County at forefront of special chicken breed

Farmers in Pengyang county in Guyuan, Ningxia Hui autonomous region, have been raising a special breed of chicken.

As a specialty and one under national geographical indication protection, the Chaona Chicken — a key poultry product of the county — is medium in size, compact in structure, strong in disease resistance and tender in meat. It is also a key income source in Pengyang.

At present, the number of Chaona chickens in Pengyang has hit some 1.25 million, producing 1,955 metric tons of eggs, said Luo Jincai, Party secretary of Xiaocha township.

The county has nurtured 26 leading enterprises that breed Chaona chickens, providing jobs for more than 2,000 people, she said.

"Across the township, 230 of the 506 permanent households are involved in chicken breeding, with each family earning an additional income of over 5,000 yuan ($704) on average," said Luo, who remains jubilant about her town's chicken industry.

At Xiaocha village's Chaona Chicken farm, tens of thousands of chickens are scrambling for food among rows of clean and tidy cages, while eggs are being transported to the sorting and packaging area, packed in boxes and sold everywhere.

The farm has introduced a fully automated production line integrating feeding, drinking water, egg picking, environmental control and manure removal, with an average daily production of 6,500 fresh eggs carrying green shells and an average annual production of 1.8 million eggs.

"I aim to raise 200 chickens and sell the eggs and chickens, earning over 10,000 yuan in three months," said Huang Guiping.

The poultry farmer said she is happy to develop this industry and earn a proper income without too much effort.

As one of the leading enterprises of the Chaona Chicken industry in Pengyang, Ningxia Wansheng Industrial Co Ltd has helped set up 100 demonstration villages involving 2,000 farmers, raising 1.25 million chickens with annual sales hitting 18 million yuan.

"However, this success would not have been possible without the timely and thorough services provided by the local power company, which has supported the stable development of our farming bases," Luo said.

She said that with the full support of the Pengyang division of State Grid Ningxia Electric Power, the breeders have upgraded feeding, waste management, and ventilation equipment, allowing the chickens to live in "villa-like" cages, and achieving large-scale and standardized farming.

"Modern farming has improved the farmers' profits by 40 percent compared to traditional methods," Luo said.

To fully support the chicken farms, staff members from the Pengyang division of State Grid Ningxia visited the Chaona Chicken farm in Xiaocha village on Oct 21, conducting electricity checks and equipment inspections, and guiding the farm in implementing corrective measures to ensure optimal operation of all equipment.

Since September, the Pengyang division has also designed expansion plans for the township, advancing a "village-grid co-construction" service model, and helping farmers reduce operational costs.

"There are over 2,000 hectares of cultivated land and more than 1,300 hectares of corn and soybeans in our township. By developing a Chaona Chicken industry, a green cycle of breeding and planting has been formed," said Luo.

The town plans to raise and process 100,000 such chickens by 2025, helping more farmers increase their incomes, she added.

In recent years, Luo said the county has built a whole industrial chain integrating the breeding, production, processing, scientific research and sale of Chaona chickens, opening up online and offline sales channels and promoting their scale, branding, standardization and development.