THE OSTRICH-FARM AT STELLINGEN 265 
quantities in the chicken-house. For nearly two months they 
continue to feed on this green food. They are allowed to 
run out of the house on fine days only, and, when the weather 
is cold or damp, are kept carefully in their house. In the 
seventh week after their birth the process of acclimatisation 
is commenced. The young birds are taken into a house 
which has not been artificially heated, and they are allowed 
to run out even on days when it is cold or damp. The last 
four weeks before the moment of writing these lines have 
been both very cold and wet, and have provided a very se- 
vere test of the validity of the method of inuring the young 
chicks to theclimate. They have, however, passed through 
it admirably, showing by their gaiety and sprightliness that 
they are in the best of health. In the seventh week also 
they begin to be weaned from their infantine food... They 
are given for the first time the same kind of food that:is pro- 
vided for the adults. This consists of hay chopped up with 
maize, bran, and barley, mixed together. Every bird re- 
ceives in addition 1 lb. of bone daily, broken up in small 
pieces. Experience shows that they thrive excellently when 
treated in this manner. 
After six months one is able to gather the first harvest of 
feathers, and thereafter every nine months a new crop can be 
taken. The feathers are cut and not pulled out, so that the 
process itself is painless to the birds. The mode of procedure 
is as follows: The ostrich whose feathers are to be taken is 
brought out of the farm and has his head enveloped in some 
kind of a hood, usually a stocking, so that he is unable to 
watch the operations. He then generally surrenders himself 
to his fate. He is next placed in a wooden vice, which holds 
him perfectly still, and enables the cutting to be performed 
without danger to the operator. The tail and wing feathers 
are of course the most valuable from the commercial point of 
view. They are cut down so that only about two inches of 
the ends of the quills are left. The ends ripen in about three 
months, and are then either plucked out by the birds themselves 
