24岁的小伙尚育康被网友称作“鸡司令”，他有几千名“手下”，它们不仅配合着做直播、拍短视频，还配合他表演。
尚育康生于甘肃陇南成县白马寺村，17岁的他就开启了打工生涯。他去过很多城市，干过餐饮，当过工人。
城市虽繁华，尚育康却感到很孤独。当他看到财经节目中养殖贵妃鸡的案例后，他决定自己也要试一试。于是，他带着打工攒下的4万块，回老家开始养鸡。
Shang Yukang, 24, is a chicken farmer as well as an internet celebrity in China who has nearly 500,000 followers on Kuaishou, a video-sharing platform. He has been given the nickname "chicken commander" because of his army of chicken "soldiers" who obey his commands as well as perform and livestream with him, bringing lots of benefits to him and villagers.
Shang was born in Baimasi village in Cheng County in the northwestern Chinese province of Gansu. Opportunities there were scant and most young people migrated in search of work. This left the village with only about 100 elderly people and children.
Like many others, after turning 17, Shang, who grew up with his grandparents, left his hometown. He did odd jobs for two years as a cook, driver and factory worker as he drifted from one big city to another. However, the wandering life made him feel lonely. In 2015, inspired by a TV program on agriculture, Shang decided to return home with his savings of 40,000 yuan (about $5,900) to start a Houdan chicken farm. The Houdan is a breed of chicken native to France that is known for its delicious and tender meat after cooking.
尚育康曾遭到长辈的质疑，也曾由于缺乏经验承受经济损失，但是他并没有放弃。
一个偶然的机会让他的“养鸡”事业发生了转机——他别出心裁地把饲料摆成了心形，让小鸡“比心”，成功完成了一波“土味告白”。
这个视频第二天就在快手上收获了百万点击量，尚育康也由此获得了大批粉丝。
之后，他开始拍各种养鸡趣味视频。疫情期间，他还让“手下们”摆出了医生的造型，以此向奋战在一线的医护人员致敬。
目前，尚育康已积累47万粉丝，网友亲切地称他为“鸡司令”。
在政府的帮助下，尚育康还成立了养殖合作社，他统一发放鸡苗给当地的贫困户，再把养大的鸡高于市场价回收，带动他们一起脱贫致富。
尚育康说，“我就想让我爸妈回来，一起办这个养殖场，在家门口赚钱，一家人在一起才是最大的幸福”。
尚育康希望让更多年轻人相信，即使留在家乡也能干出一番事业。
Shang's decision met strong opposition from his grandparents who believed it was a risky endeavor as their grandchild had no experience in raising chickens. His grandfather thought he should learn a craft and continue to work outside the area and earn more money.
But Shang was determined. He searched for information about raising chickens online and also consulted experienced farmers. Gradually, he mastered the techniques and gained a tiny profit from selling chickens. But if he was to increase his earnings, he had to find ways of taking his business outside the remote village. Shang often watches short videos on Kuaishou during his spare time. He saw many people share videos about their rural lives on the platform. He thought he could do the same.
One day in 2017, Shang tried to make his chickens line up in the shape of a heart by laying rice strategically on the ground. He recorded this process and uploaded it online. The short video quickly went viral and gained over one million views within two days. From then on, Shang would record short videos from time to time and post them online. He made chickens form various shapes including auspicious Chinese characters. People loved his creations and began requesting customized formations. As his fame increased, so did sales of his chickens.
In March, Shang made an image of a doctor wearing a mask with 4,000 chickens, to pay tribute to doctors who were fighting against COVID-19 on the front line. With local government's help, he has established a chicken breeding cooperative. He distributes baby Houdan chicks to poor villagers for breeding and then buys mature chickens at a higher price to help them get out of poverty.
"I hope that more young people can believe that even if they stay in their hometown, they can have a good business and earn money so that the children in the village can also have a warm home and grow up in the company of their parents," Shang said.
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