home from out of town, they got sick, which worried Li Kaifei terribly. "Forty or fifty birds died all at once," Li Kaifei said. "I had no choice but to go online and ask expert poultry raisers for help, and I learned that the chicks had necrotic enteritis."

Having identified the illness, Li Kaifei made inquiries far and wide to find an effective remedy. But for some reason, the chicks showed no improvement even after taking medicine. "I decided to stop giving them medicine. Since their bodies were weak, I would give them vitamins and glucose to boost their resistance," Li Kaifei said. "Then I expanded the raising area so they could live in a well-ventilated environment."

Unexpectedly, Li Kaifei's method actually worked. Gradually, the chicks grew healthier and healthier, and Li Kaifei saw hope. But the pheasants' improved spirits also brought another problem: they now had the strength to fight. "The chicks fought every day and pecked off all their tail feathers," Li Kaifei said, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. "Pheasants without tails just don't look good, and after that they won't fetch a good price."

To solve this problem, Li Kaifei turned to experienced breeders online for help. "They said I should put glasses on the chicks so they wouldn't fight," Li Kaifei said. "I immediately bought 1,000 pairs of glasses online and put them on."

Putting glasses on chicks is hard work. "They're too 'mischievous,' and putting glasses on them was especially troublesome. It took me 2 days. Who would have thought that just after I got the glasses on, it snowed heavily, and the heavy snow collapsed the netting over the chicken shed, so I had to prop the netting back up overnight. Just like that, I went five days and five nights without closing my eyes," Li Kaifei said. "I was very tired, but very happy."

And so, under Li Kaifei's careful care, the Ring-necked Pheasants grew up. "I posted photos of the chicks online, and many people said my pheasants were beautiful. Many people from out of town came to my home to buy birds," Li Kaifei said. "Now half of my birds have been sold, and I've earned back all the money I invested before."

When Li Kaifei talked about how popular the pheasants were, his face was full of happiness. Speaking of his next steps, Li Kaifei said happily: "Next year I've decided to increase the number of Ring-necked Pheasants I raise, so that more people will know that the Ring-necked Pheasants of our Yongcheng are not only beautiful, but also have green, organic, delicious meat..."