Pig farming set Yin Shuqing on the road to prosperity
Yin Shuqing, a retired employee of the Fuel Supply Office of the Jiwen Forestry Bureau, began raising pigs after retiring in 2004. Today she owns the largest pig farm in the area, with an annual income of more than 300,000 yuan.
When she first retired, Yin Shuqing sat at home with little to do. One day, while talking with friends about the rising price of pork, she took the remark to heart, and the idea of raising pigs took hold of her. So she investigated pork prices in the Jiwen area and questioned pig farmers she knew in detail, and concluded that pig farming was a feasible path to prosperity. But she had no capital and no technical know-how, and her own house and yard were too small to build a pigpen. She told the office leaders about her idea and her concerns, and a few days later the work unit leaders helped her find a site, arranged an interest-free loan for her through the forestry bureau's trade union, and brought her books on livestock breeding.
Yin Shuqing borrowed tens of thousands of yuan from relatives and friends and bought several dozen piglets. Looking at the plump little pigs one after another, Yin Shuqing was even more motivated. Every day she and her husband stayed in the pig shed, adding water and feed for the piglets and cleaning out the manure; sometimes they were so busy they did not even have time to eat. Especially when the sows were giving birth, she did not dare let her guard down at all, and she and her husband kept watch in the pig shed day and night. Every time a sow gave birth, she lost several jin of weight, but seeing the big pigs and little pigs safe and sound, Yin Shuqing did not feel tired at all.
As market demand grew day by day, Yin Shuqing expanded the scale of her pig farming and installed facilities in the pig shed such as automatic drinking water, feed troughs and gestation crates. She also installed cameras in the pigpen so she could monitor the sows' condition from home, and personally made electric heating panels, used especially when the sows were giving birth, ensuring the piglets' survival rate.
In order to master more pig-farming skills, she subscribed to a large number of science and technology books and mastered a complete set of advanced pig-farming techniques, enabling her to breed her own improved stock, mix her own feed, and prevent and treat diseases herself. After becoming prosperous, Yin Shuqing did not forget workers in difficulty and actively led poor workers to prosperity and a decent life. Today, Yin Shuqing's farm has 5 standardized pig sheds with a total area of more than 600 sq m, producing more than 400 head for market each year.