Farmer diligently learns breeding technology and finds the road to prosperity

When people in Jinlong Township, Zhijin County talk about "breeding," locals will without hesitation bring up the name "Tian Xianda."

Meeting Tian Xianda for the first time, his honest smile is full of confidence and joy, and his slightly dark complexion reveals a sense of perseverance.

An "outsider" opens the "door to prosperity"

Tian Xianda, who lived in a mountain hollow since childhood, left home at 14 to drift from place to place for a living, digging coal, pouring concrete, buying and selling vegetables...

In 2008, Tian Xianda brought his wife and children to Qujing City to make a living.

"Scrap copper and iron, come buy! Scrap copper and iron, come buy." He bought a second-hand tricycle, fitted it with a loudspeaker, and rode through the city's back streets and alleys, calling out at the top of his lungs. After some bargaining, he loaded up the scrap he had bought, then pedaled the tricycle on again, his figure along with the crisp calls fading into the depths of the alley.

"Although this work is dirty, bitter, tiring, and looked down upon by others, after a few months, besides daily expenses, I could still save a little money. The family lived well, and the children's schooling was not a worry."

Opportunity often arrives quietly in the ordinary. Once, when Tian Xianda was buying scrap iron at Qujing Limin Rex Rabbit Development Co., Ltd., the people at the factory learned he was from Guizhou and told him that Guizhou's mild climate, abundant grass, and conditions were very suitable for raising rex rabbits, and they all encouraged him to take a few back and try breeding them.

The speaker meant nothing by it, but the listener took it to heart. Whenever he had free time, he would go to the company and chat with the employees. After learning that raising rex rabbits was very profitable, he made up his mind: when he went home for the Spring Festival, he would buy a few and raise them.

During the 2009 Spring Festival, while others brought home New Year goods, he brought home 20 rex rabbits bought for 4,000 yuan; while others were busy visiting relatives and friends and playing around during the holiday, he was busy raising rex rabbits, spending all day "inseparable" from them.

Under his careful care, the rex rabbits grew day by day. Half a year later, the rabbit kits born to the breeding rabbits had reached more than 190. After keeping the breeding rabbits, he sold the others for nearly 20,000 yuan.

"Never in my dreams did I think I could earn so much money and take this breeding path!" He still fondly remembers that joy, his heart blooming with happiness.

A "local expert" diligently practices the "breeding scripture"

The success of raising rex rabbits was inseparable from Tian Xianda's diligence and hard work.

At first, he cared for the rex rabbits with all his heart, though he was hardly skilled. As someone with little education, he was completely ignorant about rex rabbit breeding, "like using a rolling pin to blow a fire, completely clueless." After two months, some of the 20 rex rabbits had not only failed to grow but had actually become thinner, and a few would not even eat, as if they were sick.

Helpless, watching these "lifelines," he was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan. He visited relatives and asked friends, sought doctors and medicine, and tried many methods, all to no avail.

With no other option, Tian Xianda went to the breeding farm that had given him the desire to start a business, carefully consulting, understanding, and learning rex rabbit breeding techniques from the technicians. He could not take notes, so he relied only on memory. Seeing how focused he was, the technician said with a smile, "No need to memorize it. Do you have distance education where you are? It's all there." Hearing this, he was confused again: "What is distance education? I've never even heard of it."

After returning, Tian Xianda earnestly applied what he had learned and heard to raising rex rabbits, with good results. In order to learn more about the rex rabbits' living habits, breeding techniques, feed formulation techniques, prevention and treatment of common diseases, and pen hygiene, he hurried to ask the village party secretary whether the village had distance education. Hearing this, the secretary laughed heartily: "We've had it for a long time!" Overjoyed, he told the secretary his idea of learning rex rabbit breeding techniques through the distance education platform, and the secretary happily said he would provide services at any time.

In the days that followed, whenever he encountered breeding problems, Tian Xianda would run to the distance education site to look up solutions online.

Hard work pays off. Through repeated learning and continuous practice, he mastered a great deal of technology and became a "local expert" in rex rabbit breeding.

A "person with heart" leads the people onto the road to prosperity

"In fact, this breeding industry places great emphasis on technology. There is no room for the slightest carelessness. Only people with heart can do it better." Tian Xianda hit the nail on the head.

As he raised more and more rex rabbits, he needed a large amount of grass feed every day. One noon in the summer of 2013, he put the grass feed into the trough and watched the rabbits eating with relish, feeling very pleased. Humming a tune while cleaning rabbit droppings, he casually reached out and pinched a completely dried clump of rabbit droppings. After crushing it, he found there was still a lot of grass inside. He found it very strange: it could not be that the rabbit's digestion was poor, could it? These past days he had not seen any problem with any rabbit!

After ruling out all sorts of concerns, he carefully placed the collected rabbit droppings in the corner and bought a fermentation agent to spray over them.

Before long, a miracle appeared: the fermented rabbit droppings actually gave off waves of grassy fragrance. A thought struck him: why not take these rabbit droppings and feed them to the family's New Year pig, and see whether it would eat them. If you do not try, you do not know; once he tried, he was startled: that young pig of more than 100 jin actually ate them with great relish.

From then on, the pigs ate rabbit droppings. Overjoyed, he built several more pig pens, bought more than 10 piglets, and specially fed them with rabbit droppings. A year later, all the pigs he raised were ready for market, and the meat quality was even better than that of pigs fed with feed.

"Now I am trying to use pig manure to raise earthworms!" He pointed to a dark, damp piece of land beside the breeding farm and said, "I am raising them right here. After that succeeds, I will use the earthworms to feed Muscovy ducks." His gaze moved to a large low-lying piece of land meant for building a pond.

At present, the pens Tian Xianda has built have reached more than 2,200 sq m, with a breeding area, processing area, and disinfection room all complete. He now raises 7,000 rex rabbits, with an annual market output of 35,000, and an output value of up to 3.5 million yuan, providing employment for 16 laborers in the village.

"I provide breeding rabbits to the masses for raising under the 'base + farmers' model. Now the number of people participating as shareholders has reached 73 households, including 51 poor households. As the breeding scale expands, the dividends they receive from their shares grow year after year. Seeing their lives getting better day by day as they follow me in breeding, I feel very comforted." A happy smile hangs on his face.