Couple Gets Rich Raising Pigeons, Annual Profit Reaches One Million Yuan
Sun Liguo and his wife, of Zhujiazhai Village in Jiaodong Subdistrict, Jiaozhou, discovered the business opportunity of pigeon farming by chance. As their breeding scale expanded, more than 100,000 pigeons are sold to the island city market every year. Because the pigeons they raise are in short supply, their annual profit has reached one million yuan. Now, having grown wealthy, Sun Liguo has even bigger ideas: besides expanding the scale and increasing the number of egg-laying pigeons, he also plans to carry out deep processing of the pigeons. For villagers who love raising pigeons, he is willing to teach pigeon farming techniques free of charge, helping more people get rich.
The Couple Switches Careers to Raise Pigeons
At the Guoxia Pigeon Farm in Zhujiazhai Village, the reporter saw white pigeons leisurely eating feed in their cages. According to Sun Liguo, he had previously worked in many industries: he drove a semi-trailer, drove a harvester, ran a restaurant, and before raising pigeons he also sold chili peppers.
In early 2001, he went to Weihai to buy chili peppers and happened to see a large-scale pigeon farming enterprise, which immediately sparked the idea of raising pigeons. At first his parents thought the risk was too great and did not support his idea, but his wife supported him very much, so, thinking he would give it a try, he bought 600 pairs of "American White King" and "Tyson" breeding stock. Due to a lack of farming experience, quite a few of the pigeons he raised got sick. Fortunately, he consulted experts in time, and when he did the accounts at the end of the year, the number of pigeons had increased considerably and he had even made a small profit, which greatly boosted his confidence in raising pigeons.
100,000 Squabs Marketed a Year
"There is a lot of knowledge in raising pigeons. At first I did not understand it; I figured it all out step by step," Sun Liguo told the reporter. Pigeons are fed raw grain; you just mix wheat, corn, sorghum and peas in a certain ratio, with no processing needed, and add minerals such as medium sand, shell powder, bone meal, fish meal and red soil, so that the breeding pigeons lay more healthy eggs and the squabs grow quickly. He also installed automatic drinkers and fully automatic feeders, which saved manpower, reduced feed waste and lowered the cost of feeding the pigeons. Now at least 10,000 squabs are marketed every month. Because pigeons are not suited to long-distance transport, the pigeons he raises are mainly sold to the island city market and to nearby Gaomi, Zhucheng and other places, and over a year he can market at least more than 100,000.
"Feed is cheaper this year than in previous years, so the profit on the pigeons has naturally increased quite a bit; the profit is about 7 yuan per pigeon," Sun Liguo said. The breed he raises is the "American White King." Because of its high reproduction rate and the good skin and meat color after slaughtering and plucking, it is very popular with customers. There are also many farmers who buy breeding pigeons from him every year, at about 120 yuan per pair, and the annual profit is nearly one million yuan.
"Next I plan to expand the scale further, carry out deep processing of the pigeons, and sell them nationwide through the internet." Speaking of his future farming plans, Sun Liguo said confidently that he would strive to develop the pigeon farm into the largest pigeon farming base and breeding stock base in Shandong Province within three to five years. He has now set up a pigeon farming professional cooperative, and he is willing to teach farming techniques free of charge so that more people can get on the road to wealth.