348 



[November, 1912. 



OSTRICH FARMING AT COON AMBLE. 



The Agricultural Gazette of New South Wales for September, 1912, 

 has an interesting account on the above, from which we quote the fol- 

 lowing extracts : — 



The birds can be mated for breeding at about the age of three years. 

 They are mated in equal proportions and the hens lay about sixty eggs 

 per head per annum. They lay every second day in the season , and if 

 the eggs are not removed from them they begin to sit and the laying is 

 reduced. One pair of birds on an acre of lucerne should give at least 

 thirty chicks per annum with natural hatching. Nesting commences in 

 July and hatching proceeds until February or March. It takes six weeks 

 to hatch an ostrich egg. 



It is expected, however, that birds penned up will hatch practically 

 all the year round. The largest hatch so far obtained in one year has 

 been 250, but as many as 50 have been lost in one week from wet weather. 



The age to which the birds will breed is unknown ; though a hen 

 hatched in South Australia in 1893 is still the best breeder at " Nardoo." 



The practice is not to pluck feathers from the ostriches until they are 

 nine months old. Some say that feathers can be plucked at seven months 

 and on one occasion Captain Cairnes attempted it at six and the sockets 

 bled, with the result that he never got good feathers from those birds 

 afterwards. 



The Plucking Pens- 



These are so arranged that seven birds can be put into a pen together 

 and driven one at a time into a "crush" to have the feathers cut. Old 

 birds stand quietly during the operation but the young ones kick through 

 fright. As a kick from an ostrich is a very vigorous one, a cap is put over 

 the bird's head before it is driven into the crush. When in the crush one 

 man removes the tail feathers and two others the wing feathers. Cutting 

 off feathers gives no pain to the birds and it would be against the 

 owner's interest to give pain to the ostriches by pulling the feathers out 

 as the sockets would bleed and succeeding crops would be seriously 

 handicapped. 



An ostrich will give three cuts of feathers in two years though the 

 time can be hastened by liberal and nutritious feeding. It is not advisable, 

 however, to hasten crops. Some South African farmers only pluck once 

 a year. 



In the feather-room the crop is graded for sale. The large snow-white 

 feathers bring the best price— £25 to £30 per lb., and the black and white 

 ones bring about £18 per lb. Black feathers are less valuable. The small 

 "floss" feathers, obtained from three rows under the wing, may be used 

 for various purposes such as making feather dusters, but are not of much 

 value, 



