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in artiticial rearing the chicks are placed in charge of a 

 herd, who should be instructed to take the chicks for a fairly 

 long walk on the veld every day. They are thus enabled to 

 pick up the grit required by their digestive organs, and also 

 procure a fairly wide range of foods. The exercise is very 

 essential to then' well-being. Under this system of rearing the 

 chicks become \er\- tame, which is a great advantage when the\- 

 become older. 



Internal Parasites. — With the exception of its su>ceptibility 

 to internal parasites — tape-worm and wire-worm — the Ostrich 

 is an extremely healthy bird. The losses caused by these two 

 pests is, however, at times very severe. Tape-worm usually 

 makes its appearance in the chicks when they reach the age of 

 two weeks, and may be detected by the small white specks which 

 appear in the freshly dro[)ped dung. These are sections of the 

 tape-worm, and are tilled with spores. The medium of infec- 

 tion has not yet been definitely ascertained. The tape-worm 

 itself may be from 6 to 36 inches in length. The usual means 

 employed for checking this parasite is dosing with either petrol 

 or turpentine, and the dose should be administered every fort- 

 night or three weeks, and is often continued until the chicks 

 reach the age of 18 months. When three years old the birds 

 are no longer troubled by this parasite. Wire-worm usually 

 makes its appearance when the chicks are about six to nine 

 months old, and is a much more serious parasite than the tape- 

 worm. Beyond the rapid falling-off in condition of the bird, 

 there are not many symptoms by which it can be detected. On 

 making a j)ost-mortem examination, however, the lining 

 of the proventriculis or glandular portion of the stomach 

 will be found to have a thick layer of jelly-like substance 

 adhering to it. On scraping this away thousands of wire-worm 

 will be seen adhering to the tissue of the stomach. In appear- 

 ance they are red in colour, about the thickness of a human 

 hair. The usual means employed in combating this parasite is 

 dosing either with sal-ammoniac and lime, carbolic acid, or 

 carbon bisulphide, but as all these remedies are rather severe 

 in their action, they should only be administered when really 

 necessary. 



Feeding and Management. — The comparative ease with 

 which the Ostrich may be fed is one of the points that has ren- 

 dered its domestication an easy matter. It feeds readily on all 

 the ordinary fodders which the farmer, and especially the 

 Karroo farmer, usually grows for his other stock, such as 

 sheep and cattle. Thus with a great number of South African 

 farmers Ostriches are run more or less as a side-line in addi- 

 tion to their other farming operations. The best albuminoid 

 ratio for breeding birds has been found to be i :4.5, and for 

 feather growth about i : 6. The foods most commonlv used 

 are mealies, Kaffir corn, oats, barley, prickly pear leaves, aloe 

 leaves (Aqave Americana), monketaan (desert melon), mangel. 



