After crossing the Bailishi Great Wall, you enter the Danshui River Valley.
This was once the place where the armies of Qin and Zhao fought, but now it has become a breeding base for Zhao’s chickens, ducks and geese.
How to hatch chickens, ducks and geese in batches has actually troubled Zhao State for a long time. It is impossible to find thousands of hens in Zhao State to hatch them. Moreover, not all hens can hatch eggs, so we can only do artificial hatching of chicks.
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But how to control the incubation temperature at around 38 degrees has always been a difficulty.
This problem was not solved until a disciple of Gongshujia made a simple water thermometer based on the principle of thermal expansion and contraction.
I don't care whether it's 38 degrees or not, I just need to know that the temperature should be controlled so that the water column just reaches this line so that chicks can hatch.
Once the temperature is controlled, everything else will be easy. The fire is set up, the eggs are put in, and the quilt is covered. Although at the beginning, the water thermometer failed and the fire size was not controlled well, so the eggs were steamed directly, or the temperature was not enough.
, the embryos froze to death and other reasons, a large number of eggs were lost. However, with step-by-step improvements and after becoming proficient, we are now able to hatch chicks stably.
Ben stepped forward and showed his token. Although the guards felt that the identities of Zhao Kuo and others were a bit unusual, they still asked them to wait outside for a while.
When Li Yun, the person in charge of the farm, saw the token, his expression suddenly changed and he hurried out.
"Greetings to the king, hello to the queen." Li Yun came out and saw that it was indeed Zhao Kuo. He quickly clasped his fists and saluted. He was Li Mu's eldest brother, so he naturally knew Zhao Kuo.
"My king is here on tour, come and take a look." Zhao Kuo said with a smile.
There are three brothers in the Li family, Li Yun, Li Mu, and Li Qi. Among them, Li Mu is the strongest, followed by Li Qi. Although Li Yun is older, he is still slightly inferior to his two younger brothers.
In addition, he grew up in Qin State and later followed his father to Zhao State. Zhao State did not trust them very much, so he stayed at home idle until Zhao Kuo took office and put him in charge of managing the breeding farm.
"Your Majesty, please, Queen please." Li Yun stretched out his hand and said.
"Aren't outsiders usually allowed in here?" Zhao Kuo looked around, then walked inside with Po Nu in his arms.
From the outside, the farm looks very large. Part of it is built on flat land, and part of it is built on mountains and in Danshui. The outside is blocked by nets to prevent chickens from flying out.
"In the past, you could visit them casually. Later, these chickens were infected with plague and many died. The rest were all killed and sent to the military camp. The doctor here said that people from outside can easily bring viruses and other things in.
From then on, no outsiders were allowed in," Li Yun said.
That plague brought Zhao State, whose breeding industry had just developed, back to before liberation. Except for the geese, most of the chickens and ducks suffered. Otherwise, the current scale would have expanded at least several times.
Although Zhao Kuo has always said that everyone can eat meat during the holidays, he knows that this goal is completely unrealistic. The reason why he can have enough food is because of the popularization of Quyuan plows and cattle, which allow everyone to cultivate more
soil of.
Under the conditions of Zhao State, even the cheapest fish and meat cannot satisfy all the people.
Similarly, although large pastures have been built on the grasslands, it is unlikely that everyone can eat beef and mutton.
But if one doesn't work, or two don't work, then bring in a few more. Fish need to be caught, large pastures need to be planned, and farms need to be built. If these three are added together, there will always be a chance for everyone to eat meat in the future.
The entire Zhao State only had more than five million people. Even if one person weighed one pound, it would only weigh more than five million pounds. Zhao Kuo didn't believe it. Zhao State couldn't even produce this little meat.
"..." Zhao Kuo looked around and was a little silent. The breeding farm was ventilated on all sides, and it was open-air. It was not far from the official road. People were coming and going, and others could pass the virus in if they walked around outside. This is a broken farm.
Even the Internet can't stop it.
However, it is also right not to let outsiders in. It can avoid a lot of unnecessary troubles and accidents. As for the reasons, there is no need to go into details.
"This is the incubation room, which is specially used to hatch chickens, ducks and geese. This farm mainly raises chickens. Ducks and geese are just bred because they are close to Danshui. After they are hatched, they are sent to the indoor breeding next to it.
After half a month, you can put it outside." Li Yun said.
Soon, several people came to a large open space, which was covered with a layer of thatch. A group of palm-sized chickens used their feet to pull the thatch and look for insects under the grass.
"After we plow the field, sprinkle some porridge or cooked millet on it, and then cover it with a layer of fresh thatch, and small white bugs will grow under the grass. These bugs grow very fast.
, plus the earthworms, grubs and other small insects in the field, it can basically satisfy the chickens’ food needs.”
"We only need to feed the chickens once in the evening to make the chickens grow faster. Every once in a while, we change a piece of land. In the second year, we change a large piece of land and plant crops on the previous piece of land, and so on."
Li Yun pointed to the open space in front of him and said.
There is no indoor breeding these days, and there is no feed. Not to mention that it cannot be produced, even if it can be produced, the cost is terrifyingly high.
Not to mention feed, Zhao Guo was reluctant to give food to chickens and could only raise some small insects.
The advantage of this method is that it saves food, and the chickens produced are more delicious. Even the probability of giving birth to internal energy is much higher than that of other chickens. After all, there is a difference between eating meat and eating vegetarian food.
The disadvantage is that the breeding area required is too large. Just look at the scope of the farm and you will know that it spreads from the top of the mountain to the Danshui River, all of which are used to raise chickens.
However, Zhao State is vast and sparsely populated, with large tracts of land vacant, and food is always in short supply, so this method is the most suitable.
"This method is good, has it been promoted?" Zhao Kuo asked.
"It has been popularized and now all farms use this method to raise chickens," Li Yun said.
"Where are the geese and ducks?" Zhao Kuo asked.
"Ducks are generally raised in rice fields. They can freely eat weeds, floating matter and pests in the fields. Duck manure can also fertilize the fields. They are then driven out when the rice is sizing." Li Yun said.
"As for geese, because they eat far more than ducks, they can easily eat rice seedlings. They are also large and destructive. They can easily overwhelm rice seedlings when they fall into rice fields or flap their wings. In addition, geese only eat grass, not insects, and
Pests cannot be removed from rice, so it is raised in rice fields, instead in lakes or rivers with abundant water and grass. However, after the rice is harvested, chickens, ducks and geese can be driven in."
"It turns out there are so many ways inside. No wonder the king always said that it is better to travel thousands of miles than to read thousands of books." Liu Ping said with emotion.