Chapter 867
Introduction Channels
Li Fulin nodded and said in a low voice, "The strong prey on the weak, and only the fittest survive!"
Yue Feng picked up his teacup and took a sip: "That's right! Falcons are a bit better off, as their breeding areas generally have plenty of food. But for some larger eagles, the growth period for the chicks is much more challenging!"
"Those eagles can only give birth to one or two chicks at a time, right?"
Yue Feng nodded: "Pretty much. Golden eagles, for example, usually lay two eggs. Sometimes one chick hatches, and if they're lucky, two chicks can hatch!"
While falcon chicks do fight over food in the nest, it's not usually very intense.
If it's a golden eagle chick, in a year when food is scarce, the smaller chick becomes a backup food source for its older sibling!
If the parent birds fail to find food for several days in a row, the eldest will peck the second youngest to death and eat it!
"Tsk tsk, these hairy beasts, the bigger they are, the more cruel they are!" Li Fulin exclaimed in amazement upon hearing this.
"An eagle is an eagle; the reality forces them to have no choice! If we're in this line of work, we have to understand its habits!"
Uncle Li, you should have taken note of the specific details I discussed with Xiao Dong and Ming Kai at the club today, right?
Li Fulin nodded: "Old Liu and I are both learning diligently!"
This spring, the club has been under construction, so Lao Liu and I have been able to relax a bit.
Once all the basic infrastructure is in place, it will be up to Lao Liu and me to take care of these things!
Although the two young masters, Xiao Dong and Ming Kai, are polite and quite humble, they can't stay at the club as frontline workers for long!
What Yue Feng was trying to say in his previous sentence was actually this.
Unexpectedly, Li Fulin was quite perceptive; before Yue Feng could even bring up the topic, he blurted everything out himself.
As a mutual friend of these young masters from the capital and the old-school hawkers, Yue Feng's role is more like a bridge of communication. For their relationship to remain stable in the long term, they all need to be aware of each other's intentions.
Yue Feng continued, "If you and Uncle Liu don't have anything to do, you'll go for a stroll at the club every now and then!"
Especially in the training and feeding of fledglings, you can get involved more!
If you're worried that Xiaodong and the others might overthink things, you can arrange a shift so that everyone can take turns resting!
I'll bring this up with them when I have some free time tomorrow or the day after. It won't involve anything else, and they'll definitely agree!
If I have nothing else to do during this time, I will help you correct these little problems of the fledglings!
In this way, Xiao Dong and Ming Kai realized their limitations, and you and Grandpa Liu were able to establish a firm foothold at the breeding farm!
"Xiaofeng, you..."
Upon hearing Yue Feng's arrangement, Li Fulin's mind immediately cleared, and his gaze towards Yue Feng changed.
Yue Feng squinted and smiled slightly: "Haha, don't overthink it. We people who make a living with our skills deserve some basic respect!"
Words are words, and facts are facts! What do you say?
Yue Feng didn't completely expose the truth, but Li Fulin already understood what Yue Feng meant.
So, these seemingly minor issues with the falcon chicks weren't something Yue Feng forgot to point out earlier, but rather something he deliberately left unaddressed. His purpose was to showcase his and the two falconers' professional abilities through these details.
Of course, Yue Feng would never say these words aloud, much less admit them. At this moment, the Machiavellianism of adults was perfectly embodied.
After listening to Yue Feng's words, Li Fulin nodded again: "Thank you for your kindness! Lao Liu and I are grateful to you!"
"Haha, I was just rambling on, Uncle Li, please don't overthink it! It's getting late, pack up and go back to your room to get some sleep!" Yue Feng said with a laugh.
"Okay, I drank quite a bit tonight, and I'm actually a little sleepy!"
……
Yue Feng watched as Li Fulin turned and went back to his room. He then drank a few cups of tea at the tea table while holding the little one in one hand, before putting the eagle down and returning to his room to rest.
Over the next two days, things gradually calmed down.
Yue Feng, along with Li Fulin, Xiao Ying Liu, and Jin Long, went to the club almost every day to personally guide these young eagles and correct their bad habits. They lived a very comfortable life.
After accurately diagnosing the problem, the process of correcting the fledgling eagle's bad habits progressed much faster than expected.
After halving the food supply for three days and changing the feeding habits, the fledgling eagles in the cages have greatly improved their howling for food, and it is no longer as exaggerated as it was at the beginning.
On the fourth day, Yue Feng and his group arrived at the club in the morning.
