The Abbeville messenger. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1884-1887, 1885-10-21
IN OSTRICHES
Description OF an Interesting
California Industry.
NV the Big Birds are Raised, and the
Profit They Bring.

Hello ! what are you doingp" vas
asked yesterday of an old Cincinnatian
who was on Change, but who for sew
eral years has been a resident of Low
or California.
''Got a new business. Lots Of mon
ey in it. I am running an ostrich
farm and have done so well that I'm
thinking Of importing a couple of hun
bred more birds from Cape Town"
"Where's the money!"
"Why, in the feathers, man. They
retail at several dollars a piece, and
she demand for them is continually in
:reasing, and will so long as women
possess vanity"
How many feathers will an ostrich
3ield?"
"That depends. Some of them as
much as fifteen pounds at a clipping;
others not more than three. The long,
white plumes that the ladies all over
the world prize so highly grow on the
ends of the wings of the males. A
good bird in his prime will yield from
twenty to forty of these feathers, be-
sides a few black feathers from the
wings. The tail feathers are not so val
liable or beautiful. The hen yields fine
plumes from her wing tips, and they
are generally spotted and tlecked with
gray, and are called feminines. Those
which in the male birds are black are
gray with her"
"They are sorted, I suppose?"
"Oh yes, according to their quality
and purity of color. The pure whites
from the wings are called 'bloods,' the
next quality prime whites 'frsts,'
seconds and 80 on. .Bloods' bring
from 5000 to $3.50 a pound in the
wholesale market, and then from this
figure run down as low as a few dol.
lars to the pound"
"What are the birds worth?"
ga healthy bird a week old is worth
$50; at three months, SIS; at six
months, $3.50. You can begin to pluck
the feathers when the bird is a year old
and they will yield about $35 worth a.
piece"
"When do you pair them"
"Not until they are about five years
old; then each pair yields about eight
cen to twenty-four eggs each season.
These pairs are kept in Enclosures by
themselves, because the males are very
Jealous and they take sudden nts and
fight ferociously, frequently tearing
bach others eyes out, pulling out
feathers and sometimes breaking
legs"
do they kick hard ?"
Why, a blow from n of their legs
has teen known to break a mans leg,
while the claw, above an inch long, Of
the front toe will tear the flesh from
head to foot. The wound from this is
said to be poisonous"
"How about raising young ostrich
es."
"That's done by Matching the eggs
with an incubator. The chicks thrive
and do well. Ostriches pair about the
beginning of March and the female laws
her eggs toward the end of April.
Her nest is a hollow basin that she
scrapes out Of the sand. She laws
about two dozen eggs and arranges
them in the nest in the form of a tri-
angle. with the point in front of her.
Some Of the eggs do not get Matched,
and these she breaks to feed to the
young ones that are Matched for the
frst few weeks they are out of their
shell. It takes six weeks to hatch the
young birds and in three years they
affair their full size. They live a great
deal together. and it is not uncommon
to see the nest of a large family to-
Nether. the grandfather and grand
= aother In the middle and the younger
generations gathered round about"
What do you feed these young os-
triches hatched out by the incuba-
tors?"
The principal food is lucerne and
thisties and herbs that grow in the
country. Old birds will feed on ma
tured shrubs and plants, the leaves Of
which they will strip off with their
beaks. They are also fed on Indian
corr, Of which they are very fond"
Are they vicious when breedingp"
eyes; especially the male which hos