Raising free-range chickens under the forest in Lujiang opens the door to prosperity

In the photo, Wang Haixia is feeding the free-range chickens under the forest.

Recently, at the Baiyun Mountain Villa ecological chicken breeding base in Macao Village, Tangchi Town, Lujiang County, Anhui Province, flocks of free-range chickens foraged leisurely among the trees. "These 10,000 free-range chickens went on the market during the Spring Festival and brought in very good returns," said Wang Haixia, general manager of the farm, her face full of joy.

"This place was originally a barren mountain with an area of more than 120 mu. It seemed a pity to leave it abandoned, so I signed a 30-year contract at 300 yuan per mu per year. I planted cedars, red maples, osmanthus and others on the barren mountain. As the forest grew denser, I started thinking about what kind of industry I could develop to lead the villagers to prosperity," Wang Haixia explained.

At the end of 2011, Wang Haixia decided to raise chickens under the forest. At the end of 2015, Wang Haixia formed a professional cooperative for raising chickens under the forest. So far, it has supplied the market with 150,000 kg of fresh eggs and 250,000 kg of meat chickens, with cumulative income of 1 million yuan. "This year, we will further expand the breeding scale and encourage more farmers to start businesses independently and increase their incomes and become prosperous," Wang Haixia said.