Author: Autumn Cow.
On April 1, 1970, there are three things worth mentioning, one is that April 1 is the anniversary of the alma mater of the middle school, which we have not forgotten, but there was no commemorative event at that time, and there is no party today;The second is that the white fungus test also began today, which has been mentioned in the article "Educated Youth Really Have Two Sons";Third, the educated youth of our 4th production team hatched chicks for the first time on this day, trying to change the living conditions and improve the quality of life.
I remember one time, a young intellectual, who returned to the city and brought with him the "leftovers" of the canning factory given by his mother, that is, those leftovers from canning and did not meet the standards of pure fish and meat. That day, when he returned to the small mountain village, he happened to come back from work, and he smelled his fragrance before he saw him. "Hey, what's delicious?Take out communism. The big guy couldn't take his eyes off it, grinding his fists, salivating, and he didn't have time to hold the chopsticks, so he used the hand that began to grow calluses. Just as we were wiping our mouths with a water cloth (farmers in small mountain villages are Xi to tie a water cloth around their waists when working), we were seen by the members of our production team. I know that our life is also very hard. Gave us a kind suggestion: hatch chicks and improve life.
We raised chickens, and the chickens were bought in the market, but the survival rate was not high, and the members said that if they hatched the chicks themselves, the survival rate could be higher. Such a good thing, why not.
So, to carry out the preliminary preparations, two things: one is to select 12 fresh eggs;The second is to prepare a nest for the hen to hatch the chicks, this nest should also make the hens feel warm, according to the members of the teaching, we use a rice planting fashion "seedling head fat" wooden barrel (about 50 cm in diameter, 20 cm in height), which is covered with a layer of soft straw. Everything is in place, just wait for the hen with a nest to come to the nest.
Originally, on March 29, there was a hen in the form of a nest, in order to prevent "false nesting". Wait until the evening of April 1 to put the hen in the nest so that the hen does not recognize the nest. That morning, the male intellectuals all went to the mountain to cultivate white fungus, and we handed over this matter related to the vital interests to the female intellectuals who stayed behind.
After 10 days, we came down from the mountain liao, and the first thing we cared about was to see how the hens were holding their nests. Everything is fine, great, the phenomenon of false nesting of hens that I was worried about did not happen. Wait 11 more days patiently and we will have chicks. The first thing I do when I come back from work every day is to go to the nest, pick up the hen, and see what happens to the eggs in the nestWait, wait, look, by April 21st, the chicks still didn't come out, so I hurriedly ran to ask the members, why didn't the chicks come out of the shell?The members pinched their hands and counted, it was only 20 days. It's crazy, so let's wait for tomorrow, in fact, that night, we all got up several times, for fear that the hen would accidentally crush the chick to death.
On April 22, no chicks came out of the shell;
On April 23, there were still no chicks out of the shell;
On April 24, there were still no chicks out of the shell. The members said that on the 21st day, the chicks are basically the same day, and if the chicks come out on the 22nd or 23rd day, they are called weak chickens, and it is difficult to feed.
The first chick hatch was declared a failure, and there are two reasons for this: First, the hens we raise are young hens (only a few months!).）；Second, we are too impatient, and during the hen's nesting, we often check and inspect, which affects the hen's normal nesting. Since then, there has been a popular saying among educated youth: no matter whether it is a white chicken or a black chicken, the one that can hold the nest is a good chicken.
This failure did not hit us too hard, and later the cultivation of white fungus successfully diluted our pessimism. It's okay, when the time is right, do it again.
By September, we had been in the queue for almost 2 years, and the hens we had were old hens, so we decided to hatch the chicks for the second time. With the first experience, the preliminary preparations went smoothly, and on September 9, the second nest was started.
On the evening of the third day, we decided to ask our neighbor Sister Luan to be our technical consultant, and Sister Luan happily accepted the invitation and came to help us inspect the chicken coop. She told us to prepare a large kerosene lamp, roll it into a cylinder with her left hand, hold the egg in her right hand, turn it in front of the kerosene lamp, and after a while, she put six of the eggs in the coop, and the others are not put down. We were puzzled, she said, these 6 are "tangible" (referring to fertilized eggs), which can produce chicks, and the others can't, and can be eaten.
Under the guidance of Sister Luan, we no longer carried out surprise inspections, and the old hen successfully completed the task of holding the nest, and by September 30, 6 chicks "pecked, pecked, pecked, pecked" out of the shell.
The chick just out of the shell is not fun, wet and sticky with egg whites, but it doesn't matter, the hen will take on the responsibility of the mother, it uses the feathers under the chicken's belly to help the chicks wipe ah, rub ah, after a while, the chick's hair is dry, yellow fluffy, like a toy, pointed mouth, round eyes, pale red paws, put on the palm of the hand will not prick.
At first, you have to feed the chicks the rice, but also put some water, and the chicks want to drink water, and after about a few days, you can feed the chicks whole rice. It's fun to see the chicks foraging, if it's the hen with the chicks foraging, it's more fun, the hen finds something delicious, she holds it with her mouth, puts it in front of the chick, and then "oh, oh, oh" calls, and the chicks will run to fight for food;When other chickens come to grab food, the hen will spread its wings and make a "cluck, cluck, cluck" sound to drive the opponent away.
After about 1 month, the chicks will forage for food on their own, and the hens will not care about the chicks and let the chicks survive on their own, but we still have to give the chicks some feed, such as vegetable leaves, pig food, sweet potatoes, etc., so that the chicks can grow up quickly.
The fluffy chick grows day by day unconsciously, and after 15 days, the ends of the two wings and tail grow coarse hair, and after a month, the coarse hair on the whole body is basically the same. Judging from the size of the comb and the brightness of the feathers, the rooster with a higher comb and brighter feathers is the rooster, and the hen is the opposite. After more than 100 days, it can be slaughtered and eaten, but in general, the rooster is the first to serve on the plate, and the hen is kept to lay eggs.
Life is a life, the grass and trees are autumn, and the mountains and rivers that have been walked through are all landscapes;The pleasures that have been tasted are all happiness. Educated youths cut into the queue and suddenly looked back, although they felt a lot, and they had brought joy to people after the years. In fact, life really doesn't need to be remembered too much, there are blue skies and white clouds, mountains and rivers, the concern of relatives, sincere friends, and enthusiastic neighbors, it is enough. No matter how hard the days are, if you can hatch a litter of chicks, you will also have inexplicable happiness.