J276 THE USTKICH FEATliliR INDLSTKV. 



green lucerne, rape, kale, green barley, lucerne hay, bran, etc. 

 A certain amount of bone should always be supplied to the birds, 

 and if the pasturage be devoid of grit, this should be supplied; 

 for this purpose white quartz has been found to give excellent 

 results. The Ostriches swallow the grit readily, and the grit 

 .assists the digestion by grinding up the food, Avhich the Ostrich 

 swallows whole. Grit is so essential that in some parts of the 

 country it is carted by waggon or by rail for many miles, as it 

 was found that without it the birds would not thrive — in fact, 

 could not exist. 



Clipping Olid Oiiilling. — The method of taking the feathers 

 from the bird as practised under Sotith African farming metliods 

 is as follows : — 



When the chick reaches the age of five to six months, the 

 iarst feathers are cut from the wings. These are known as 

 " spadonas," from their spear shape. The quills of the feathers 

 are then allowed to remain in the wings until all the blood has 

 receded from them, and they become quite dry and hard. This 

 takes from two to three months, and the dry quills can then 

 be drawn from the wings without causing the least pain w loss 

 of blood. If not drawn, they are pushed out by the next crop 

 ■of feathers, l)ut the moulting. is uneven, and hence the method 

 •of removing the quill stumps artificially is recommended. In 

 six months' time the next crop of feathers will be ready to clip, 

 and three months later the quills may again be drawn. This 

 alternate clipping and quilling is then continued for the rest of 

 the bird's life. This practice can be carried on very successfully 

 in parts enjoying a fairly even temperature, but in districts 

 where the winters are very cold it has been found advisable to 

 take only one clipping each year, for the young feathers do not 

 start evenly from the wing when the bird is quilled in very cold 

 weather. 



Quilling should only be carried out w-hen the bird is in 

 good condition, and this condition should be maintained through- 

 out the period that the feathers are growing. Condition has 

 been found to have a most marked influence on the feather 

 growth, and, generally speaking, the better the condition of the 

 bird, the better and sounder are the feathers produced ; thus it 

 will be seen that it behoves the Ostrich farmer in his own 

 interests to keep his birds in the best of condition, and give 

 them the best treatment possible, and it may therefore be stated, 

 without fear of contradiction, that at the present day the 

 Ostrich is the most pampered creature in existence. 



Marketing of Feathers. — As a general rule the farmer -ends 

 his clip of feathers as the feathers come from the bird, without 

 any previous sorting or grading, direct to his market agent, 

 who sorts them into grades to suit the buyers, and places them 

 on the market, where they are sold bv public auction. The 

 buyers ship them overseas, chiefly to London, Paris, and New 

 York, where they are disposed of to the manufacturers. Those 



