Pigeon industry brings wealth to villagers

Yang Xiangping is the head of Huayuan Yufeng Pigeon Industry Co., Ltd. in Xiangxi Prefecture and is one of pigeon breeding leaders in Huayuan County. She has been committed to developing the pigeon industry for 25 years to promote rural revitalization with diversified pigeon breeding models. She began with six pigeons and now raises 60,000 pairs of breeding pigeons. Yang is from Longqiao Village, Changle Township. In 1999, the 20-year-old Yang and her lover gave up their small shop in the county town and returned to their hometown to learn poultry farming.

Considering low costs, easy breeding, short cycle, quick results and stable benefits of pigeon breeding, Yang decided to raise pigeons. Raising pigeons well is a technical task, and Yang made preparations and had a clear and efficient plan. Over the past 25 years, the pigeon breeding technology and management capabilities of the breeding base have been improved greatly.

As of now, the company has built 47 pigeon houses, covering 140 mu (about 9.33 hectares. The production and living auxiliary facilities cover an area of 3,000 square meters. There are 60,000 pairs of breeding pigeons on hand and 1.2 million squabs sold annually. It takes 18 to 25 days from pigeon eggs to little pigeons and then to grown pigeons. The pigeons not only enrich the local people’s “meat baskets”, but also are exported to Huaihua, Changsha, Wuhan and other places, providing job opportunities for nearby villagers and driving villagers to increase income and get rich.

The pigeon breeding base develops quickly, and the processing base is also improving. The processing base covers an area of 31 mu (2.07 hectares) and workshops for slaughtering, meat processing and others are planned to be built. The number of various types of poultry slaughtered and processed annually   reaches 10 million. At present, a slaughterhouse of 1,060 square meters has been built, and a series of pigeon processing products such as cured pigeon, roasted pigeon and braised pigeon have been developed.

“Now, the pigeons are in short supply in the market. This year, I plan to further increase the number of pigeons to 100,000, and encourage surrounding farmers to raise pigeons. At the same time, the cooked pigeon processing plant is about to be put into operation, and the processed products are expected to be launched for sale by the end of the year.” For the future of pigeon breeding, Yang is full of confidence.