Connecticut western news., 1885-10-07
AFORTUNE IN OSTRICHES
Description of an Interesting
 California Industry.
How the Big Birds are Raised, and the
 Profit They Bring.

"Hello what are you doing?" was asked yesterday of an old Cincinnatian who was on Change, but who for sev- eral years has been a resident of Low CT California.
 "Got new business. Lots of mon- ey in it. l am running an ostrich farm and have done so we'll that I'm thinking of importing couple of hun hred more birds from Cape Town"
 "Where's the money?"
 "Why, in the feathers, man. They retail at several dollars a piece, and the demand for them is continually in- creasing. and will so long as women possess vanity"
 How many feathers will an ostrich yield?"
 "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 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 uable or beautiful. The hen yields fine plumes from her wing tips, and they are generally spotted and flecked with gray, and are called feminines. Those which in the male birds are black are gray with her"
 "They are sorted, I supposeP"
 "Oh yes, according to their quality and purity of color. The pure whites from the wings are called 'bloods,' the next quality prime whites,' 'firsts,' seconds and so on. 'Bloods' bring from s20O to $25O a 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?'
 "A 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 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 inclosures 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 ch- es.'
 "Thats done by matching the eggs with an incubator The chicks thrive and do we'll. Ostriches pair about the beginning of March and the female lays her eggs toward the end of April. Her nest is hollow basin that she scrapes out of the sand. She lays 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 first few weeks they are out of their shell. It 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 a 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 peaks. They are also fed on Indian corn, of which they are very fond" e
 Are they vicious when breeding ?"
 "Yes; especially the male, which has been known to attack and kill a man They are fearless animal at such times. When the females leaves the nest the male sits upon the eggs and while she is sitting he walks about in lordly manner in order that no harm may come."-Ctnctnraatt Enquirer.