The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1885-10-01
AF0RTUNE IN OSTRICHES
Description OF an Interesting
California Industry.
How the Big Birds are Raised and the
Profit They Bring.


"liello !! what are you doing?" was
asked yesterday of an old Cincinnatian
who was on Change, but who for sew
sral years has been resident of Low
sr California.
"Got new business. Lots of mon
" in it. am running an ostrich
farm and have done so well that I'm
thinking of importing couple of hun
ared more birds from Cape Town."
"Where's the money!"
"Why, in the feathers, man. They
FETAL at several dollars a piece, and
Me demand for them is continually in
aeasing, and will so long as women
possess vanity"
"How many feathers will an ostrich
Gield?"
"That depends. Some of them as
much as fifteen pounds at clipping;
others not more than three. The long,
white plumes that the ladies all over
;he world prize so highly grow on the
ends OF the wings of the males A
good bird in his prime will yield from
;wenty 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
piumes from her wing tips, and they
are generally spotted and fecked with
gray, and are called feminines. Those
Which in the male birds are black are
gray with her"
"Ihey are sorted, 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 so on. 'Bloods' bring
from 5000 to $3.50 pound in the
wholesale market. and then from this
figure run down as low as few dol.
lars to the pound"
"What are the birds worth?"
ga healthy bird week old is worth
$50; at three months, $75; at six
months, $50. You can begin to pluck
the feathers when the bird is a wear 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 fits and
fight ferociously, frequently tearing
each others eyes out, pulling out
feathers and sometimes breaking
legs"
do they kick hard?"
"Why, blow from one of their legs
has been 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 ostri CHI
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 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 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 hatched for the
first few weeks they are out of their
shell. 1t takes six weeks to hatch the
young birds and in three years they
attain their full size. They live great
deal together, and it is not uncommon
to see the nest of large family to-
gether. the grandfather and grand
mother in the middle and the younger
generations gathered round about"
what do you feed these young os-
triches Matched out by the incuba-
tors?'
The principal food is lucerne and
thistles 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
corn, of which they are very fond"
Are they vicious when breeding?"
"Ies; especially the male, which has
been known to attack and kill a man.
They are fearless animal at such I
times. When the females leaves the
nest the male sits cpon the eggs and
while she is sitting he walks about in
a lordly manner in order that no harm
may ome."-Cincinnat Enquirer.
l.