478 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



December, 1910 



Ostrich Farming 



as an 



Industry 



By Newton Forest 



OES ostrich farming pay? The question is 

 askeci by almost everyone who visits an 

 ostrich farm. The answer is that when 

 an acre of alfalfa will furnish a home for 

 four birds, with food enough to maintain 

 them throughout the year; when an os- 

 trich will yield annually about two pounds 

 of feathers, with an average value of $20 a pound, and 

 from thirty-six to ninety eggs, which may be used for in- 

 cubation, or may furnish food at the rate of nearly four 

 pounds to the egg, if the owner does not wish to increase 

 his troop, ostrich farming does pay, and pays well. 



There is nothing very lovable about an ostrich, as there 

 usually is about other domestic animals. But, however 

 lacking in personal charm it may be, the big bird is a money 

 producer. A head of cattle eats sixty-five pounds of alfalfa 

 in a day; an ostrich, ten pounds. This head of cattle at 

 fi\e years old is worth $40, and an ostrich at that age is 

 worth $250. There is nothing to the cattle but meat. At 

 ten months the ostrich will produce $10 worth of feathers, 

 and thereafter from $35 to $150 worth of feathers an- 

 nually for a long period of years. Though an ostrich is 

 matured at the age of five and is reproducing, its average 

 life is about that of a human being. The bird does not 

 begin to decline until it is fifty years old. Many, however, 

 produce fine plumage at the age of seventy-five. 



Inhere is as much difference in the breed of ostriches as 

 there is in any other animal. Some of the California and 

 Arizona male birds are rated at as high as $<;,ooo each, 

 but ordinarily the \'a]ue averages about $400 for a one- 

 year-old bird and 

 about $100 for a __ 

 chick. Some of the 

 cocks weigh as much 

 as 500 pounds and 

 stand over ten feet 

 high. 



It has of late years 

 been found that a 

 great deal of money 

 can be made in os- 

 trich farming. Espe- 

 cially so where alfalfa 

 or lucern can be raised 

 on irrigated lands. 

 In the Salt River Val- 

 ley in Arizona there 

 are about 250,000 

 acres of rich land, 

 soon to be made richer 

 and more productive 

 through immense ir- 

 rigation works on 





which the United States is spending $6,000,000. Such a 

 climate is an ideal one for ostrich farming, as the farms 

 in that locality have already proven by their successful 

 operations. While the birds thrive best in a warm, dry 

 climate, they can be grown in any of the southern States 

 and Territories of this country. In a moist climate, how- 

 ever, they would have to be protected from cold and rain. 

 It is only a little more than two decades ago since the 

 first ostriches were brought into the United States with the 

 serious purpose of attempting their culture here. Before 

 that time the only birds seen in this country had been ad- 

 juncts to circuses. To-day, exclusive of those in zoos, there 

 are some four thousand birds on the American continent. 

 Probably half of this number are the progeny of a single 

 pair owned in Arizona in 1891. 



The female ostrich matures much earlier than the cock, 

 beginning to lay fertile eggs when she is about three and a 

 half years old. The nest is nothing more or less than a 

 hole scratched in the ground, which is done by the male 

 bird. At first the hen may not take to the nest, but may 

 lay her first eggs on the ground, whereupon the male will 

 roll them into the nest. Generally, after the male has put 

 three or four eggs into the nest, the female will take to it. 

 She will then lay an egg every other day until about sixteen 

 eggs have appeared in the nest. An ostrich egg is nearly 

 eight inches long and about six inches in diameter. It makes 

 a good omelet and is excellent when scrambled. One egg 

 will make as much omelet as three dozen hens' eggs. A 

 full-ground bird has been known to produce over three hun- 

 dred pounds of egg food in a year. 



An annual increase 

 of about fifty per cent 

 of a flock is secured 

 mainly through the 

 use of incubators, 

 though on every farm 

 a few paddocks are 

 maintained, each for 

 the sole occupancy of 

 a pair of birds. 

 Three times a year 

 the hen begins to lay. 

 She does most of her 

 setting during the day- 

 time, the male bird at- 

 tending to that part of 

 the household duties 

 at night. He will 

 usually go on the nest 

 about five o'clock in 

 the evening, and re- 

 main there until eight 

 o'clock next morning. 



An ostrich-drawn cart 



