My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 406 Pigeons and Cows
Tian Hongli hurriedly hauled away a truckload of fish, and Sun Yanhong was not to be outdone. That same day, she went to the city to open a restaurant serving crayfish, ready to make a big splash.

If Tian Hongli can use the name of the reservoir's turtles to sell fish, so can she.

And there's no need to go to the provincial capital to compete with him; it's fine to stay in the city.

She was full of confidence that crayfish could also use this name to attract customers.

In short, the two of them have already signed a supply and sales contract with Chenwangzhuang Brigade.

Sell ​​it however you like.

Nobody is worried about this for them.

Prices have risen rapidly this year.

Although prices rose during the floods of the past two years, they eventually fell back down after a period of time.

But this year is quite different.

Prices of all kinds of goods have been steadily rising since the beginning of the year...

Of course.

It's not accurate to say that everything is going up in price.

At least the supplies of grains, agricultural products, chickens, ducks, and eggs remain the same.

Even if prices rise, it will be a small increase.

Since ordinary people can't make money from these things, more and more people are going out to work.

Fortunately, the reservoir's giant soft-shelled turtle attracted a large number of tourists this year, and thanks to the efforts of Sun Yanhong and her partner, the villagers of Chenwangzhuang were able to make a considerable amount of money.

Otherwise, after this year's wheat harvest, the young men will also have to find opportunities to go out.

Now, some are busy in the fields, some are repairing ponds, some are fishing and catching birds in the mountain streams and ravines, and some are herding cattle for their families.

These teenagers, who dropped out of school early, all followed Chen Ling's family model, dreaming that one day they could make a lot of money like Chen Ling.

……

The Chen family didn't care about the commotion outside.

Their lives continued as usual, unhurried and quite comfortable.

Unlike other families, who get busy with one thing after another as the wheat harvest season approaches, this family is not like other families.

They still manage to find time amidst their busy schedules, with most of their days being leisurely.

Wheat, vegetable garden, orchard – you don't need to worry about much.

If there are too many birds nearby, insects won't survive; if there are too many small animals, rats won't proliferate.

The water quality is good, and the thin, spiritual water nourishes the crops, vegetables, and fruit trees, making them more resistant to disease.

At the beginning, when the wheat and vegetables were just starting to grow in the spring, there were aphids and weeds. Later, after spraying the wheat with pesticides several times and spreading wood ash in the vegetable garden several times,

Even though weeds grow fast now, they can no longer compete with crops and vegetables for fertilizer. As for pests like aphids, they have long since disappeared.

It's fair to say that even if Chen Ling's family wanted to take charge, they couldn't.

She's so good-looking that you don't have to worry about anything. How can you manage her?
So much so that many sharp-eyed villagers, such as Chen Dazhi and Wang Lishan, had already said that they would use Chen Ling's wheat seeds when planting wheat this autumn.

The yield difference for wheat currently being planted is not significant.

It all depends on the strength of their resistance to diseases and pests.

Let's not talk about the wheat yield of Chen Ling's family yet, since it hasn't been harvested, so it's hard to say.

But its ability to resist diseases and pests is absolutely top-notch.

……

Chen Ling was naturally happy to see this happen.

He originally planned to set up a small seed station in his courtyard in the county town, and when he had nothing to do, he would take his wife and children to the market to sell seeds.

After exchanging experiences with two pen pals, and then subtly asking in a different way, I found that this idea was not easy to implement.

So I gave up my original idea.

However, he certainly wouldn't refuse someone who came to him asking for seeds.

This is beneficial to the Sun and Moon Grotto.

"Gugu, gugu..."

After breakfast, Chen Ling fed the ornamental fish fry in the pond and returned to the farm with a bucket. Two small pigeons with bright and beautiful plumage were restlessly flapping their wings in the bamboo cage, making the cage bang loudly.

Hearing the noise, the kitten ran over early, stretched out one front paw, tilted its head, and kept meowing as it reached into the bamboo cage.

This terrified the two little pigeons.

"Get out of here, you can't eat this."

Chen Ling put down the bucket, walked over, slapped the kitten on the head, and shooed it aside.

Then they lifted the bamboo cages containing the chickens and ducks and carried them to the corridor by the lotus pond.

We're getting a new home for the two little pigeons.

These two little creatures were two pigeons with unusual feather colors that he caught from the village yesterday afternoon after Tian Hongli and Xiao Mianyang had taken away the fish from their house.

Common wild pigeons are blue or light purple, with two black horizontal stripes, one large and one small, on their wings.

These two are different. Although most of them are still blue and there are black horizontal stripes on their wings, their heads, necks, bellies, and tails are all white.

This white color is in the form of unevenly distributed white patches, like large, scattered flowers.

