Free-Range Native Chickens Under the Trees Open the Door to Prosperity for Farmers

With chicken raising under the trees, the chickens can forage for insects, earthworms and other food among the trees, which not only saves feed, improves the flavor of the chicken meat and reduces the occurrence of diseases, but the manure dropped by the chickens can also nourish the woodland soil, achieving a win-win for both the trees and the chicken raising and increasing economic income. Talking about the benefits of raising chickens under the trees, Hao Yuzhen of Jiangsizhangzhuang Village, Dushan Town, Juye County could not help but exclaim: "Native chickens running under the trees peck open the door to prosperity!"

Walking into Hao Yuzhen's under-forest farm, colorful native chickens were happily pecking at food one after another, forming a picture of ecological chicken raising under the trees with crowing chickens and a joyful keeper... "These are all our free-range chickens. They may not be big, but the breed is very good. We don't keep them penned up; they just move freely among the trees like this every day." Seeing the reporter arrive, Hao Yuzhen proudly introduced her little farming world.

"The land has always been planted with poplars, and there was a lot of empty space in between that couldn't be used for crops. I couldn't bear to let the land sit idle, so that's when I thought of raising native chickens and such." Hao Yuzhen told the reporter that because she did not have much education and had no professional skills, she could only earn money through labor. Unwilling to live a hand-to-mouth life, and faced with the resource advantage of her family's existing woodland, she decided to make good use of the under-forest resource advantage and develop free-range native chicken farming under the trees. "The free-range chickens we raise can eat the weeds and insects under the trees, so the weeds and insects in the woodland no longer need to be dealt with manually, and at the same time the chicken manure can fertilize the seedlings, saving expenses on labor and fertilizer."

"I mainly feed them a little corn, wheat bran and soybean meal, and nothing else." Hao Yuzhen told the reporter that she raises native chickens entirely on whole grains and adds no drugs or hormones. The eggs laid by the free-range chickens have bright pink eggshells, thick egg whites and full yolks, so after many villagers tasted them they received rave reviews and could not forget them, and they all suggested that Hao Yuzhen expand the scale of raising free-range chickens under the trees.

"Now I have brought in another 3,000 chicks, and they will arrive at the farm in a few days." Hao Yuzhen said that the purely ecological farming model gives the eggs and chicken meat a good taste and good quality, which not only attracts many repeat customers but also spreads by word of mouth, so that even many out-of-town customers come to buy after hearing about it.

Going out to 'pan for gold' is not as good as 'digging for gold' under the trees. Seeing her under-forest farming flourish, Hao Yuzhen began plotting her little prosperity plan in her mind again. "I plan to raise more than 1,000 geese and bring in some ducks as well, and raise them together free-range, hoping for a good harvest."