Colorful pheasants fly to the common people's table.

The golden red feathers sparkled in the sun, mixed with black patterns, and there were two thick "necklaces" on the neck, one white and one copper green. The long tail feathers are swaying, and the red cheeks are not angry. At first glance, I thought it was a little peacock. In fact, this is the colorful pheasant in the "semi-scattered" poultry breeding base in Zhouxiang Town, Cixi.

The breeding base, which is located at the intersection of Zhongheng Line and Lu'an Line, covers an area of about 2 mu and keeps more than 600 adult pheasants. With the net covered in all directions, the pheasant can't fly out. But their growing environment is not much different from that in the wild, eating natural feed such as corn and rice, as well as nutritious ryegrass and all kinds of insects in the grass. The reporter saw that pheasants are very active and often "fight in groups". Even when they eat, they have to fly to the top of the grass shed.

Mao Junbo and Zhang Lingxia, who were in charge of the base, originally ran a clothing store, but decided to raise chickens "halfway up the mountain" in the second half of last year. "the clothing market is almost saturated, but green agricultural products are scarce everywhere!" Mao Junbo used a special net bag to trap a colorful male pheasant from a high iron shelf. The shrill cry and fierce struggle show that the semi-free-range pheasant is still wild and untamed. Two years ago, he and his friends accidentally tasted colorful pheasants in Fujian, and the delicious taste kept him in mind. After that, they partnered to contract a mountain on a mountain nearly a kilometer above sea level and began to raise pheasants. Keep it for about 6 months, and then ship it to Cixi for sale.

Fujian is mountainous, along the coast of Cixi, due to the different eating habits of the residents of the two places, although the colorful pheasant has the nutritional value of high protein and low fat, the promotion is not smooth at the beginning. Many people in Cixi are used to eating native chickens and old ducks and are not used to taking such beautiful birds as midday food.

Mao Junbo and his wife regard the rural chefs in Yuci as a "breakthrough" and recommend novel and unique pheasant dishes to them for the wedding of the local people. The retail price of a 1.25kg pheasant is about 150 yuan, which is on a par with the boutique native pheasant, but the quantity is only half that of the native pheasant. Some consumers think it is too expensive, so the couple launched a dish of half a piece each. "the hen is suitable for stew and is a good tonic. The rooster has a large amount of activity and compact meat, which is suitable for braised pork. " Zhang Lingxia said that they distributed the bamboo tubes bought from Anji County to the chefs. "the braised pheasants are braised in the bamboo tubes, and the chicken seeps into the fragrance of the bamboo, making it addictive to eat."

Thanks to the unremitting efforts of the couple, the base now sells an average of more than 200 pheasants a month, winning many repeat customers. There are also succulent gardens, barbecue areas and picking bases near the breeding base. During the holidays, many people come for leisure and come here to buy pheasants and eggs. Mountain eggs worth more than 60 yuan a kilogram sound a bit "extravagant" at first glance, but more and more people like them.

Mao Junbo and his wife said, "We are also starting a business for the second time. I believe that the road to raising chickens in the mountains will become wider and wider!"

(Xiang Yiyi)