The 2013 native chicken market may not be good; chicken farmers need to be cautious about following the trend

During the Spring Festival, native chicken prices climbed all the way, rising from the usual 14-15 yuan per jin to 20-25 yuan per jin, sometimes even reaching as high as 30 yuan per jin. A reporter's visit found that the substantial profits generated by raising native chickens not only spurred the enthusiasm of small-scale farmers but also that of large-scale farmers, who rushed to buy large numbers of chicks and expand their farming scale…… In response, experts remind——although native chicken farming is “hot,” avoid blindly following the trend.

“Boss, pick out 50 chicks for me.”
“Old Li, why are you buying so many all at once? In past years you bought 20 at most, didn't you?”
“It's different now. Didn't you see how high native chicken prices were during this year's Spring Festival? I plan to raise them until next year and then sell them, so I can earn a bit more money.”
At the farmers' market in Yinshan Town, Zizhong County, farmer Li Runwen from Gangshi Village, Yinshan Town, bought 50 chicks in one go.

Like Li Runwen, seeing the high prices of native chickens during this year's Spring Festival, many farmers are aiming for next year, hoping to get a share of the substantial profits.
That day, vendor Mr. Zhang's 1,000 chicks sold out quickly, much faster than before. Mr. Zhang believes that besides the gradually rising temperatures, it may also be related to the price of native chickens during this year's Spring Festival.

Recently, a reporter walked into Group 6 of Songshu Village, Ma'an Town, Zizhong County, where native chicken farmer Liao Xiaoping was organizing workers to expand the chicken coop.
“I made a big profit this Spring Festival, and now I want to expand my farming scale to earn a bit more.” Liao Xiaoping expressed his thoughts.

In April 2012, Liao Xiaoping began raising native chickens. Several months passed, and the first batch of 1,500 chickens quickly grew and were ready for sale. But Liao Xiaoping “held onto” them instead of selling, waiting until the Spring Festival. “At the highest point, the wholesale price reached 21 yuan per jin, 6-7 yuan higher than usual. And the retail price on the market reached as high as 30 yuan per jin.” Liao Xiaoping said.
“In two more days, the coop expansion will be completed, and I will bring in 5,000 at once.” Liao Xiaoping is very optimistic about the future market for native chickens.

Xu Rong, a farmer from Group 6 of Yantai Village, Huangjinggou Town, Weiyuan County, has the same idea as Liao Xiaoping.
Xu Rong is a locally well-known native chicken farmer, selling more than 30,000 native chickens annually with an annual income of 400,000 to 500,000 yuan. This Spring Festival, his “Fu Gui Hua Kai” native chicken gift box sold for 600 yuan per chicken. Facing such substantial profits, Xu Rong began to expand his farming scale. “This year I plan to contract land in Shanwang Town to build chicken coops and expand my farming scale. It's expected that annual sales of native chickens will exceed 40,000.” Xu Rong said.
Chen Hong, a farmer from Group 7 of Dongshan Village, Shuangqiao Township, Dongxing District, who had not raised native chickens for two years, recently couldn't wait to bring in 2,000 chicks.

Speaking of raising native chickens, Chen Hong has deep feelings. In 2009, he began raising native chickens and opened a restaurant at the market, practicing self-production and self-sales. However, he didn't make any money. “At that time, native chicken prices were too cheap, only eight or nine yuan per jin.” Afterward, Chen Hong gave up raising native chickens and focused on running his restaurant. Even the native chickens sold in the restaurant were bought from other farmers.
“This Spring Festival, native chicken prices were too high. The cheapest ones cost over 100 yuan each, and the expensive ones cost over 200 yuan.” Seeing native chicken prices rise again, Chen Hong returned to his old trade and began raising native chickens again.
Zhou Yong is from the same township as Chen Hong and has the same idea. This year, Zhou Yong brought in more than 2,000 “pigeon chickens,” hoping to sell them all before native chicken prices drop.

Regarding the phenomenon of farmers rushing to buy large numbers of chicks and expand their farming scale, livestock experts have a different view.
Zhong Shouming, Section Chief of the Production and Science Technology Section of the Neijiang Municipal Bureau of Animal Husbandry and Food, believes that native chicken prices are periodic. Whenever the Spring Festival comes and consumer demand is high, prices go through a rising process, but there are exceptions. Zhong Shouming said that in 2011, there were especially many farmers raising native chickens, and the farming scale was also very large. Everyone wanted to make a profit during the 2012 Spring Festival. However, during the 2012 Spring Festival, native chicken prices did not rise but instead fell, to only seven or eight yuan per jin, and many farmers suffered heavy losses as a result. The reasons, besides disease outbreaks in some areas of the south that affected people's consumer demand, were more importantly oversupply, which led to price declines.

“The reason native chicken prices rose so dramatically this Spring Festival is not only related to people's gradually improving living standards, but mainly due to the influence of supply and demand.” Zhong Shouming said that affected by the 2012 prices, many farmers gave up raising chickens, and demand exceeded supply in the market, which led to this year's particularly high prices. Zhong Shouming reminds that native chicken farming cannot be blindly followed, especially for large-scale farmers, who must have a stable sales market.