Bisbee daily review. [volume] (Bisbee, Ariz.) 1901-1971, 1908-11-29
HOW OSTR|CHES ARE
MATCHED AND RAISED
Also a Few Facts About Num-
Der of Eggs Laid Each
Season,

| A subscriber TO, the Phoenix RepuD
| lican having read the articles publish
ed recently on the subject of ostrichef
writes TO secure an extra number Of
| copies of that issue 10 send to nis
friends to further elucidate a subject
he took up with m3Ly of them dur
| ing a visit east last summer. He an
cidentally asks for some further infor.
nation, not published, but which he
lacked personally, not being himself
engaged In the ostrich business. That
is herewith given as it may interest
others besides the inquirer, the re
publican correctly thinks.
The question is regarding the mum
Der of eggs laid by an ostrich for one
incubation, or during one egg-layins
period. An ostrich lays from eight 10
twelve, their laying proclivitfes vary
ing Some of them enact this process
twice a year and some three times.
The poorest layer therefore should
produce sixteen eggs per year ana
the best layers thirty-six eggs.
The period of incubation for the
Matching of an ostrich egg Is forty
two days.
Where the birds are permitted to
hatch their own eggs the female bird
covers them in the day time. except
about an hour at midday when she is
relieved by the male bird. The male
bird covers the eggs at night.
Another question is ho% the chicks
may manage to break through the
thick, hard shells of the ostrich egg
Where the chicks are Matched by the
parent birds, the old birds sometimes
assist them if necessary by pressing
against the eggs with their breasts, at
the proper time, until the shells are
cracked when the chicks indicate
their activity by attempting to pick
their way out, which is the signal
for additional help from the parent
birds.
In the case of Marching by means
of an incubator, the attendant helps
the chick to break the shell. All bird
fanciers and other cbsefvant persons
have noticed that in the egg of hen
there is little air chamber between
the shell and the inner lining of the
egg. The ostrich egg is the same way.
AS incubation progresses this IN
creases somewhat in size as the SUD-
stance of the egg sclidifies. AS matur-
ity approaches the cnicks head is eIe-
waited into this air SPACE and at the
proper stage the effort to break
through the shell begins. How the
mother bird knows when the time
comes to help crack the shell, is too
deep for explanation by the Republi-
can, and the inquirer will have to
ask an ostrich. But in the case OIL
the incubator attendant, he holds the
egg up in dark room, facing light,
either artificial or the light of the en-
trance, and can plainly see the ar
space at one end of the egg. If the
proper stage of maturity has arrived
he can also see the outline of the
chicks head in the air space and get
his hammer out" Otherwise, he
waits a little longer. The shell.
though very thick and hard, is also
quite brittle and is easily broken once
the Matching process begins.
Another interesting thing is that
the ostrich chicks are fed nothing
for three or four days after they are
Matched except little bone and gray
ell to prepare the gizzard for hand.
ling food when it arrives later. In
the case of the ostrich, like any otn
er chicks, the body is formed around
the yOlk which furnishes the nourisn-
ment during the development of the
chick and sufficient for some time
after Matching and the chicks are not
given food until the accumulated
nourishment is suppos ed to have been
well disposed OF.