After the routine feeding and training were over, and the little one was having fun in the spacious area, a car drove up to the club's main entrance and quickly stopped in the marked parking space.
Upon hearing the sound of the car engine, Yue Feng habitually looked up and glanced at it.
Soon, he saw Ye Jianjun and the chubby Feng Huanping get out of the car.
"Jinlong, Brother Jun and Brother Feng are here!" Yue Feng whispered a reminder.
Hearing the greeting, Jinlong turned his head and glanced over: "Hey, it really is Brother Jun and Brother Feng! Let's go over there?"
Yue Feng nodded and whistled at the little guy who was still hovering more than 100 meters in the air.
The next second, the little creature folded its wings and, like a diver, plunged down from the sky, landing precisely on Yue Feng's arm.
"Uncle Li, Grandpa Liu, let's go back and have some tea together? Brother Jun and Brother Feng are here!" Yue Feng greeted them.
"You guys go ahead, I'll go with Lao Liu to take a look around the cages!" Li Fulin waved his hand, wisely choosing not to go with them.
"We'll head over now. Don't wander off later; we'll most likely have lunch at the club! We can have a drink together then!"
"it is good!"
……
After exchanging a few brief greetings, Yue Feng and Jin Long walked back side by side, quickly climbing up the slope to the top of the dam.
"Brother Jun, Brother Feng!!" Yue Feng greeted them with a smile.
Feng Huanping patted Yue Feng on the shoulder with a smile, his tone tinged with reproach: "You little rascal, you came to Beijing without even saying hello. I only heard about it from Jianjun!"
"Hehe, I just arrived, I haven't had a chance yet! How's the big eagle from last winter recovering?" Yue Feng chuckled and changed the subject.
Feng Huanping replied, "They've all recovered. Now that they're in the cage, the small hairs on their breasts and other parts have started to fall out!"
"What kind of eagle did you get this time? It doesn't look like a caged falcon chick."
Yue Feng reached out and patted the little one's head: "You asked about this? This is a little eagle I just got this year!"
It's very smart, just a little small. It's fine as a pet, but not so good at work!
The little bird seemed to enjoy being petted on the head by its owner, its eyes slightly narrowed and its short hairs fluffed up, displaying a very friendly demeanor. "What kind of falcon is this? I've never seen an eagle with this kind of plumage before."
Feng Huanping's gaze never left the little one, staring at its chest, back, even its tail and crotch.
Feng Huanping was not someone who could be easily fooled. He was already very knowledgeable about birds of prey, and he had a broad understanding of professional knowledge about birds of prey, including subspecies and coloration.
The feather color and shape of the falcon that Little Dot is currently exhibiting do not match any of the known ones in his memory.
"This is a hybrid falcon! It's the offspring of last year's grey falcon and a second-generation gyrfalcon!"
Seeing that the other party wouldn't give up even after getting no results, Yue Feng simply told the truth.
"A hybrid falcon! Wow, that's a rare find! Is it the offspring of that Altai falcon you mentioned last time, a hybrid of a gyrfalcon and a hawk?"
Upon hearing the name "hybrid falcon," Feng Huanping's eyes lit up, and he continued to ask for more details.
“Yes! That female Altai falcon has a very gentle temperament. We paired her up this spring, and it took some effort, but she got pregnant, and that's how this brood of hybrid falcons came about! This little one is the smallest of the brood,” Yue Feng said truthfully.
"Jianjun and I just came over. Were you hawking your birds down there? How's the hybrid falcon flying?"
"Not bad, good stamina, good height increase! Pretty fast!"
"Tsk tsk tsk, what a find! The gyrfalcon and the Altai falcon can actually produce such a small hybrid falcon! How are the other eagle chicks from the same nest? Are they all the same color?" Feng Huanping continued to ask.
Yue Feng shook his head: "Only this one is this style; the others are more like the body shape of a gyrfalcon! And the color is mostly gray!"
"What are you planning to do with this little eagle? Just keep it as a pet?"
Upon hearing this, Feng Huanping looked at Yue Feng, as if trying to glean something from the details of Yue Feng's eyes and expression.
Yue Feng replied, "I plan to keep this eaglet as a breeding bird! Although it's not very big, it's fast and has a good temperament!"
If we can crossbreed to produce good offspring that improve upon physical weaknesses, then it will be useful!
“That’s right! Your idea is very sound! This is how pigeons were raised before! They bred all sorts of breeds like the Little Beak, the Hibiscus, and the Crested Goose, and so on, that’s how the older generation of pigeon breeders did it!” Feng Huanping said as if reciting a familiar story.
