Chapter 130 (continued)

Cistanche deserticola is also known as golden bamboo shoot because its growth pattern is somewhat similar to that of bamboo shoots.

There are also saxaul trees on the family's pasture, but they are all concentrated in an arid area at the foot of the northern mountain.

Based on Shi Wen experience, these saxaul trees are at least five or six years old, which is enough to grow Cistanche deserticola.

He picked up a small hoe, dug a hole half a meter away from the main trunk of the saxaul tree, found the roots of the saxaul tree, and planted the seeds of Cistanche deserticola.

After a period of time, the Cistanche deserticola should be able to sprout and parasitize the Haloxylon ammodendron tree.

There are quite a few saxaul trees here. Shi Wen they planted over three hundred seeds, but I wonder how many will actually germinate?

If even one-tenth of them sprout, then his efforts won't have been in vain.

If all else fails, he'll try planting it again next year.

After the seeds of Cistanche deserticola were planted, Shi Wen often came to inspect the area.

That day, he drove the pigs, cattle, and sheep out early in the morning, also to check if the Cistanche deserticola had sprouted.

He had only just finished his rounds of inspections, and hadn't even finished checking all the saxaul trees, when his phone rang.

The caller was Sikewell.

Sikewell: "Are you home? I don't see anyone here?"

"I'm here, on the north side of the ranch." Shi Wen pulled up the hood of his sweatshirt. "Come in and sit down, have some milk tea, I'll be right back."

Sikewell: "No rush, we'll wait for you at your house."

After hanging up the phone, Shi Wen didn't bother with his patrol and hurriedly rode his motorcycle home.

The dogs were grazing on the pasture. Seeing him ride by on his motorcycle, they barked twice from a distance, "Woof--Woof--"

Shi Wen him wave to the dogs, as if to say hello.

Shi Wen that Sikewell and Tang Duohai have been invited to come over today to castrate a rooster.

His family now breeds more than 2,000 Bress chickens, all between 30 and 70 days old, with roosters and hens each making up half.

The hens basically don't need any care; they'll grow up and need to lay eggs to reproduce.

Roosters should be castrated as early as possible while they are still young. Otherwise, roosters will have a stronger gamey smell and the meat will be coarser.

Shi Wen rushed home and met with Sikewell and Tang Duohai.

Sikewell laughed and said, "I've drunk three big bowls of your milk tea, and yours is still the best."

Shi Wen reached out and pulled the beanie over his hoodie down a bit. "If you like, bring a couple of bottles back later."

Sikewell: "No need, how could I possibly accept both food and gifts?"

Tang Duohai interjected with a laugh, "I drank enough this morning, I doubt I can drink any more."

Sikewell feigned anger. "Why did you expose me for no reason?"

The three chatted briefly, Shi Wen led them to the poultry shed. "I haven't let the Bress chickens out or fed them yet today, so it shouldn't affect the castration. However, I can't quite tell which are the roosters and which are the hens?"

Sikewell: "It's alright, we'll be able to tell when we catch them."

The three of them washed their hands and disinfected the equipment.

Shi Wen decided that Sikewell and Tang Duohai would sit in one of the chicken coops, which would temporarily serve as the operating room.

After Sikewell and Tang Duohai were ready, Shi Wen brought over two cages of chickens and placed one cage next to each of them.

The two of them didn't hesitate. They put on waterproof aprons, prepared their equipment, sat on small stools, and took the chickens out of the coop.

If it's a hen, they'll put it in the empty chicken coop next to them.

They placed the rooster on their laps, clamped it between their legs, and then took a scalpel and gently cut it open from the side. They then used a skewer to remove the rooster's testicles and cut them off.

Shi Wen watched clearly from the side; they first removed the left testicle, then the right testicle, and the entire surgery took no more than two minutes—an astonishingly fast operation.

The rooster was pinned between their knees and crowed loudly; thankfully, the castration was completed quickly.

After castration, the rooster stopped crowing much and became rather listless.

After observing for Shi Wen that the young rooster was in good condition after the castration and should be fine.

He breathed a sigh of relief and then went to examine the rooster's testicles.

The rooster's testicles were smaller than a soybean in his yard; they were tiny and pink.

Sikewell gently tossed the severed testicles onto a plate on the ground.

These testicles are edible; they're commonly called chicken eggs, and they taste pretty good. They're especially delicious with alcohol.

There are so many roosters today; they need to collect all their testicles to cook later.

Sikewell placed the castrated rooster in an empty coop on the other side, then grabbed the next rooster and began castrating it.

Tang Duohai was a little slower; by the time he caught a rooster in Sikewell, he had already castrated the rooster in his hand.

Perhaps the incision made during castration was small, or perhaps the rooster had a high pain tolerance; after being put into the cage, the rooster did not struggle and quickly tucked its wings in and went to the side to heal its wounds.

Shi Wen that they showed no unusual behavior, Shi Wen breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Sikewell and Tang Duohai acted quickly. Shi Wen went and brought over two more cages of chickens, and also took back the castrated chickens and the separated hens, put leg bands on them, and re-sorted them.

The work the three of them did wasn't particularly complicated, but the Shi Wen family had just too many chickens. They had a simple lunch, barely rested, and then continued working in the afternoon.

In the afternoon, Shi Wen had already learned how to castrate chickens and started casting them himself.

Although Shi Wen wasn't an expert, the three of them were still much more efficient than the two.

The difficulty lay in the fact that Shi Wen's family had far too many chickens; they worked until Yan Kexing returned, and the work was still not finished.

Seeing them busy here, Yan Kexing caught a Bress hen in the chicken coop and took it to the kitchen to cook.

They worked until after 7 p. m., when it was already dark. They kept the lights on and finally finished the job.

Shi Wen checked the leg bands on the app.