Chapter 82 Chicken Farm
Ning Xuan considered several options and felt that the most suitable factory to build in the brigade was a chicken farm.
Compared to raising pigs, raising chickens requires less feed. You can fence off an area, and the chickens can forage for food on the grass, eating things like insects and earthworms.
The biggest fear in raising chickens is that they get sick, which can easily wipe out an entire flock. But she has the magic medicine and advanced technology from Yunxi and Katerina, so she doesn't have to worry about that.
Moreover, raising chickens is a quick way to see a return on investment; it's fast, taking less than a month or two. Chickens weighing around 2 pounds can be sold, and they also lay eggs, which can then breed more chickens.
Pigs need to be raised for at least half a year, and nowadays it usually takes at least a year to barely reach the required weight for production pigs, because pigs eat a lot.
Therefore, taking all factors into consideration, raising chickens or ducks is actually a more suitable option at present.
We'll consider other types of processing plants once this chicken farm shows results and generates profits.
Raising chickens wasn't difficult for her; the challenge was getting the brigade and commune to agree and approve her application.
Private buying and selling, as well as large-scale private breeding, are now prohibited; otherwise, they will be accused of cutting off the "capitalist tail."
So, for Ning Xuan to start a chicken farm, the first step was to get past the team leader. Then, the team leader held a meeting and had the team members vote.
We've passed the brigade; we still need to go to the commune.
However, since we've decided to do something meaningful, we shouldn't worry too much about the consequences. Let's just start and not think about whether the plan will be approved.
During the meal, Ning Xuan shared her thoughts with her group of friends, and they all agreed.
Since it was inconvenient for Ning Xuan to go to the brigade leader by herself, Xu Jiajia and the others simply accompanied her.
After listening to Ning Xuan's idea, Zhou Jianguo felt that Ning Xuan was just daydreaming. He earnestly said to Ning Xuan:
“Ning Zhiqing, actually, the brigade did consider raising chickens, but the brigade next door had raised them before, but a chicken plague broke out and all the hundreds of chickens they had raised for several months were gone. Because they were sick chickens, they didn’t dare let people eat them, so their brigade transported them to the mountain overnight and buried them, suffering heavy losses.”
Because of their failed example, no other brigade in Xiangyang Commune dared to raise chickens again.
Ning Xuan knew that there were still many smart people, but they were just unable to bring out their full potential due to current limitations.
She insisted on running the chicken farm, saying, "Captain, I know your concerns, but I have ways to prevent the chickens from getting sick."
Zhou Jianguo was surprised, "You, a city girl, know how to raise chickens?"
Ning Xuan nodded, then extracted several key points from the chicken farming techniques book she had read in advance, listing several tips on aspects such as chicken farming environment, temperature, feed ratio, disinfection and deworming.
Seeing that Ning Xuan spoke fluently and seemed genuine, Zhou Jianguo was already somewhat tempted.
Ning Xuan simply added fuel to the fire, "Captain, I know you're worried about the losses if we can't raise them all. How about we start with 100? That way the investment will be smaller, and then you can see how it goes, and we can increase the number later."
Zhou Jianguo thought for a moment and told Ning Xuan to go back first. He needed to discuss it with the accountant and the others first. If everyone thought it was okay, they could hold a general meeting of the whole team to vote.
The discussion among the cadres was quite heated. In fact, everyone was somewhat tempted, but they were all afraid of losing money.
However, Zhou Jianguo still made a promise to everyone, mentioning that Ning Xuan knew how to raise chickens, and everyone finally decided to give it a try.
Then came the voting session. As expected, the team members had both opinions in favor and against. Those who opposed it were not only worried about the losses, but also about having to pay for chicks, as the initial investment was too large.
"Captain, have you forgotten what happened to the next brigade a few years ago? When you came back from the commune, you even held a meeting for us, telling us that those of us who raise chickens should also pay attention to hygiene, even if we only raise two chickens."
"Yes, I heard that their brigade had to apply for relief grain last year. It would take them several years to recover from setting up a chicken farm."
"But I heard that their team leader was too reckless. It was his first time raising chickens, and he dared to raise several hundred at once. Moreover, the chicken coop was built with bricks and tiles. I heard that the team members raised money to buy those bricks, and the brigade even borrowed some from the commune."
“Back then, one of the educated youths said that the chicken coop should be bigger, otherwise the chickens would easily fight if they were crowded together, they would easily get injured if they were pecking at their feathers, and if they got sick, it would be easier for one to infect a whole group. So they built several rows of brick and tile houses for their chicken coop, which was a huge investment.”
"I heard that the chicken coop was later converted into a dormitory for educated youth and a warehouse for the production brigade."
...The team members below were making a lot of noise, and the scene was very chaotic.
Finally, Zhou Jianguo said that the money to buy the chicks would come from the brigade's reserve fund. At first, they wouldn't buy many, just 100. When they heard that they wouldn't have to pay extra, their objections subsided.
Everyone still wants to live a good life, but the main concern is chicken plague, since everyone vividly remembers the tragic experience of the neighboring brigade.
But the brigade leader also said that the other party had too many. This time, the brigade should try with 100 first. If it works, the team members will have no problem eating eggs every day. They can sell the extra eggs for money and have an extra source of income for their families.
"Moreover, Ning, the educated youth, said that there's no need to build brick houses. The weather will be hot in the next few months, so wooden and thatched houses will be fine. We can build earthen houses after the busy farming season, so that they can withstand heavy snow in winter," Zhou Jianguo added.
Hearing that they wouldn't need to build brick houses or pay any money, everyone finally showed more support and anticipation for running the chicken farm.
Thus, although the voting meeting lasted for nearly three hours with much noise, the final result was good: the majority voted in favor, and the minority obeyed the majority. The preliminary plan for Hongxing Brigade to set up a chicken farm was thus finalized.
The next step is quite difficult: applying to the commune. Under normal circumstances, if their brigade raises chickens without requiring the commune to contribute money, manpower, or labor, the commune has no reason to object.
However, because of the trouble He Wei caused Ning Xuan and the others a while ago, Ning Xuan and Zhou Jianguo were actually a little worried that they would be stuck at the commune level.
Sure enough, when Zhou Jianguo went there for the first time, the chicken farm's plan was not approved. The reason was readily available: the failed experience of the neighboring brigade.
In order to feed the chickens well, they even asked the team members to save up their own grain to feed them. However, just when the chickens grew up and were ready to be sold and converted into cash, a chicken plague caused the team to lose everything.
“It took their brigade a long time to recover from raising chickens. The brick and tile houses they built for the chickens were afraid the chickens would get cold in the winter. They invested so much in the early stages, and they had to apply for relief grain for several years afterward. You should focus on doing a good job with spring plowing first, and don’t get distracted by other things.”
He Wei wasn't deliberately making things difficult for Zhou Jianguo and his team this time; he simply didn't want another brigade to have to apply for several years' worth of relief grain during his tenure.
Knowing that the commune had actually approved the application, Ning Xuan was still not very happy, even though she had been prepared for it.
Fortunately, she had a backup plan.
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