St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1891-06-13
ON AN OSTRICH RANCH.
DIFFICULTIES OF RAISING THE
BIG BIRDS.
The Queer Diet That Suits li-Grown
Bird-Eating Lighted Nicer
"a schaum Pipe-Waltzing and
Breaking a Leg.


| "a schaum Pipe-Waltzing and
Breaking Leg.
| When from four to six months Old
writes a San Diego correspondent of
the New York Commercial, the Young
ostriches are supposed to have passed
all the dangers CT youth. and are then
turned into the kraal with the old
est and biggest male OF the flock looks
upon them as his special charge. He
shows them about the kraal and points
out every place OF interest, such as the
softest bed of sand, the best roosting
ground, where flies are the most
plentiful, teaches them to waltz. and
acquaints them with the keepers gate
and the hour of feeding. At meal time
he stands guard and sees that his pro-
teges have undisputed possession of
whatever there may be-after he has
had his fill.
The female natures in four years
and the male in five. They are then
paired, and each couple put in kraal
Of about an acre in extent and expect
ed to set up housekeeping on their
own account. The breeding season
lasts about three months, and the
keeper promptly takes charge of the
eggs until the full number are laid
which is usually from II to Is. After
the breeding season the birds are put
back into the large kraal and expected
| 70 oh i,
about sc feathers, not counting some
smaller ones take3 from the breast and
tail. Formerly they We're pulled out,
the process being known as plucking;
but IS the feathers We're liable to be
broken, recourse was had to cutting
The quill is cut two or three inches
from the flesh, and after few weeks
the stubs are pulled out.
The feathers are sorted into four
parcels, namely, white, black, gray and
tail feathers. A full-grown ostrich
will yield from $50 to 1928 worth of
feathers in year. But this depends
very much upon the quality and the
market prices.
Their diet for the most part consists
of vegetable food and bones two
extremes. They will eat anything
| green, from afalya to the flowers on a
lady's hat. They are particularly fond
of lettuce and cabbage leaves, and
large quantities of these are used at
the ostrich farms in san Diego county.
Considerable linz and broken bones
are given them.
In eating. they have a peculiar habit
Of eulping everything down whole,
Even in drinking wafer t!"y swallow it
in large gulpsas though it We're Il solid
instead of fluid. They are rcmark5.-
bly, expert in catching in their mouths
anything thrown to them. They cX-
pect every visitor + feed them, and
one wants no better amusement than to
feed out Il bunch Ct grapes by throw
ing one grape at a time in their midst.
The grape never touches the ground.
A dozen heads dive for it, the one with
the longest neck usually gets it. and
the others get anything from mouth
full of air to the head of another os-
trich. Throw a few apples or oranges
in quick succession to an ostrich and
you will see an equal number of Jumps
few inches apart working their way
down the long neck.
The keeper of this farm relates a
story of a gentleman who came into
the kraal smoking heavy meerschaum
pipe. He had been cautioned to look
out for it, but he thought no sensible
ostrich could possibly have any use for
meer schaum pipe. The ostrich came
about looking for something to eat, but
nothing had been provided, and .Old
Lightning'' rather looked upon it as a
breach Of etiquette. Watching his
chance he grabbed the pipe, made one
gulp and was out Of sight. The keep
e. had seen the movement in time to
catch the ostrich around the neck and
trip him to the ground. As the bowl
of the pipe was large and the stem
crooked, it had not got far on its jour
ney. BY pressing on the neck below
the pipe it was recovered none the
worse for the adventure and the tobacco
in it still burning. The gentleman now
values that pipe very highly, not so
much on account of its intrinsic value
as its associations.
While the healthy ostrich is not at
all particular about his diet. and will
eat anything swallowable, let him be
taken sick, and he positively refuses to
be comforted or dosed with medicine.
He vail nope aboutal day, and neither
eats nor drinks, and unless the sickness
be slight and of short duration he
usually starves himself to death; but
as they are very hardy birds it is very
rarely that one is taken sick, especially
after having reached the age of | year.
The greatest danger is from the break
ing of a leg. Strange as it may SEEM
bird has never been known to recover
from an accident of this kind. They
have peculiar habit Of Waiting that
often results disastrously. When any
thing particularly pleases them they
90 round and round till overcome by
dizziness, when they fall, and the
chances are two to one that their long
legs get tangled up and the bird falls
on one and breaks it.
The Polar ESear.
Thanks to the high latitude which