Qin Qibang of Shanji Village, Lemin Town, Pubei County, Guangxi, gets rich by raising chickens
"I can't do without these local mountain chickens every day; if I don't see them for a day, I feel uneasy." Qin Qibang said cheerfully. Feeding them carefully, observing their expressions, mixing their food... taking care of flocks of local mountain chickens at all three meals a day has become one of the great joys of Qin Qibang's life.
In Shanji Village, Lemin Town, Pubei County, Qin Qibang's name has long been known to every household. The honest and warm-hearted Qin Qibang is not only a major professional chicken-raising household in Shanji Village, but also a man who has grown rich in a poor mountain village. Qin Qibang began raising chickens at the age of 20, and now more than 10,000 of his local mountain chickens are sold as far away as Nanning and Guangdong each year, with an annual income of nearly one million yuan.
A chicken farm on the mountaintop
Every day, Qin Qibang rides a motorcycle along the winding, narrow mountain road to deliver chicken feed to the mountaintop. On the mountaintop, which is fully 500 mu in size, all kinds of trees grow lush and green, and under a dense canopy of shade, Qin Qibang's chicken farm is located. "This ridge has more than 5,000 chickens, and another spot has several thousand too. These are the second batch of local mountain chickens, raised for more than 80 days now. This is exactly when the chickens are growing, so I have to feed them well. Every day enough food must be placed in the troughs so the chickens don't go hungry." Qin Qibang said with a chuckle as he scattered chicken feed into the troughs.
Every day, Qin Qibang feeds the chickens three times. The chicken feed is made by mixing corn, peanut meal and so on. Qin Qibang told the reporter that the corn is sterilized at high temperature, and he has done this for 20 years. Facts have also proved that after chickens eat sterilized corn, disease is indeed greatly reduced. Having accumulated 20 years of chicken-raising experience, Qin Qibang knows chickens like the back of his hand. Now, based on the smell and color of the chicken droppings, Qin Qibang can tell the health condition of the local mountain chickens.
Heat lamps regulate the temperature
In Qin Qibang's chicken shed, the reporter saw incandescent bulbs hanging one after another. When the reporter asked about the purpose of the incandescent bulbs, Qin Qibang explained: "These are for keeping the chickens warm at night. The bulbs have different wattages, and the purpose is to regulate the temperature in the chicken shed. Especially during the chick stage, the indoor temperature is particularly important. In the first month, the brightness of the bulbs must be used every night to reasonably adjust the indoor temperature, urging the chicks to grow quickly and healthily. This is the hardest and most critical month in raising local mountain chickens, affecting the growth quality and even the survival rate of this batch of chickens."
As night falls, Qin Qibang pressed the light switch. Once the light came on, the chickens all over the mountain returned to the shed one after another. "This light stays on all night so the local mountain chickens can wake up and peck for food." Qin Qibang told the reporter.
Qin Qibang explained that the drinking water for the local mountain chickens is mountain spring water rich in minerals. In the pure natural mountain spring water, disinfectant, vitamins, glucose and so on are properly added to form the drinking water for the local mountain chickens. The blended water can increase the nutrition of the local mountain chickens, ensure they grow quickly on schedule and are sold on schedule, and also make the local mountain chickens different from other kinds of farmed chickens. Chicken droppings are also a treasure. "After four months of feeding, we carefully select the local mountain chickens. The disabled and weak ones are thrown into the pond at the foot of the mountain to feed the fish. The tilapia in the pond grow rapidly and vigorously because they eat meat, each weighing almost 5 or 6 kg or more, so selling the fish alone also brings a considerable income." Qin Qibang said. As for the remaining chicken droppings, Qin Qibang sells them to fruit growers in Lingshan, Hengxian and other places for 3 jiao per jin, to be used as farmyard manure.
The local mountain chickens can be sold after being fed for about 140 days. Qin Qibang said, "On average, each chicken can reach more than 2.5 kg, and each kilogram sells for 26 yuan. For those supplied specially to big customers, about 3,000 to 5,000 can be sold per batch." At present, the local mountain chickens raised by Qin Qibang have been sold as far away as Maoming and Dongguan in Guangdong, and Beiliu and Rongxian in Yulin. And over these 20 years, the gratifying income has also made Qin Qibang's wallet bulge. He not only built a two-story "villa-style" building at home with interior and exterior decoration, but also owns a valuable off-road car. Now, when he is mentioned, the villagers of Shanji Village all give a thumbs-up. "One flower blooming alone is not spring; only when a hundred flowers bloom together is the garden full of spring." In ordinary times, Qin Qibang also actively teaches raising techniques to the villagers. He says he wants to motivate more villagers to join the local mountain chicken raising industry, so that the villagers of Shanji Village all become rich, and so that the local mountain chickens of Shanji Village fly to even more distant places.