There is a chicken farmer at the foot of Jiufeng Mountain in Hengyang County
He Xingmin looks at his mountain yellow chickens and smiles
The mountain yellow chickens raised by He Xingmin
In December, mist and clouds shroud Jiufeng Mountain in Hengyang County, where green hills and emerald bamboo give off a fresh fragrance, and at the foot of the mountain a flock of mountain yellow chickens drives away the chill of winter without a trace. On the 14th, as soon as the reporter followed He Xingmin into the mountain forest, mountain yellow chickens could be seen one after another on the slopes, in the grass and on the branches, running and flying toward him from all directions. He Xingmin, walking in front, stood firm like a commander on the battlefield, and when he scattered the rice, it drew another golden-yellow mass of chickens gathering around him.
He Xingmin, 48 years old this year, is a villager of Jiufeng Mountain in Xijiang Township, Hengyang County. Due to family financial difficulties, he and his wife worked in Guangdong for a long time, but because he has suffered from multiple illnesses in recent years and cannot do heavy work, this year he returned home alone to recuperate. Thus the whole family could only rely on his wife working in Guangdong to maintain their livelihood, and life was very tight.
After learning of the situation through visits, the Hengyang City poverty alleviation work team, in light of local conditions, guided him to use the rich forest land resources of Jiufeng Mountain to develop an under-forest chicken-raising project, and led him to Junping Special Breeding Farm in Hetian Village of the same township for on-site visits and study. With the help of the work team, He Xingmin first bought 5,000 mountain yellow chick seedlings. He also learned on site from breeders while teaching himself by consulting books related to chicken raising, constantly accumulating experience in raising chickens. Through his efforts, after the first batch of mature mountain yellow chickens sold well in Hengyang, Shaodong and other places in July, He Xingmin saw the joy and hope of a good harvest.
Talking about raising mountain yellow chickens, He Xingmin told us with a chuckle that his chickens are raised freely in the woods of Jiufeng Mountain, freely foraging for natural green grass and insects, usually supplemented with rice bran and other coarse grains. The chicken manure remains in the woods, increasing the fertility of the forest land, while the trees create a suitable growing environment for the chickens. The chickens raised this way have strong immunity and high nutritional value, ensuring the natural quality of the mountain yellow chickens to the greatest extent, truly achieving "pure ecology, pure green," and forming a virtuous cycle ecological system.
The high-quality mountain yellow chickens of Jiufeng Mountain have attracted many customers to come and buy them. At present, there are 8,000 mountain yellow chickens on hand, and each chicken can grow to about 3 jin on average. At a market price of 28 yuan per jin, after deducting expenses, each chicken can yield a net income of 10 yuan, and this year's net income reached 100,000 yuan. Next, He Xingmin also wants to use the recovered funds to expand the breeding scale and take the path of characteristic breeding entrepreneurship by using the rich natural mountain forest resources of Jiufeng Mountain.
"You see, so much of Jiufeng Mountain's forest land was not used before. Next, I want to put all the village's forest land to use. Next year my wife won't need to work away from home either. Staying at home now is much better than working outside!" said He Xingmin, a man of few words, with confidence all over his face.