Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1889-07-05
The American Ostrich.
Raising the Great Bird on Ranches in
California.
How the Rapidly Growing and Inter
esting Industry is Conducted.

WAsBINGToN.-I.i is not generally known
that the industry of ostrich farming
promises TO become a great one in the
United States. But the last annual report
of the Secretary of Agriculture gives
some valuable and very Interesting lnfor
nation on the subject. Several great
ostrich farms are now located in South
ern California, near Los Angeles and San
Diego, and visitors TO that region are sur
prised to see large troops of native and
acclimated ostriohs. America has for
many years i'm ported half of the mil
lions of ostrich feathers raised i'll South
| Africa, and some years ago it occurred 20
Dr.. Charles j. Sketchiy, who was, before
| the Boer wars, one of the largest ostrich
| farmers in Africa, that if ostrichs could
be successfully exported and naturaIized
| in America the profit would be immense.
| The DUTY oE feathers would be avoided,
thereby adding at least % per cent. to
the income. In 1882 he started from
Cape Town with troop of 200 picked
ostriches on their way to America, and
after long aid tedious voyage via
Buenos Ayres arrived at New York
| In December, and there shipped
these delicate tropical birds overland d
I via Chicago ard Omaha to the coast,
| Il lObdl OlSGdDCS OF miles. Inc CT
deal was most trying one, but twenty
| two arrived in California in fair condl-
tion and were at once taken to Auaheim.
A company was soon formed, the Cali
| foInia Ostrich Company, representing
| $4,000 capital, with DR.. Sketchly as sup
| erintendent. The farm where they were
placed was OF about 600 acres. The birds
were chiefly confined in small pens form
| rutth &c,
! These Enclosures were wal!ed around with
| planks standing about twelve feet high.
| These planks were twelve inches wide by
three inches thick. An ordinary fence
would not resist them, as they sometimes,
especially when frightened by dogs, ran
| against it with great force. OsGriches
are morally afraid of dogs, and hence this
aDiIA al Is prohibited from the vicinity of
the ostrich ranch. The first year these
| birds resided in America they prsseeted
| the com pany from April u, to October
of the same year, with 270 eggs. The first
| chick was hatched July 2S, 1888. The
! pioneer American ostrich chick began its
| career by feasting on broken sea shells;
! but it finally in a few days took to chop
| ped clover and corn meal. The arrival of
| so large a troop of ostriches in New York
| naturally created wide-s pread interest.
| About this time, or while these ostriches
! we're on their way to America, another
| company, he American Ostrich Company,
was set on foot in Maine, with Mr.. Z. j.
Johnson as manager. He went to Africa
and spent year in stuuying the habits
and management of these "birds" as they
are called. He started with twenty three
| birds ard landed in New Orleans, Decem-
ber, 1888, after voyage of fifty three
| days. The birds were confined in the
vessel sixty-three days, owing to delays
| at the Cape. None died on the voyage.
| This is rkeble, and is the only in
stance, exoeet when four birds were sent
| by steamer to Australia. They made the
| trip in twenty four hours.
Eight miles from Fail Brook, Cal, is a
bit of Africa dropped down between the
hills. A little valley enriched by barren
hills, herd of ostriches feeding, the old
| adobe, where the incubators are kept,
pOnegranate trees, and passion vines
| climbing over the low house, all make up
picture very unlike the conventional
| type of American landscapes. The birds
| seem to take kindly to their adopted
home There are about forty kept at the
ranch at present. The old birds are
placed in pairs in their several pens, and
| only the young are allowed to wander
| over the grounds. This is the ostrich
| ranch established by Mr.. johnson and the
second in the United States.
The pioneers of the ostrich farming
had many difficulties TO contend with.
| The long journey from Africa affected
| the vitality and fertility of the frat i'm
portations. Both Sketchly and johnson
had long, hard pulls and just began to
| see daylight in 1887. To aid their many
discouragements the prices of ostrich
plumes fell to small amount. The
feathers of little birds became fashionable;
so the sale of ostrich plumes, the chief
source of income in ostrich farming, was
meRger; but the fashion is now setting
tire other way, and choice plumes will be
in good demand at fancy prices. The
Cape Colony Government also took
| measures to injure the American farmers
b. the imposition of an ex port duty. The
South American ostrich farmers became
.laImed at the large expectation.
h y now have, 1t is estimated,
| about S50,000,000 invested in this indus
try, and they feared if they allowed large
troops of birds to be freely sent to the
very land that took every''y ear one half or
more of their feathers, this immense in
dustry would be crippled, and SO the 90
| duty of $500 on each bird taken out of
| hat country. But American enterprise
was far from discouraged by the ''benefi-
cent tariff" The high export tax of $500
on each bird will practically prevent any
| further shipments from Cape Colony, as
that will make the cost of birds not far
| from : 900 each when they reach this
country, especially when We consider the
"a # tn hnt far
| are prospering and the industry promises
| TO become great one. There are now
| six breeding farms in California. One
of the great difficulties met in this new
| enterprise was in obtaining reliable arti-
| fetal incubuators. If the old bird IL al
| lowed 10 sit she will stop laying when
| about sixteen eggs are deposited in the
| hollow nest they scoop out for resting
| place for the eggs. Then these birds are
| very sensitive and take fright and offense
| very easily, and if the eggs are handled
even, or the nest but slightly disturbed,
| she will forsske the nest. Sometimes
| they will leave it when the chicks are
nearly ready to break through the shell.
| The risk in getting chicks Matched is
| quite as great, especially with soung
| birds, as 1t has proved with the incuba-
tors. Various experiments were made
| and many eggs spoiled before az incub9-
| tor WAS found that was at all reliable
The Petaluma incubator has practical
| ly a monopoly on the ostrich hatching
| business in California. Eight different
styles of machines have been tried a. the
| several ostrich farms, and tbs P-.aiuma
has proved to b. the most sUccessi ul
! Three of these machines are in use :. tee
| farm of the American Ostrich Company,
| Angeles, and one is now being built for
the Washington Gardens ostrich farm,
Los Angeles.
The ostrich lays an egg every third day.
| The eggs are large, many of them FIVE or
six inches through the long diameter and
they weigh from three to five pounds
eacn- The shell is usually very thick,
sometimes one sixteenth OF an inch. The
contents resemble that OF a hens egg.
snd as DR.. Barnes letter informs Us,
amount to forty fluid ounces. The per-
iod of incubation Is vsriously given at
from thirty eight TO fozty-tso days, and
doubtless depends upon the vitality and
development of the chick. The average
in California Is thirty-nine days. The
young chick can be heard In it's shell
days before it appears Il is sometimes
necessary to assist the chick in breaking
the shell. In the wilGs of Africa the
crows have learned to crush the Ostrich
eggs by letting stones fall on them from
! height. In Africa the EN- pty sheiIs are