Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1882-03-22
OSTRICH FARMING.

the subject treated: ostrich farming in
South America and the prospects for the
industry in the United States. A trade
pamphlet from Buenos Ayres gives the
following facts regarding ostrich farm
ing: A range of 5000 acres, in an open
state, will readily subsist and keep
5000 birds; with suitable Enclosures the
birds cost little to keep, as they thrive
on ordinary grass pasturage, although
grain allowance improves the plumage;
almost any soil ans wers, although one
containing gravel or small stones is pre-.
ferable; the birds seldom sicken, Craze
during the day, require little watering,
and lie down to sleep at night wherever
they happen to be; they "drive " very
readily, need no regular herdsman when
properly fenced, breed at four years for
the female and five for the male; one pair
will hatch out brood of ten or fifteen
four times a year; one egg day is laid
by the female, and when fifteen to twenty
are accumulated she sits on them in the
day, the male relieving her in the night;
forty-two days are required, and if the
chicks are removed after hatchlng, the
female at once recommences laying, in
this respect being very unlike the COM
mon hen. Chicks month old are worth
$50 at Cape Colony. At 6 to 8 months
they are plucked, and at the like interval
progressively; mature birds produce 25
long white feathers from each wing,
worth SIS apiece at Cape Town; chick
feathers are worth only IS per bird, but
the next plucking yield $40 to $50 per
bird, and at an assured average of $75,
there will be gross income of $3.50 in
sixteen months, or about $112 per year
per bird; with young and growing birds
the least hopeful view must assume at
least rs per cent. annual profit from
feathers, with also doubling in value of
the birds; the gross income from the
chicks produced by. one pair is from
$4,000 to $4,000 per year,. The consul
says it is popular error to suppose that
the ostrich is adapted chiefly to the des-
ert; probably it took to the desert to es-
cape its many enemies, and experience
has so well proved that it will thrive un-
der extreme temperatures that it would
evidently like succulent grasses much
better than desert fare. AtCape Colony
ostrich farming has now been fourteen
years established, and the consul, who
claims to have considerably Investigated
the subject, says the business ought to
thrive, especially in the United States.
The tempting figures presented suggest
the possibility of OVERRIDING feather pro-
duction. As to this, he says that the
feather exports from Cape Colony four
teen years ago were $350,000 in value,
chiefly from wild birds; now the value
is 81, 500, 900; yet prices have not de-
clined. All the female sex demand the
feathers; present profits are such as
make ostrich farmers careless of the dis
tant future, but fear of any collapse in
demand is almost absurd. There is a
chance that the above reports may bear
fruit in Parks County, Ind, if ostriches
can be called fruit. A number of men,
encouraged by the recorded profits of
ostrich farms, are planning to go into
the business themselves, and have al
ready figured out magnificent results,
somewhat after the manner of the milk
maid in the spelling book. They intend
to import the eggs and hatch them by
artificial means, and are sanguine that
the climate of Indiana will be favorable
to their enterprise.