A Unique Way to Prosperity for Yunnan Rare Black Bone Sheep

Black-bone chicken is already a common breed in our country, but have you ever seen a sheep whose meat and bones are black? Before 2009, some people thought that black-bone sheep were poisoned, others thought it was unlucky, and they would throw them away if they were slaughtered to black-bone sheep. It was only after a farmer introduced black-bone sheep in 2009 that people re-recognized this special sheep.

In ordinary sheep, the meat is red and the bones are white. However, in Lanping County, Yunnan Province, there is a kind of sheep with black meat and bones. A native of Shandong named Zhang Fengwen has introduced a large number of these sheep and sold them for more than 300 yuan a catty. How is this going on?

Zhang Fengwen, a native of Zaozhuang, Shandong Province, is 55 years old. He has been fond of special breeding since childhood, and has raised black swans, Rex rabbits, forest musk deer and other animals.

Black-bone sheep are different from ordinary sheep because their bones and meat are black in color, and even the gums, eyelids and kidneys are different in color. Because of these characteristics, the black-bone sheep was once regarded as a poisoned sheep by the local people, and no one dared to eat it. Later, several daring local people risked their lives to eat black-bone mutton and found that there was no adverse reaction in their bodies.

This situation attracted the attention of some experts at Yunnan Agricultural University, who began to study black-bone sheep to determine whether the black-bone sheep is poisonous, and why the bones and meat of this kind of sheep are black. Unexpectedly, this study found that the black-bone sheep actually had a lot of mystery.

The research results of Yunnan Agricultural University correct the name of the black-bone sheep, which is equivalent to the black-bone chicken in the chicken. Therefore, in 2009, Black Bone Sheep was selected into the list of national livestock and poultry genetic resources, because it is the only new genetic resource unique to China in the world.

This study found that it made Zhang Fengwen's blood boil and felt that black-bone sheep was a huge business opportunity. In the same year, he bet all his wealth and went to Lanping County, Yunnan Province to buy a large number of black-bone sheep. It took Zhang Fengwen only 14 days from the discovery of the black-bone sheep to his introduction back to Shandong. He felt that he had the first opportunity to raise black-bone sheep.

For three years, Zhang Fengwen has been expanding the population of black-bone sheep, and he has not sold a single sheep. In 2014, Zhang Fengwen kept more than 1000 black-bone sheep. At that time, in Yunnan, because of the small number of black-bone sheep, the price of a jin of black-bone mutton was more than 300 yuan. At this price, Zhang Fengwen thought he would make a fortune. Unexpectedly, a sheep plague spread in some places. Sheep need more than a thousand yuan a day to feed, in order to raise black-bone sheep, in addition to 3 million savings, he also sold several of his own houses, but also borrowed money from others.

But the sheep plague lasted for half a year, and some creditors began to ask Zhang Fengwen for debt. Zhang Fengwen couldn't hold it any longer. He couldn't think of it any more. He drove his car to the edge of the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal and wanted to throw himself into the river. Before he threw himself into the river, Zhang Fengwen locked himself in the car and thought for a long time. If he committed suicide, he admitted that he had failed and secretly determined to stick to it!

Zhang Fengwen raised dozens of pairs of black swans before the introduction of black-bone sheep. Zhang Fengwen never dreamed that at a critical time, what solved his urgent need was a black swan. How did Black Swan solve Zhang Fengwen's financial problem?

The black swan is elegant and has a good meaning, symbolizing faithful love. Many scenic spots are willing to buy Zhang Fengwen's black swans.

Zhang Fengwen sold more than 200 at the price of 3000 yuan each, with an income of more than 700,000 yuan. Sheep plague lasted for nearly a year, and during that most difficult period, Zhang Fengwen's black-bone sheep were supported by selling black swans.

In Yunnan, the quantity of black-bone mutton is small and the price is high, which is acceptable only to high-end hotels. At the end of 2014, Zhang Fengwen began to sell black-bone sheep to some upscale hotels nearby. In just one year, Zhang Fengwen sold nearly a thousand black-bone sheep, plus black swans, with annual sales exceeding 5 million yuan!

Since he had a relationship with the black bone sheep, Zhang Fengwen often went to Yunnan. He saw that some mountainous areas in Yunnan were still very poor, and some children even had no shoes to wear in winter. This touched Zhang Fengwen greatly, and he came up with a new idea. Cooperate with local farmers to raise black-bone sheep. By raising black-bone sheep, local farmers can also embark on the road of getting rich.

In 2016, Zhang Fengwen set up a farm in Lanping County to encourage local farmers to raise black-bone sheep. Zhang Fengwen feels that the price of more than 300 yuan per jin of mutton is too far away from ordinary consumers, which is not conducive to the development of black-bone sheep. His next goal is to increase breeding capacity, so that black-bone sheep on the table of ordinary consumers as soon as possible.