Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 40, Number 59, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 March 1908 — CUBAN OSTRICH FARMING [ARTICLE]

CUBAN OSTRICH FARMING

Is Being Tried Experimetally at Marianao, Near Habana. 48 BIRDS ON THE FARM There Are Shelters for the Birds in Inclement Weather and a House For the Employees—There is Also a Salesroom Where Ostrich Feathers Are Sold. Mr. Edward V- Morgan, American minister to Cuba, in writing that an experiment in ostrich farming has recently been started at Marianao, near Habana, furnishes the following particulars of this new industry on the island: “The farm contains about 27 acres, with shelters for the birds in inclement weather and a house for the employees. The land Is divided into large pens for the younger birds and smaller ones for each pair of breeders. There is also a tricb feathers are sold —not, however, necessarily the product of the farm. There are now 48 ostriches there, 23 pf which were imported from the Phoenix American Ostrich f'arm of Phoenix Ariz., and the balance from the Nice Ostrich Farm, in France. Fourteen of these are breeders, and the others are between one and two years old.' The price of the full-grown breeder is from S3OO to S4OO, and that of the younger birds from $250 to S3OO, according to their age and sex. The cost of importation from either Arizona or France is about sl7, if imported in quantities of twenty or more, including Cuban customs duties.

“The ostrich lays four times a year, each female giving from 14 to 18 eggs at each laying. About 20 per cent, of those hatched arrive at maturity. The period of incubation is about forty-two days. The young birds are kept in green pastures near the house and at night are put in an artificially heated brooder house. At the age of six months they are placed in larger fiems, but must be housed in inclement weather until they arrive at the age of about twenty months. They are fed on a mixture of bran, corn, oats, barley and alfalfa, all of which is imported from the United States. The only disease to which they are subject is constipation. They never have been known to be attacked by any contagious disease.

“The first jtlucking is made at the age of six montlis when the feathers are narrow, coarse, and of small market value. Thereafter they are plucked every eight months, the value of the feather incrasing at each plucking until they arrive at maturity at the age of four years. When ready to be plucked, the bird is placed in a V-shaped corral, large enough to contain his body and that of the plucker. His wings are then raised and all the ripe feathers are clipped. Two months later the quills left in the wings are entirely dead and are.drawn without pain to the bird- “ The raw feathers are then 6ent to New York and sold to the dealers who-prepare them—for—the- market.The yield of an adult male bird In raw feathers is about SBO and that of a female bird about $45. The price at which they are sold Is regulated by that of the London market. The duty on them Is 15 per cent ad valorem on entering the United States. There are two varieties of ostrich, the Nubian and the South African. The feathers of the former are larger and of finer texture than those of the latter but they have not the same thickness and width. At attempt is being made to cross the two breeds with the object of combining the length and texture of the Nubian feather with the width and thickness of the South African.