Noveinbor. 1913 TH iO (JARDEN AND FIELD. 2?;? 



0«tricK Parmii\£; ii\ SotstK AfricA. 



— Origin of Ostriili Kanninfr. 



Ostrich farininsf was bejiun hv 

 the catchiiifj of wilds birds some 

 time between the years 1S57-60. 

 As far as I can j^ather the two 

 men who are entitled to be calhd 

 the fathers of the ostrich iiidustrv 

 are Messrs. Van de Wcsthnv/en 

 and Gert Olivier. Thev causjht 

 many wild birds which were then 

 'running on the flats, domesticated 

 them, and bred from them. The 

 feathers of these wild birds and 

 their progeny were in great de- 

 mand, and from £20 to £?o was 

 paid for the full plumage of a 

 single bird. T \yell remember on 

 the market here an uncle of mine 

 getting £20 apiece for the plumes 

 of twentv-two birds. Nowadays, 

 for far finer feathers, £6 is a fair 

 average price. Some twenty-five 

 vears ago (tcS86-88) there was a 

 bad slump in -the prioe of feathers, 

 which then realized onlv from £2 

 to C}, per plucking. At that time 

 there seemed to be no demand for 

 feathers. 



The c'redit of first introducing lu- 

 cerne to Oudtthoorn is due to a 

 former magistrate, Mr. Scholtz. 

 H'e sowed a small patch in drills 

 in his frarden. A little later mv 

 uncle, Richard Gavin, arrived from 

 Ireland. He noticed this lesrumin- 

 ous plant and thoun-ht it very like 

 the clover of his old home. Ac- 

 cording-lv he sat down and wrote 

 to Phillip Bros., seed merchants, 

 at Capetown, and asked them to 

 procure some seed for him. This 

 he sowed broadcast on a piece of 

 land which is now a Pa'rt 'of Hi<rh 

 Street and there it grew luxuriant- 

 ly. Then another of my iiucles, 

 James Ga\'in. boup-ht a similar 

 bit of srround which is now a por- 

 tion of Oueen Street. Here he 

 likewise planted lucerne. 



One of the first farms on which 

 lucerne was planted on a largo 

 scale was Welbedacht (" well 

 thought of"), which was owned 

 by the Gav n Bros. T believe I 

 am correct in saying that they 

 were the first farmers in South 

 .\frica to realize that lucerne fod- 

 der could be used not only to feed 

 ostriches, but also for all kinds 

 of live stoc'- IS well. Before their 

 experitr.ents it was practically 'm- 

 known in this country. Smce then 

 every year more and more land 

 has bc>n laid down to lucerne, un- 

 til vou now seie , the large area 

 imder this crop in this district 

 alone. You \vill not be surprised 

 to learn that we con.sider it a 

 truly wonderful plant. We can keep 

 six birds to the moreen fa morgen 

 is approximately 2 acres) on 

 irrigated lucerne land, and we can 

 safely reckon on an average price 

 of £8 to £19 for the plumaee 'of 

 good birds. The annual value of 

 the output of feathers from O'udt- 

 shoorn is now close on a million 

 sterling. 



— What Capital is Required for 

 Ostrich Farming ? — 



Around Oudtshoorn a great deal 

 is required when compared to 

 other branches of farming in other 

 parts of South Africa. This is 

 m.ainly due to the very hiq-h price 

 which must now be paid for land 

 under water and lucerne in this 

 district. Some of mv neighbours 

 are now buying more land for 

 their ostriches at £"^00 per mor- 

 sren. Vou mav be intprested to 

 know that the whole of the arable 

 land of the Oiidtshoom District, 

 i.e., land under the plouirh and 

 the furrow, is rated bv oiir Divi- 

 sional Council at an averaore price 

 of £t,so per morgen. In the face 



of the.««; facts I wo\ild say that 

 the prospective ostrich farmer 

 .should li.ive £5,000 to start with 

 in tills district. Nevertheless, the 

 majority of our well-to-do farmers 

 began tlieir careers with little or 

 no capital. 



Let us .suppose that a thrifty 

 colonist buys ten morgen of lu- 

 lucerne land under water with cer- 

 tain grazing rights, and ])ays at 

 the rate of £200 per morgen, 

 £2,000. He must then buy three 

 pairs of birds at, say, £'150 per 

 pair, or £450. Next, he proceeds 

 to erect outhouses, incubating 

 rooms, and rough .sheds for the 

 chicks — the cheaper the better, be- 

 cause ostriches should not be 

 pampered. Then he must purchase 

 a wagon and mules, a span of 

 oxen, ploughs, cultivators, and 

 other farm implements. The cost 

 of all this equipment may be 

 placed at £1,000. Wages and the 

 co.st of fencing must also be taken 

 into account. A simple home- 

 stead mav have to be erected ■ so 

 that by the end of the first year 

 he will have expended a fairlv 

 large sum of money. 



With us the birds are mated in 

 March and April. We allow the 

 chicks to run with their parents 

 until thev arte from two to three 

 weeks old. Then we wean them 

 and let them run on lucerne, giv- 

 ing them in addition crushed bar- 

 lev, bone meal, and limpstone to 

 aid their dicrestion. Many far- 

 mers run their birds on Vrowing 

 lucerne, but the best and most 

 pcouomical plan is to cut it and 

 feed it in separate naddocks. There 

 i"5 less waste bv this method and 

 the plants are not iniured bv too 

 closia cronpiTifT Voimfj birds run- 

 ninfr on tender liiceme are liable to 

 suffer fi-ora liver trouMes. Old birds 

 are seldom so affected. 



The first feathers are nulled 

 when the birds are from eight to 



Figure 1 12 



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