These two little doves look quite pretty.

After raising the wild pigeons for two years, two pigeons of different colors finally emerged.

Chen Ling was very happy.

Seeing that they had just left the nest and hadn't learned to fly yet, I quickly caught them and prepared to keep them by my side and train them properly.

Pigeons have excellent memories and are quite intelligent.

They will quickly accept the person who regularly cares for and feeds them, and remember being close to that person.

Chen Ling did this while the birds were still small, just out of the nest, and not yet a month old and hadn't learned to fly.

At this stage, they are like blank slates, and keeping them close at hand is the best way to nurture them.

Otherwise, if we catch them when they're older, we'll have to clip their wings and lock them up for a while.

This way, the animal can still be tamed.

However, if the wings don't grow fully for a long time, the bird won't be able to fly for at least three or four months.

That's too troublesome.

It's better to catch it and raise it now.

However, pigeons are quite sentimental.

Although when the baby pigeons are almost a month old and have grown all their feathers, the adult pigeons will drive them out of the nest and make them find a new nest to live in on their own.

However, this does not mean abandoning them.

If people try to catch them, they will still get angry and furious.

So, Chen Ling had no choice but to catch two of the prettiest ones first, leaving the rest of the little pigeons untouched.

To avoid the pigeons becoming emotionally unstable and temperamental during their incubation period, and then flying away in a fit of anger. "Ah Ling, Rui Rui and I are going to the village."

“Our saw broke. Dad got one from Yuqiang’s house yesterday and hung it on the wall by the woodpile. Go get it when you need it.”

At this moment, Wang Susu packed a full basket of Rui Rui's food, drink and toys, carried a bamboo basket on her back, held the baby in front of her, and was about to go out with two big black and yellow dogs beside her.

"okay, I get it."

Chen Ling smiled at the mother and daughter, then waved gently.

Wang Susu smiled and said to her son, "Rui Rui, quickly tell your dad that we're leaving."

The little one immediately poked its head back and grinned at Chen Ling: "Daddy~ Awoo, let's go~"

The little guy who's just started talking is much more lovable than before.

Hearing his son's sweet voice, Chen Ling's eyes narrowed into slits with joy, and he waved happily, "Come on, come on, Daddy will come find you in a little while."

He watched his daughter-in-law and son leave the farm.

Chen Ling hummed a little tune happily as he carried the bamboo cage and walked towards the back of the farm.

Wang Susu and her father-in-law thought he was going to build a bird box for the little pigeons to live in.

They even lent him a saw.

Chen Ling originally intended to make another bird box, but then he thought, a hawk is also a bird box. What if this little pigeon is foolish enough to mistake the nest for a hawk and go into the wrong one, and gets pecked to death by the hawk? That would be the end of it.

I'd better not get a bird box.

They searched the woodshed and storeroom and found a relatively large earthenware jar.

Lay it horizontally, tie it with straw rope, and then hang it down into the corridor.

It is both simple and beautiful, and very practical, saving him the trouble of nailing on a bird box.

Moreover, the pottery jar has a very small mouth and a very large belly, making it a perfect pigeon coop.

Chen Ling examined it carefully and was quite satisfied: "Not bad, not bad. After a while, I'll catch a few wild pigeons and train them. They can also use this as a nest."

They stuffed some dry grass into the earthenware jar to make it fluffy and soft.

Then I took the two little pigeons out of the bamboo cage and put them back in...

Since they haven't learned to fly yet, Chen Ling didn't hang the pottery jar that high right now, but placed it on two rocks next to the corridor.

Take out a handful of peanuts and peel them while letting them get used to themselves and their new home. At the same time, train them to go in and out and learn how to return to their nest.

It's nice to have such good peanuts to eat.

In just half a day, Chen Ling trained the two little pigeons to be able to go up and down and return to their nests, and they were no longer afraid of him.

Suddenly, Erhei barked loudly.

A person walked into the farm, startling the two little pigeons, who fluttered their wings, jumped onto a stone, and scurried back into the earthenware pot.

"Uncle Fugui, are you feeding the pigeons?"

"Oh, it's Xiao Chao. Have you recovered from your injury?"

Chen Ling looked up and saw Wang Wenchao, the youngest son of Er Maolu's family.

He went into the mountains with Li Hongqi and his team as a guide, got injured, and didn't leave the house for more than half a month.

"I'm all better now. At first, everyone thought I had broken my leg, but then Uncle Guoping took a look and said that I hadn't broken any bones or tendons, and it wasn't a big deal. I didn't even need crutches. It's just that after more than half a month of recuperation, I'm still a little bit not fully recovered, and I don't have as much energy to work as before, hehe."

