[Poverty Alleviation Through a Lens] Chickens and microcredit lift households out of poverty

Two big roosters in hand, Wu Tianrong can’t help but smile. [Photo by Wu Tianwen on January 11, 2017]

“In early 2016, I attended the Start Your Business training session held by the County Labor Service Bureau. I borrowed 80,000 yuan (U.S. $11,608) in guaranteed microloans and built a hatchery, henhouse, and other facilities, covering over 600 m2. In the second half year, I started to hatch chickens myself. I fed more than 3,000. Meanwhile, I encouraged and helped another five households to raise free-range chickens. We’re raising more than 10,000 chickens in total. Each one weighs about 2.5 kilograms and can sell for 8–10 yuan (U.S. $1.16–1.45) per 500 grams. In rough estimation, these chickens could sell for more than 500,000 yuan (U.S. $72,500).”

While feeling the chickens, Wu Tianrong says, “It’s very toilsome to raise free-range chickens, especially when hatching them. You need to monitor the growth of the young chicks, and pay careful attention to changes in temperature and other factors. You never dare to be careless for a second and cannot sleep for days. You can’t feel a sense of relief or ease until the chickens grow to be 0.5–1 kilogram. But even then, you still need to monitor them, feed them and disinfect them, with great care. You’re busy from morning to midnight every day.”