OTHER USEFUL ANIMALS 



695 



on a large scale. It would doubtless re- 

 quire too much time and expense to 

 eliminate the scent gland by breeding. 



OSTRICHES 



Previous to 1867 ostrich feathers were 

 obtained by killing wild ostriches. This 

 method was recognized as tending to 

 their rapid extermination, and in that 

 year ostriches were first domesticated in 

 South Africa. At present ostrich rais- 

 ing is largely confined to Cape Colony, 

 but is also carried on to some extent in 

 Egypt, New Zealand, South America 

 and this country. At first, on account 

 of the scarcity of domesticated birds, 

 artificial incubation was practiced, but 

 now, at least in Cape Colony, the eggs 

 are incubated by the parent birds. 

 Lately ostrich farms have been estab- 

 lished in Arizona, Arkansas, California 

 and Florida. There is a large ostrich 

 farm at Pasadena, California. The fe- 

 male lays in February and again in 

 July. Each batch contains about 15 

 eggs and it requires the female a month 

 to lay them. 



About 95 per cent of the eggs are 

 fertile and in this country artificial in- 

 cubation is used almost exclusively. The 

 incubation period lasts six weeks. In 

 Cape Colony the hen sits on the eggs by 

 day and the cock by night. The young 

 chicks are at once put on alfalfa pas- 

 ture in the daytime and kept in the 

 brooder at night. In Rhodesia it has 

 been found that alfalfa improves the 

 quality of the feathers. In Cape Colony 

 it is recommended that the chicks be 

 taken away from the hen at two days 

 of age and put on an alfalfa pasture, 

 where they are kept till four months old. 



In order to prevent infestation with 

 parasitic worms it is desirable to give 

 the chicks once a month a teaspoonful 

 of turpentine mixed with flour. The 

 birds must be confined within certain 

 limits and therefore good fences are nec- 

 essary in ostrich farming. In South 

 Africa ostriches are kept on irrigated 

 alfalfa as much as possible at the rate 

 of five birds to the acre, or on large 

 ranges of uncultivated grass where 10 

 to 20 acres are required for each bird. 



The feathers f chicks are pulled at 

 eight months of age, again six and one- 

 half months afterward the primary 

 feathers are cut, and two months later 

 the quills of the cut feathers are pulled. 

 This gives three pluckings in two years, 

 with an average of V/ 2 pounds of feath- 



ers a year, or in Cape Colony $15 to $18 

 annually a bird. 



In 1904, Cape Colony exported 470,- 

 381 pounds of ostrich feathers worth 

 $4,750,000. The feathers are usually 

 clipped at the end of six months' growth 

 from the quill and 25 birds are consid- 

 ered a good day's work for one man. In 

 general ostriches thrive best where the 

 rainfall is not over 20 inches a year, 

 where no great extremes of temperature 

 prevail and where they can easily secure 

 protection from the wind. The ostrich 

 breeds at four years of age and lives to 

 the age of 50 to 60 years. The birds 

 sell in this country when one year old 

 at $25 a head. In Cape Colony common 

 birds sell for $25 to $50 apiece. Re- 

 cently, however, much attention has 

 been given to breeding birds and great 

 improvement has been secured in the 

 quality of the feathers. Fine breeding 

 ostriches now bring as much as $1,500 

 to $5,000 a pair. The ostrich industry 

 is being fostered to the fullest extent by 

 the government of Cape Colony and an 

 export duty of $125 is imposed on each 

 egg. 



While ostriches will thrive quite well 

 on ordinary grass or brush, alfalfa is 

 far better and as already stated will 

 carry five birds to the acre. Ostriches 

 may be kept in fine condition on 3 

 pounds of alfalfa hay a day. Corn or 

 barley may be fed in rations of 5 

 pounds a day. In California it has been 

 found that ostriches are fond of olive 

 skins from oil factories, grape skins 

 from wineries, cull oranges, chopped 

 beets, chopped alfalfa and gravel stones. 

 There are at present about 2,500 os- 

 triches in Arizona and California. 



Ostriches are subject to stomach 

 worms (Strongylus douglasi), yellow 

 liver, tapeworms, ostrich fly and lice. 

 For controlling stomach worms Hutch- 

 eon recommends 12 ounces of kerosene 

 in an equal quantity of milk after fast- 

 ing 18 hours. The birds are allowed to 

 fast again after two or three days and 

 are given 4 drams carbolic acid and 12 

 drams turpentine in 10 ounces of water. 

 Yellow liver is usually avoided by the 

 use of a properly balanced ration. Tape- 

 worms yield to the treatment recom- 

 mended for stomach worms, and the os- 

 trich fly and lice may be controlled by 

 cleanly quarters and the use of powder 

 insecticides. 



