The Frankfort roundabout. [volume] (Frankfort, Ky.) 1882-1908, 1899-05-27
FRANKFORT, KY. SATURDAY, NAY -. 1899.

1ull grown pair Is worth about 5000.
The income is from the feathers.
The United States imported last
year three million dollars worth OF
feathers and produced only about $12,-
GOO worth. Each birl, after it Is 2
years cd, averages about pound OF
feathers. They are worth from $15
to 1925 pound. The feathers from
bird will average about $50. We
shipped seventy pounds last year.
There Is All import duty Of 20 per
cent on ostrich feathers brought into
this country.
"When the feathers are to be gath
cred we drive the birds into a close
pen and put sack over their heads.
The large feathers are then cut off
close to the body. Two months later
the quilts are easily pulled out. We
pluck a bird every eight months.
Only the feathers from the wings
and tail are OF any value"
"DO you have much trouble raising
the chickens?"
1--WE get about half of the eggs
Matched which are put into the incu-
batOr. The first few days the chick
ems are hard to keep alive. When 4
weeks old theyare safeand we consider
them worth at least 500 each. They
grow very rapidly and at 4 months
are nearly five feet tall. When full
grown, at about years, they will
average fully eight feet. When they
are very young we feed them little
grain, but the grown birds Craze for
themselves i'm the alfalfa fields. We
figure that one acre of irrigated alf-
alia'is necessary for each bird. The
small fields in " hich each pair is in
closed contains a half acre, and it
takes four of these pens to carry the
pair through the year. The grass Is
growing in one while the birds are
grazing in another" a
THEY ARE SPEEDY.
AS the ostrich tender talked to the
reporter he walked towards young
ostrich which stood regarding his APP
prOach with some fear. "COO-ee,
cOo.ee, coo ee," the man called softly.
| The bird cooked his head on one side
and shifted nervOusly from one foot
to the other. Finally his fear got the
better of his curiosity and he turned
and fed.
The flight of the ostrich over the
ground is marvellous motion. The
bird stoOps little, leans forward
and seems to spurn the sand with its
feet. The body rocks or sways from
side to side, but moves on a perfect
line and with tremendous rapidity.
1t seems but a second until it is at
the far end of the pen. The distance
is not sufficient to gain great head
way, however, and the capabilities
of speed upon the open desert must
be very great. They are terribly
afraid of dogs, and the smallest pup
will stampede the ostrich herd
quicker than anything else. This is
due to the fact that they have no
means of defense against small ami
mails. They will attack man on
horseback without hesitation.
The popular idea that ostrich eggs
are Matched by the sun is an error as
the birds attend very closely to sit
ting and they cover the big nestful
of eggs With great skill, considering
their great weight and comparative
lack of plumage. The Scriptures
say that an ostrich knOweth not its
young, but this is also an error, as
they take good care of the chickens,
running with them all day long and
brooding over them at night. The
large birds, when not mated, all
crowd together at night and sit on
the ground while they sleep.
THEY HAVE NO INDIGESTION.
The young ostriches, when taken
from the older birds, are put in an
alfalfa field. On the third day after
the chick leaves the shell he COM
mences to swallow small pieces of
rock and anything else hard he can
find. The ostrich keeps this up all
his life as his gizzard Is an inn
pOrtant part of his anatomy. 1t is
curious sight to watch the food going
down a grown ostrich's neck. A ball
of grass accumulates just under the
head and gradually works its way
down the long bare neck into the
body. One moment it projects in
front of the bird, another it is at the
back of his neck, all the time pre-
senting most ludicrOus appearance.
The feathers of the ostrich are OF
various shades and several colOrs, ac-
cOrding to the age and sex of the
bird. Those of the young are a mix
ture of white and yellow, turning to
dark drab on the female and to black
and white on the male. The most
valuable are those of the adult male.
Feathers of live birds are worth
more than feathers from dead birds,
and the feathers from the wild birds
from SyrlaandSouth Africa are worth
more than those taken from the do
mesticated ostrich. The wing feath-
ers are the largest and most flexible
and MANY are more or less White.