AN OSTRICH FARM IN LOS ANGELOS COUNTY, AMERICA.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3755, 28 July 1883, Page 4

AN OSTRICH FARM IN LOS ANGELOS COUNTY, AMERICA.

We found the birds, twenty-two in number, in pairs, occupying pens of about a hundred feet square, made of stout redwood boards. They were nearly all engaged in stalkinsr up and down their corrals, and looked little if any the worse for their long journey by sea and rail. The male birds, or cocks, are the handsomer, their plumage being a bright, glossy black, while the hens wear a feathery mantle of a drab color. We were just too lato to witness the operation of plucking, Mr Sketchley having got through his work some half an hour before. It is a business requiring considerable nerve and some little skill, and is by no means devoid of danger, the cock birds being very vicious, and capable of dealing deadly blows with their powerful legs. Some little finesse is required, in order that the bird selected for plucking may be approached and blindfolded with as little risk as possible. fins is accomplished with the aid of a Chinaman, who is used as a bait to attract and concentrate tho cussedness of the fowl, opportunity being taken while the brute is absorbed in his attempt to lay out the heathen, to slip tho leg of a stocking over his head : which being done he becomes practically harmless, and the operation of divesting him of his plumes can be proceeded with with siinc degree of safety. Occasionally, however, the bird becomes restless under the operation and struggles violently, when it becomes necessary for the operator to remove the blindfold, and skip as nimbly as maybe over tho most adjacent portion of tho fonco. Tho Dr. had a close call tho other morning, in a case of this sort, receiving a severe blow from the angry bird—as lie was making the best of his way over the rails— which sent him spinning some yards. In South Africa men are frequently injured and sometimes killed while engaged in too close proximity to the birds. The ostrich delivers a tremendous blow, not backward, as might bo supposed, but right out from the shoulder. A blow on the body of a man, delivered forward rather than downward, is comparatively harmless in its nature. Should the vicious bird, however, manage to get in the full force of his stroke downward, it is all up with the human biped. We were told that Mr .Sketchley had nine men disemboweled by ostriches while in South Africa. A glance at tho formidable talons of the birds we were inspecting was sufficient for us—we had no desire to put the doctor's statement to tho proof. . . Tho weight of the ostrich is something enormous; the majority of those we saw averaged 300 pounds. Fancy getting one's favorite corn under the foot of one of the brutes while engaged in divesting bun ot his feathers: Tho birds arc fed chiefly on chopped alfalfa and corn, and are given water morning and evening. The cock makes_ the nest,, and hatches the chickens, assuming, moreover, entire charge of tho youngsters for three or four days after they emerge from tho shell, when he appears to lose further interest in his progeny, and resigns his charge to the hen. During tho time he is in command, he is, if possible, more vicious than ever, and an the doctor remarked, " If you want to sec a wi<:keu ostrich, call around when ho is engaged in the nursing business." His antics during this interesting period arc ludicrous in tho extreme. Ho dances round the corral, leaping up into the air and scurrying round like the wind ; the while wearing an expression of intense satisfaction and honest pride, no doubt feeling with the songAvriter, "It's nice to lie a father." The nest is a more depression in the sand in a corner of the pen, cleared of grass and hollowed out by the cock for the reception of eggs. In practice it is found more profitable to take away the eggs as they arc laid, and hatch them out by means of an incubator. Double the number of eggs is tints obtained, find the danger of breakage from tho ungainly movements of the cockbird is obviated.

Wo were shown a very beautiful cj.-fC which had just been laid, it was of a lovely cream color, was as large as a good-sized cocoa-nut, and weighed about three and a half pounds. The eggs are said to have an excellent flavor, and makes delicious omelettes. The cost of such a dish, however, stands somewhat in the way of _ its general introduction, a young chick being worth about §200, nm\ the eggs being, of course, correspondingly valuable. Ostrich-rearing must be an enormously profitable business. "Hands off" is now the rule, in the inspection of eggs by visitors, a lady in whoso pretty palm a three-and-a half pounder had been pl.nccd, when tho farm was first thrown open to visitors, having (overcome with nervousness) been so unfortunate as to drop it. It was smashed, and the lady was so overwhelmed with fright and mortification that she burst into tears.

The plucking of the birds seems to go on nil tho time. The plumes or feathers arc taken from tho wings and from the tail, the tail plumes boinfj the more yaltiablc. They lire removed both by plucking and by clipping. Wo were shown an armful which ha.<fbcoii harvested by tho latter method, and were somewhat disappointed at their appearance. They were mostly short, and bore no resemblance to the long, handsome, curled plumes one is accustomed to see in tho head-dresses of tho fairer portion of creation. After leaving tho farm they are (subjected to a multiplicity of processes before they are ready for sale, the pieces being cleaned, curled, and finally spliced together with such marvelous ingenuity as to almost defy detection. Sunday is the great show-day at the farm, the number of visitors usually aggregating three hundred. They come from far and near, in buggies, carts, and on horseback, and pester tho very life out of the courteous Superintendent will all kinds of questions regarding the manners, customs, and moral and social habits of the uncouth birds. One will demand to be informed whether the ostrich perches _or roosts ; another, whether he Hies ; a third, how many eggs the lien lays at a time, and so on. One old lady waited _ the whole nl'ternoon in the hope of being able to witness the operation of manufacturing the eggs, and went away complaining bitterly of the doctor, because he would not or could not afi'ord her an opportunity of gvalifyin'jf her curiosity. Dr."Sketchley is very sanguine of being able to acclimatize the ostrich in Southern California, and there seems no reason to doubt the success of his undertaking. As lias been remarked ostrich- rearing seems to be an enormously profitable enterprise, and at no distant day wo shall doubtless see a good many farmers in this section turning their attention to it, either as a sole source of revenue, or in conjunction with other business.

Ostrich chicks will soon be obtainable at ft4oo a pair, and as all the laud required for their rearing need not exceed a couple of acres, and as tho birds begin to yield •feathers when fourteen mouths old, and commence to breed soon after, the business ought to prove the one above all others for the poor man.