The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1893-01-08
RAISING OSTRICHES.
Tho Young Birds Hatchod in Largo
IncubatOrs.
A business That Yields an Enormous
Profit, t;ut Requires the Great
est Care How tho Pluck
ing Is Doac.

The wife of an English ostrich-brccd.
CIR in Cape Colony compares the young
ostrich that has just cleared its nest to
Il hedgehog mounted on stills and pro-
vidcd with Il long neck. The feathers
arc nothing more than grayish hristlcs.
while head and neck are covered with Il
fine. spcckl"d down. soft as velvet. \
difference of the sexes is not yet dis
ccrniblc i'll the plunagc.
Very few ostrichcs arc born nova
days ont of captivity. for the fashion of
the day has developed ostrich
into one &c the hcst-paying industries.
which yields Il handsome revenue to
several countries. especially the deserts
and waste lands Of southern Africa.
The valuation of the South African
export of ostrich feathers amounts. to
Gvc million dollars p2rnrnum. Hunting
the birds, has ceased entirely, for they
threatened to become cStinct in
some localities and Il rational breeding
is 10y far the most rcnuncrativc pro-
cccdin@. The value OF the feathers
varies with their quality. Daring the
second year OF lis existence u male bird
furnished two hundred and fifty thou
sand dollars worth Of Grst-qualty
plumcs and about ono hundred and fifty
Thousand dollars worth OF second grade
An ostrich farm yields from thirty to
fifty per cent OK its original invest
rucnt. and il prosperous times as high
us ono hundred per cent. says the st.
Louis Globe Democrat. The rational
breeding of the ostrich is of vast i'm
portancc to Cape Colony. Years ago
birds were exported to Australia with
such Il favorable result that the govern
ucnt of the cape imposed Il TAX of five
hundred dollars per bird and twenty
five dollars FOR every unattached egg for
expectation tariff. in order to protect
its own industry. This killed the OK
port entirely.
In the year OF 1915 the Number of
tame ostvichcs in the cape reached the
astounding sum Of thirtytwo thousand,
although the breeding of ostrichcS wcs
not commenced until 1868. To-day that
number has moro than doubled itself,
for in the meantime the incubators
have been largely improved
During the laying season, which
comes with the end nj the rainy period,
the ostrich hen lays one egg every day
until she has deposited from fifteen to
quantity just large enough to cover the
same with her body when Matching.
BY gradually taking away one egg after
another. as we do with our hens, the
big bird can bc induced to lay on an
average of thirty eggs, and in cXccp-
tiOnal eases even sixty eggs have been
accumulated. These surplus eggs are
artificially Matched in largo incubators,
Il
| 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 fifticth days, squeak
| ing noise is heard within and Il constant
| pcclling against the shell, which is as
hard as rock. In little while he
succeeds in punching Il triangular
hole through the shell, which the lit
tic 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
hatchings are always preferred to the
natural ones. Ii happens that just
| during the breeding time the ostrichc,
| have the most beautiful plumarc.
| which suffers greatly from the hatch
| ing process s!!lti l!c III the
/ sand and dust. At the time when
| ostrichcs became priced very highly
and artificial incubators were proper
tionatcly rare the surplus ostrich eggs
were hatchcd by IIottcntot women in
| large feather beds, an occupation which
was much to the liking of these danes,
SO prone to a dolce far niente" of such
prolonged period.
Tho raising of the young ostrichcs re-
! quircs great care and patience and Il
| large percentage of them die annually
from diseases and other accidents. The
ostrich is full-grown when five wears of
| age. 1t is then that the male bird has
( the most beautiful plumagc of Il black,
satiny sheen. The female birds
| feathers are light-gray. The most
valuable plumcs hang in delicate
fringe all around the body of the bird.
When the bird is nine months old its
feathers are pluckcd for the first time
At that time they are still stiff and
narrow, with pointed tips, and do not
yet give any idea of the beauty of the
later crops. During the second year
they become much more likely, although
still narrow and pointed. But ut the
third pluclling they are soft and broad,
as they should be.
On the large breeding farms men
mounted on horses drive the birds
together for the picking, for the
ostriches are apt to stray far away
from home. They are driven in de-
tachmcnts, first into large fold and
from this into u very small pen, the So
called piclling-pen. In this latter the
birds are so denscly packed together
that the dangerous individuals have no