Daily independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 188?-1915, 1892-09-24
RAISING OSTRICHES.
Tho Young Birds Hatched In Large
Incubatora
A business That Yields an Enormous
PROFIT. but Requires tho Great-
est Caro- How tho Pluck
Ing 10 Done.

ostrich that has Just cleared its nest to
q hedgehog mounted on stills and pro.
Vided with a long neck. The feathers
are nothing more than grayish bristles,
while head and neck are covered with a
fine, specified down, soft as velvet. A
difference OF the sexes is not yet dis.
ccrnible in the plumage.
Very few ostrichcs are born nova.
days out of captivity, for the fashion Of
the day has developed ostrich-breeding
into one of the best-paying industries,
which yields handsome revenue to
several countries, especially the deserts
and wuste lands of southern Africa.
The valuation of the South African
export Of ostrich feathers amounts to
five million dollars per annum. Hunting
the birds hns ceased entirely, for they
threatened TO become extinct in
some localities and u rational breeding
is by far the most remunerative pro-
ceedinH. The value Of the feathers
varies with their quality. During the
second year Of his existence male bird
furnished two hundred and fifty thou
sand dollars worth of frst-quality
plumes and about one hundred and fifty
thousand dollars worth of second grade.
An ostrich farm yields from thirty to
fifty per cent. on its original invest
ment, and in prosperous times as high
as one hundred per cent, says the ST.
Louis Globe Democrat. The rational
breeding Of the ostrich is Of vast i'm
portance to Cape Colony. Years ago
birds were exported to Australia with
such favorable result that the govern
ment of the cape imposed tax of five
hundred dollars per bird and twenty
five dollars for every unmatched egg for
expectation tariff, in order tO protect
it's own industry. This killed the exc
port entirely.
In the year of 1875 the number Of
tame ostriches in the cape reached the
astounding sum of thirty-two thousand.
although the breeding of ostriches VS.
not commenced until 1868. To-day that
number has more than doubled itself,
for in the meantime the incubators
have been largely improved.
During the layng season, which
comes with the end Of the rainy period,
the ostrich hen lays one egg every day
until she has deposited from fifteen to
twenty eggs In the sand pile nest, d
quantity just large enough to cover the
by gradually taking away one egg after
another. as we do with our hens, the
big bird can be induced to lay on an
average of thirty eggs, and in excep-
tional cases even sixty eggs have been
accumulated. These surplus eggs are
artificially Matched in large incubators,
but the eggs must be turned every day.
In from eight to ten days the first signs
of life are noticeable. Shortly before
the young bird is ready TO break the
shell of it's prison, which is between the
forty-fifth and fiftieth days, n squeak
ing noise is heard within and constant
peclxing against the shell, which is as
hard rs n rock. In n little while he
succeeds in punching q triangular
hole through the shell, which the lit
tie inmate tries hard to enlarge, in
order to become entirely liberated. If
he is not very strong he must be helped
in his attempt TO escape. The artificial
hatchiugs are always preferred to the
natural ones. 1t happens that just
during the breeding time the ostriches
have the most beautiful plumage,
which suffers greatly from the hatch
ing process and the squatting in the
sand and dust. At the time when
ostriches became priced very highly
and artificial incubators were proper
tionntely rare the surplus ostrich eggs
were Matched by Hottentot women in
large feather beds, an occupation which
was much to the liking of these danes,
SO prone to "dolce far niente" of such
prolonged period.
The raising Of the young ostriches re-
quires great care and patience and n
large percentage Of them die annually
from diseases and other accidents. The
ostrich is full-grown when five years of
age. 1t Is then that the male bird has
the most beautiful plumage of a black,
!satiny sheen. The female birds
feathers are light-gray. The most
valuable plumes hang in delicate
fringe all around the body OF the bird.
When the bird Is nine months old its
feathers are plucked for the first time.
H.A Al