Wang Wenchao chuckled. That's how it is in the village. Men, women, young and old, even if they are injured or sick, they can't just lie in bed and do nothing, unless they are seriously ill.

However, he was a young man in his early twenties, very strong, and could easily withstand any injury.

He didn't care, and just took out the thing wrapped in blue cloth from his arms: "Uncle Fugui, I brought you the gun."

"Hmm, did those out-of-towners pay you back for being guides?"

Chen Ling took the gun and casually leaned against a small stone block next to him.

Erhei, who couldn't stand any dead animals, grabbed the gun and ran upstairs to the hunting equipment room, where he placed it in front of the door.

Wang Wenchao glanced at Chen Ling with envy, then smiled and nodded, saying, "Just give it to them. We already did. They're a bunch of outsiders. Do you think we can get away without paying them? Unless they don't want to leave."

"That guy surnamed Li, his injuries haven't healed yet. He and his group are staying in Erzhu's old courtyard. Baoshuan and Baoliang's families are feeding them."

"Oh, that's not bad. Baoshuan and Baoliang have made quite a bit of money this year."

“Yes, Baoshuan has changed for the better, it’s time for him to get paid. Baoshuan did a good job, he even told us that those guys were hiding a compass under the bed.”

Chen Baoshuan had also told Chen Ling about this, saying that he had informed the villagers as well, and that they should keep an eye on what those people were doing with the compass.

Chen Ling had some guesses about the matter, but he didn't pay much attention to it. His own dog ran around the village all day long and was better than a person at such things, so there was no need to keep an eye on it.

Unless they go back into the mountains...

The two sat together and chatted for a while, and as the sun grew hotter, it was almost noon.

Wang Wenchao said, "Uncle Fugui, are you busy this afternoon? My father said if you're not busy, he'd like to ask you for a small favor. If you're busy, then forget it."

This wasn't just empty politeness. Everyone in the village knows that Chen Ling's apricots are ripe. If he's busy picking apricots or finding a place to sell them, he definitely won't have time to help.

"Just tell me what's up. I'm not busy this afternoon. I'll just pick a couple of baskets of apricots. It'll be fine as it is, it won't take up much time."

"That's good. My dad said he wanted to put a nose ring on the cow at home. That cow is too disobedient, and it can't be trained without a nose ring."

Wang Wenchao sighed helplessly, "My father called Brother Yuqiang and Brother Yingqiang. Even with my father and me, the four of us might not be able to hold down that bull. My father knew I was here to bring you a gun, so he said if you're not busy, he'd let me ask you to come and help out. Uncle Fugui, you're strong. If you go over there, you can definitely hold down the bull."

In fact, a half-grown ox can usually be held down by two or three strong young men.

But putting a nose ring on a cow is different. It hurts the cow a lot during the process, and it will struggle violently. If it is not done properly, it can also hurt the cow. It takes many people to hold the cow down firmly.

"Put a nose ring on the cow? It's been almost a week already. I thought that after you took the cow home that night, you put a nose ring on it the next day."

Chen Ling hadn't expected this.

“No, Da said the cow ran out at night, and half the village came out to chase it. There were also dogs barking and people shouting. It was quite frightened. I'm still worried about it the next day. I'm afraid that putting a nose ring on it so soon will frighten it again, and it will be easy to startle the cow at the slightest disturbance in the future…”

"I thought I'd let the cow rest for a few days, until it felt more at ease, before putting a nose ring on it, just to be on the safe side."

Wang Wenchao explained.

"That's right."

Chen Ling nodded, indicating her understanding: "Okay, I'll go there early this afternoon, and we'll put the nose ring on it."

To train a cow properly, putting a nose ring on it is essential.

Actually, if it's not a draft ox used for plowing, it doesn't matter whether it wears a nose ring or not. But who told Er Mao Lu's little yellow ox to be so disobedient, daring to break free of its reins and run out the door by itself?

If this guy runs away at night, where are we going to find him? He could get six or seven hundred yuan for a calf these days.

Not everyone can be so greedy for money.

If you run off to someone else's house, they can just close the door, secretly slaughter and sell the cow, and there's really nothing you can do about it.

As the weather gets warmer, it's not actually the best season to get a bull nose ring. It's generally better to get one in winter to reduce the risk of infection.

Of course, if a cow is a year old, even if it's not winter, it still needs to wear clothes.

It's best to put this on the cow before it turns one year old. Otherwise, when the cow grows up, it will be more temperamental and stronger, and it will be difficult to restrain it. Moreover, forcing it on you can easily hurt people.

However, when you encounter a yellow ox like the one from Er Mao Lv's family, nothing you say will work. It's not even a year old and it's already so stubborn and disobedient. You simply can't raise it without putting a nose ring on it.

(End of this chapter)