OSTRICH FARMING IN SOUTH AFRICA 



3:1 



(li'i'inal iiicdulla. ami like all cpiilcr- 

 mal structures— hairs, nails, hoot's, 

 and horns — is delicately responsive to 

 miti'itivc variations and cliaiiucs in 

 extei'nal conditions. Even the iioi'iiial 

 variations in blood })ressui'c hctwccn 

 the niiiht and day periods often leave 

 their mark upon the urowing- plume in 

 the form of night and day rings. These 

 represent alternating differences in 

 density in the new feather growth, and 

 are the foundation of the prevalent 

 defects technically known as bars, the 

 luiture of which has been investigated 

 for several years liy the writei'. 'Vhv 

 longest plumes have a growth at the 

 rate of a quarter of an inch a day. 

 and all the feathers are so many pro- 

 jecting cylinders full of blood capil- 

 laries, closed at the outer end and open 

 Ijclow to the blood supply. To main- 

 tain the uniform blood pressure neces- 

 sary for the growing feather to attain 

 its highest perfection demands a con- 

 stant supply of highly nourishing food, 

 such as alfalfa, rape, mangel, and all 

 kinds of grain. It can safely be said 

 that no animal is so highly cared for, 

 and leads such a pampered existence, 

 as the high-grade domesticated ostrich. 

 The farmer, however, has no option in 

 the mattei". The difference in returns 

 from a perfectly grown, high quality 

 feather cro]) and one defective in 

 growth is often the difference between 

 prosperity and failure. 



The method of securing a full, com- 

 plete, and even feather crop is a matter 

 of some interest to the zoologist. In 

 Xorth Africa the entire plumage is usu- 

 ally plucked from the body, wings, and 

 tail, which leads to rapid deterioration 

 in the successive cro})s: but in method- 

 ical ostrich farming, only the three 

 main rows of wing feathers are taken, 

 along with the tail. With care the nor- 

 mal character of the ]iluiiiag(' may be 

 presei'vcd year after year, maybe foi' 

 fifty or more years. In farming, the 

 object is to maintain all the commercial 

 feathers at the same stage of a-i-owtb at 



the same time, in other words, to keep 

 the crop even. The natural method 

 does not sunice. for the moulting of the 

 \ai-i()iis plumes is ii'i'egular; some are 

 onlv pai'tlv grown while others ai'e I'iue 

 or o\crripe. l''uillier, to allow the 

 plumes to renuiin on the bird until 

 natural moulting takes place would re- 

 sult in a serious deterioration and 

 depreciation in value, as a result of the 

 wear and tear during the two or more 

 months after the plume is ripe. Hence 

 all feathers are clipped as soon as the 

 plume part is fully developed, and then 

 the quill is allowed to remain in the 

 socket until it ripens also, the process 

 requiring at least two months after 

 clipping has taken place. 



The first clipping occurs when the 

 chicks are six months old, and all the 

 commercial feathers, technically called 

 spaclonas, are removed. The quills re- 

 maining are then fully ripe in about 

 two months' time, that is, all the me- 

 dulla, with its blood and nerves, is 

 withdrawn, and the tip of the quill 

 rounded off. Left to natural moulting, 

 these fully grown quills would be 

 pushed out at different times, and the 

 second crop of feathers would begin to 

 grow in an irregular manner. To pre- 

 vent this all the quills are drawn by 

 hand when ripe, the chicks being then 

 about eight months old ; and invariably 

 the withdrawal of a quill acts as a 

 stimulus to the germ of the new 

 feather at the bottom of the socket or 

 follicle. All the old quills being drawn 

 simultaneously, the new feathers begin 

 their growth together, and a second full 

 and even crop is secured. This also 

 requires six months to ripen from the 

 time of drawing the quills, so that the 

 second feather crop is ready for clip- 

 ping by the time the bird is fourteen 

 months old. Two months later the sec- 

 ond crop of quills can be drawn, and 

 the third feather crop starts its growth, 

 to be completed by the time the bird is 

 two yi'ars old. The third clip])ing usu- 

 ally re])resents plumage maturity, that 



