The road to wealth through pigeon breeding: Wang Wenjie leads villagers to ever broader prospects

Wang Wenjie's valuable peacock pigeons.

Wang Wenjie carefully tending to a white pigeon.

Loving pigeons and raising pigeons, he started a business right where he was and became the "Pigeon King." Relying on his love of pigeons and his mastery of breeding techniques, Wang Wenjie founded a professional cooperative. Now, at 38, he has become the largest professional pigeon breeder in Jimsar County.

Wang Wenjie is an ordinary farmer from Bahu Village, Er'gong Town, Jimsar County. After farming, working as a mason, and doing odd jobs in the city, Wang Wenjie set out on the path of professional pigeon breeding in 2009.

On November 20, the reporter walked into Wang Wenjie's breeding farm. Cooing sounds came from row after row of pigeon houses. When the cages were opened, snow-white meat pigeons flapped their wings and darted up and down. Meat pigeons, ornamental pigeons, peacock pigeons... there are as many as 30-plus breeds and more than 3,000 pigeons, from cheap meat pigeons selling for just over 20 yuan each to ornamental pigeons selling for several hundred yuan, a thousand yuan, or even 20,000 yuan each. Here, pigeon meat, pigeon eggs and pigeon droppings are all profitable assets.

The reporter saw Wu Haibing, a villager from Bahu Village, Er'gong Town, Jimsar County, picking out a pigeon he liked. He said: "I've always liked pigeons. Wang Wenjie's breeding operation is fairly large, so whenever I have time I come by to look around and learn how he raises pigeons. In the future I plan to raise some myself."

Over the past 6 years, Wang Wenjie has continued to expand his scale. In 2014, Wang Wenjie and other villagers jointly founded the Hongyuan Specialty Breeding Cooperative and actively taught pigeon-breeding techniques to villagers, and the breeding profits doubled accordingly. After founding the cooperative, he also traveled 3 times to Shandong, Anhui and other places to learn breeding techniques and continuously introduce new breeds. At the same time, Wang Wenjie also opened a store in the market selling pigeons, specializing in the external sale of various breeds of pigeons to meet the needs of county residents.

During the interview, Wang Wenjie kept communicating with customers via WeChat. He said that this year several big orders were made through WeChat, and the power of WeChat cannot be ignored. At present, Wang Wenjie has 6 WeChat groups just for pigeon breeding, and every day he sends pictures and exchanges breeding experience with group members all over the country.

During the interview, the reporter happened to meet Mr. Ma, who had made a special trip from Ili to select pigeons. He got to know Wang Wenjie through WeChat. That day, Mr. Ma purchased nearly 6,000 yuan worth of ornamental pigeons.

Wang Wenjie said that the pigeon market is now in short supply, and no matter how many he raises he can sell them all. This year, net profit is expected to reach 300,000 yuan. He wants to pass on his pigeon-breeding techniques to more villagers and make this village a village specializing in pigeon breeding, so as to attract more customers.