The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1882-08-11
AN EGYPTIAN OSTRICH FARM.
An InsIaht into the eBusiness--rheusand eu nd Dol.
lar Ostriches, Their X and Feathers.

An InsIaht into the Bu-iness--TheusandD Dol.
lar Ostrichcs, Their X and Feathers.
A correspondent writing from Cairo,
Egypt, says: visited the only ostrich
farm in Egypt yesterday. It lies in the
desert within five miles OF Cairo, be
tween tho spot where Plato taught
school and the tree under which the
virgin aud the infant Jesus rested some
1900 years sgo. 1 had understood that
it was very hard to gain ndmittance to
the farm, as the stock was very timid
and easily frightened, and I knew OF
many travellers who had been turned
away from the gates. Armed. however,
with O letter OF introduction to Mr..
Vedder, the proprietor, took car
riage, and after pleasant drive through
several miles OF accacia-l lined avenues,
and past several Of the khedive's lath-
and plaster palaces, was set down bs.
fore the iron bars OF the entrance gate.
My letter procured me instant admis-
sion. The ostrich farmer, q sun-browned.
well-built, intelligent Swede, dressed
in sack coat, skull travelling cap and
top-boots, now appeared and together
we went over the farm. The ostriches
are kept in fields OF desert sand about
as large as a town lot. These fields are
surrounded by mud walls about seven
feet high and are entered by wooden
gates, The first field we came to con-
tanned about O dozen large females two
years and half old. They were of q
gray color, we'll festhered. and they ap-
pearcd quite tame as they stuck their
long, fiat, duck like bills over the seven
foot wall and attempted to pick az our
aets 1t Is @Eh ts pink syes wS sGsr
long legs, thoir naked, featheriess
necks, and their swo-clawed feet. one
kick Of which will cut mans head
from his shoulders. they formed queer
sight, and as raised my hand and said
shoo- 90 they spread their wings and
ran away at a two-minute pace, seeming
to almost swim over the ground.
"Each of these BIRDS" said Mr.. Ved-
der, sis worth from $1,000 to $500.
Their feathers alone bring each season
over $3.50, and we estimate each bird as
representing an income Of ESQ or $3.50
year. Between their feathers and
their eggs they ought to produce that"
"Then ostrich farming is, suppose,
profitable business p here asked.
eyes, it should be-" was the reply;
sit costs very little to keep the birds.
They live on beans and barley and sand.
About two dollars u month viii pay for
one birds food, and the sand, Of which
it eats from fourteen to sixteen pounds
daily costs nothing. 1 have 100 acres
of land here, most OF which is, as You
see, desert, and l now have seventy
ostrlches OF various ages, from two aud
one-half years to twelve days old. Be
sides this ] have over 100 eggs Matching
and in the spring I will have about 100
more birds"
"How many eggs will an ostrich lay
duringa season? p
"About twenty-five" responded the
farmer. >"Now is the laying season. In
the winter alone do they produce eggs.
After thcy have laid that number they
want to set. have two setting on their
eggs now. 1t takes forty-three days to
hatch them, and we do this both by the
natural and the artificial method. That
house over there" pointing to little
building to the right, SIS the incubator.
We merely place the eggs between
flannel, and keep the temperature at
blood heat. Do you see tnat box at
the side with glass holes at the end ?"
he continued. "Well, that is our ap-
paratus for examining the eyes Of the
young birds. If the eyes are white the
birds will produce neither feathers NOR
eggs and we kill them. II pink like
those you see to-day they are good
The next field we came to contained
q number of male birds which, to my
eye, showed little difference from the
female. We then visited a number of
other Enclosures where we saw ostriches
of all nges, and last came to some with
bodies not larger than good-sized
rooster, a Rrehma rnosta-- fo~ i-AsiA.es-
Their legs, however, were longer than
those Of the tallest Shanghai, and they
cudlled themselves down on the warm
ssnd, making peculiar squeaking
noise as they did so. These ostriches
were only about twelve days old, and
they wero the dearest little things
imaginable. though their feathers wera
still MS downy as youths moustache.
Tho feathers CT the ostrich, by the
way, are OF value according to their
color the white ones which come from
under the wing, being most valuable.
worth $3.50 pound in an undressed
state. The black and the gray ones are
cheaper.