A return visit to veterans' way of starting a business and raising chickens

In recent days, veterans from all over the country have bid farewell to the barracks and embarked on their way home, waiting for their second employment. Among the veterans last year, the reporter interviewed a veteran named Zhao Guotao, an ordinary soldier who carried out sudden natural disasters all the year round. Today, he can also do the meticulous work of raising chickens, and he has done it brilliantly. Zhao Guotao has never been able to raise chickens until now he has become an expert in raising chickens in the village and even the whole town. He has his own story.

"every time my family accompanies me to the henhouse, I feel very happy, because I know that no matter what, my family will support and accompany me." Zhao Guotao said.

Zhao Guotao, 27, is from Zhaojiatang Village, Qinglong Town, Jianshui County, Yunnan Province. In 2007, Zhao Guotao joined the army and became a soldier of the third Squadron of the Xichang Forest Detachment of the Armed Police Force in Liangshan Prefecture. He later became squadron leader by virtue of his excellent military quality. During his eight years in the army, Zhao Guotao has gradually grown from an ordinary soldier to an excellent squad leader. Successively participated in the "5.12" Wenchuan earthquake relief in 2008, the "8.6" Hanyuan debris flow in 2009 and more than 80 forest fire rescue, won one third-class meritorious service, six outstanding soldiers and one outstanding non-commissioned officer.

Last year, Zhao Guotao gloriously discharged from the army and boarded the return train with reluctance to part with the police camp and his "second hometown." With the retirement payment, he is faced with a variety of choices. is he going to live in silence, or is he trying to start a business and get rich? Having served as a soldier, he naturally chose the most difficult path-starting his own business.

"one by one heavy eggs into my hands, this is not only a harvest, but also an affirmation of me, my happiest moment is at this time," Zhao Guotao said.

"Ten startups and nine died." In order to find a suitable way to start a business, Zhao Guotao asked around, walked many miles, and finally made up his mind to raise chickens. "because a friend is also raising chickens, you can ask him for advice, so there will be fewer detours at the beginning of starting a business." Zhao Guotao said.

In this way, Zhao Guotao started from scratch, learning skills while raising chickens. Every morning I get up before dawn to feed and clean in the chicken coop. During the lunch break, the cat watches in the chicken coop, and I stay busy until late at night in the chicken coop. Although it is hard and tired, the road to starting a business is plain sailing. Zhao Guotao said: "there is nothing wrong with the old saying, 'Blessing is where misfortune lies; misfortune lies where fortune depends.' I thought my entrepreneurial road was smooth, but I didn't expect that I still stumbled."

In addition to excellent feed, the environment of the chicken coop is also a very important link.

In the early days of his business, he set up a medium-sized chicken farm with retirement money, and earned the first bucket of gold in less than a few months. seeing that he had made money, he naturally wanted to buy raw chickens and expand the scale.

In June 2016, the size of the henhouse had just expanded, but the price of eggs in the egg market suddenly became popular. The output increased, but the eggs could not be sold. The family was full of stored eggs and lost 20,000 yuan in June alone. "I wanted to expand the scale and make more money, but I didn't expect that I could not sell the eggs. At that time, I didn't have any working capital at all. In the end, I relied on my family to survive." Zhao Guotao said, "in July, I thought the egg market would improve, but the egg price was still 'low'. As a result, I lost nearly 20,000 yuan in July." Two blows in succession made the honest veteran make a living.

Eight years of military experience will always change a person. Zhao Guotao said: "I really wanted to give up at that time, because all the money was lost, but every time I talked to my comrades about the courageous struggle of military competitions, earthquake relief and the onslaught of forest fires, I didn't think I was a coward." The army's spirit of daring to bear hardships, daring to take the lead, and never giving up made him stand up again. He found that when the price of eggs fell, there were still some chicken farms in the egg market that could sell. Why? With this doubt, Zhao Guotao visited everywhere and found that there are more than 120 chicken farms in Jianshui County. How to stand out from them is the key.

In order to produce high-quality and high-quality eggs, Zhao Guotao kept looking for information while learning and asking for advice. He found that in order to produce "good eggs", first of all, the chicken feed should be selected correctly, and secondly, the environmental hygiene of the chicken house should be in place. In order to find suitable chicken feed, Zhao Guotao asked around and went to most of the local chicken farms, carefully recording the advantages and disadvantages of all kinds of chicken feed. In order to ensure the environmental hygiene of the chicken house, Zhao Guotao cleans and disinfects regularly without interruption.

When we interviewed Zhao Guotao, he was selling a batch of eggs. "I really appreciate the army. If I hadn't been a soldier, maybe I would have given up a long time ago." Zhao Guotao said, "in the next step, I will continue to expand the scale of breeding, but I will no longer rush for quick success and instant benefits. if it develops well in the future, I will let the dividends of the chicken farm benefit more villagers."