Specialty breeding in Jimsar County, Xinjiang becomes a new favorite for making money

Raising blue foxes and pigeons, specialty breeding in Jimsar County has become a new favorite for farmers to increase income and get rich. At the blue fox breeding farm in Er'gong Town, Jimsar County, the author saw sturdy, glossy-furred foxes darting back and forth in iron cages. These foxes were carefully bred by Tian Zhihong over three years, and they are also his new favorite for getting rich.

The blue fox is also called the white fox or Arctic blue fox. Its fur is valuable, its meat has relatively high nutritional value, and it also has certain medicinal value. After building the breeding farm in 2013 and purchasing 100 foxes, Tian Zhihong earned 180,000 yuan the following year. This year, Tian Zhihong expanded the breeding scale again and began trying to breed them himself. Based on a net profit of about 500 yuan per blue fox, this year's income is expected to reach 200,000 yuan. Tian Zhihong said: "Our breeding farm introduced breeding foxes from Hebei in 2013. At that time, we introduced more than 100 breeding foxes, and they bred to more than 600. We mainly signed an agreement with fur traders in Hebei. Every year from December to January, the fur traders come over to skin them."

Like him, another farmer in Er'gong Town, Jimsar County, Wang Wenjie, also got rich through specialty breeding. He loves pigeons, raises pigeons, and started a business locally, becoming a "Pigeon King."

At Wang Wenjie's breeding farm, cooing sounds come from rows of pigeon cages. When the cages are opened, snow-white meat pigeons flap their wings and jump up and down. Meat pigeons, ornamental pigeons, peacock pigeons... there are more than 30 varieties and more than 3,000 pigeons in total, from cheap meat pigeons at more than 20 yuan to ornamental pigeons at several hundred yuan, over a thousand yuan, and even the most expensive at 20,000 yuan. This greatly satisfies pigeon lovers.

Villager Wu Haibing, who likes pigeons, said: "I usually like pigeons. He raises them on a relatively large scale. When we have free time, we come over to walk around and take a look at how he raises pigeons. He also has many varieties. If we like any, we catch a few."

Pigeon meat, pigeon eggs, and pigeon droppings are all profitable here. In 2014, Wang Wenjie and other villagers together established a specialty breeding cooperative and actively taught pigeon-raising techniques to villagers. Up to now, he has become the largest specialized pigeon-raising household in Jimsar County, and breeding profits have doubled accordingly.