At this moment, Ye Jianjun chuckled and joked, "Alright, alright, you two brothers seem a bit obsessed! It's under the blazing sun, aren't you hot? Come inside and have some tea before we talk!"
"Yes, yes, let's go inside and talk!" Yue Feng immediately followed Ye Jianjun's lead and went inside as soon as he saw that Ye Jianjun was covering for him.
Once the tea was brewed, the conversation quickly turned to eagles again.
Feng Huanping was very interested in the hybrid falcon in Yue Feng's hand and asked many questions about eagles, to which Yue Feng answered fairly objectively.
"Xiaofeng, your hybrid falcon is a real gem! If you get any good adult birds later, remember to save one for me!" Feng Huanping said.
Yue Feng grinned: "No problem! My family's breeding farm produced two broods of eaglets this year, and next year there will be at least two or three pairs of sub-adult eagles that can pair up and start breeding!"
In a year or two at most, the number of eagles in the breeding farm will double!
"It's our own business; when the time comes, we can choose whatever we want and make it!"
Feng Huanping was overjoyed: "Great!! Then let's make it clear beforehand, I have to be one of them!!"
These things are rare items outside.
To be honest, I've also asked friends abroad to do some research during this time. Whether it's a peregrine falcon, a saker falcon, or a golden eagle, these artificially bred eagles are all incredibly expensive.
Moreover, the requirements for the procedures are extremely strict; even with money, it's impossible to obtain one for private breeding like ours!
When Yue Feng heard Feng Huanping mention the crucial information about raptor breeding abroad, he immediately became interested.
He had some knowledge of it on forums in his previous life, but the information was mostly fragmented and the information he actually had was not systematic.
"Brother Feng, have you asked your friends about the artificial breeding of birds of prey abroad? Is it possible to get a breeding stock of gyrfalcons?" Yue Feng continued to press on.
New sources of breeding birds are of great significance to raptor breeding farms. If Yue Feng can obtain gyrfalcon breeding birds with excellent bloodlines, he will have even more room to maneuver.
Feng Huanping shook his head: "From what I understand, most of the breeding farms abroad are controlled by state entities, the most representative of which is the Peregrine Fund!"
Their artificial breeding of birds of prey is aimed at steadily increasing the population and saving endangered birds of prey, not primarily for commercial purposes!
Given this objective situation, it is extremely difficult for an individual to legally and legitimately obtain breeding stock from them!
Putting aside everything else, they can't even resolve the legal import/export procedures at customs!
The mere mention of the Peregrine Fund instantly activated long-dormant memories in Yue Feng's mind.
At this point in time, in places like North America, the peregrine falcon, a species of raptor, was nearly extinct.
The reason is quite interesting. A pesticide called DDT is widely used, and after bioaccumulation, it affects birds of prey at the top of the food chain, the most typical example being the peregrine falcon.
Peregrine falcons that have been 'contaminated' lay eggs with extremely thin shells, resulting in a sharp drop in hatching rates and causing a significant decrease in the number of new peregrine falcon species.
In order to save the endangered peregrine falcon, these government-led organizations were established, which directly promoted the development of artificial breeding of birds of prey.
Of course, the information provided by Feng Huanping also has certain limitations.
Purchasing it for personal or commercial purposes was definitely not feasible, given the legal and background restrictions at the time; there was simply no room for maneuver.
However, if one can use reproductive research or official projects to "skirt" the line, there is still some room for maneuver.
Yue Feng nodded after hearing Feng Huanping's answer, and then asked, "It's definitely quite difficult to introduce foreign birds of prey in one's own name!"
Is it possible to do it in the name of an organization or project?
As far as I know, the introduction of species for commercial purposes is not allowed, but the introduction for scientific research purposes should be possible if the conditions are met!
Our club's facilities are basically complete now. From the enclosures to the activity areas, and the zookeepers' professionalism, everything is top-notch! Maybe we can even get a spot?
Upon hearing Yue Feng's suggestion, Feng Huanping's expression changed slightly.
The path Yue Feng mentioned was another theoretically feasible and legal way of introducing species, which Feng Huanping learned about through an elder.
In fact, he has already been looking for people to try to do this, but the project has not yet been launched, so it has not been exposed to the public.
Unexpectedly, Yue Feng, who is far removed from the center of power, also knew about such a cutting-edge, hidden policy approach.
This made Feng Huanping think more highly of Yue Feng. (End of Chapter)