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THE PORT AUGUSTA OSTRICH
FARM.
[From our Special Reporter.]
In response to an invitation given me
some time back to visit the ostrich farm
belonging to the South Australian Ostrich
Farming Company, near Port Augusta, I
Farming Company, near Port Augusta, I
left the port last Tuesday afternoon with
a couple of agreeable companions, and we
were soon travelling over such a wretched
i bit of road as one never wishes to tra- !
verse more than once. The track was
winding and hilly; sanddrif— had
accumulated across it in several places, and
with a Bomewhit desolate stretch of
country on either side of us, and a clond
of sickly yellow dust keeping pace with
our vehicle and almost blinding ua at
intervals, the drive wss certainly not the
most pleasant that could have been selected
in the Port Augusta diatrict, and
had the weather been of the kind usually
experienced at our great northern port at
. this time of tha year tiie outing would
have been a positive torture. Bat the
heat of the sun was rendered bearable by
a cool breeze, and Old Sol himself was ooca
eion&Uy hidden from view by afew welcome
clouds. The farm is situated aboot nine
miles ln a northt-eaaterly direction from
the Port Augusta township, and consists
of several thousand acres taken by the
company from the Government When
the land was firat taken over it was sandy
and dreary looking, but none the lew
adapted for tfae purposes of the com
pany, namely, the Importation of ostriches
from their native soil and the breed
ing of birds in the colony. Thit
tbe venture was a risky one no
one wQI deny, and it seems a wonder,
looking back over the last few years of
our history, that an organisation was
frund to accept tfae conditions named by
the Government and claim the grant
offered. When the company obtained the
grant—the fee simple of the land—about
two years ago, the Premier expressed
some grave fears for the success of the
under—king—fears which fortunately
have not so far been realised ; and thanks
to the capable and energetic superinten
dence of Mr. Williams the farm Ib now
making steady progressive strides, and
there appears to be a prosperous time
coming for the company. In September,
ISS6, the imported birds and those
hatched on the farm numbered 360, and a
year later there were no less than
470 ostriches thriving on the run,
Incloding 75 chicks hatched that season.
There were also 147 egga being artificUlly
hatched, and a large number were under
sftting birds in the breeding paddocks.
Fifty-five chicke and 45 old birds were
included in the firet plucking last aeaaon,
and 141 lh. of marketable feathers were
sent sway. The time for plucking is de
termined by the age of the birds and the
condition of tbe plumage. Until the
birds are four yeara old they are not
allowed to breed, and it is estimated thit
at the present time the ostriches owned by
the company, if rearing continues to be
carried on so successfully and rapidly as
sow, are sufficient to produce more stock
than could be aooommodated on the com
pany'a land. The industry Is a valuable
one, and it is a gratifying fact
that* so far as the Port Augusta
farm is concerned, at any rate, it la In a
tat_factory condition. The company's
enterprise has led to the formation of the
basis of what seems to be a most profitable
undertaking, and it is deserving of every
prosperity. In Cape Colony, aa nearly
eveiybody knows, the industry has been
wonderfully successful, and we learn from
a pamphlet written by Me. Williams, who
has bad vast experience ln ostrich farming,
that while in 1867 the Cape exported only
£70,000 worth of feathers, taken from
wild birds, in 1680. only 13 years later,
the export of feathers hsd ran up to tiie
value of £888,032, and that in tfae enter
prise a capital of no less than £8,000,000
was embarked.
At the time of onr visit Mr. Williams
wss away from tfae farm on business, but
we found in fab as-dstant, who received
ns. very courteously, a most obliging and
Instructive guide. The farmhouse itself
is a comfortable little building erected on
the highest part of the holding, from
which a good view of the estate is ob
tained. Notwithstanding the withering
heat recently experienced In tiie north
some creepers running over tfae verandah*
of the cottage were atill green, and the
habitation presented an altogether de
ferent appearance from most farmhouses
I have seen in the colony. There are at
present several acres of land planted
with lucern, and under Irrigation. This
| looks fresh and thriving. The water,
winch costs the company £100 a year, la
distributed over the bind by means of
revolving fountain*. After inspecting a
quantity of prickly peat and American
aloe cuttings, which were planted a few
months back, and are in a promising
state, our cicerone conducted as round
| the breeding paddocks, which are divided
from each other by spacious roada, aud
I surrounded by wire fenoes. Along tiie '
I Inside of these fences tracks have been
vera by the birds tramping steadily
round the paddocks from early morn to
dewy eve looking perhaps for aome means
of exit, for the ostrich bm not yet Mt |
upon tfae expedient of getting over a
fence, bird though it is. We were
informed by onr guide that there has been
many a desperate attempt made by ths
ostriches to plunge through the Insuper
able barriers which keep them from their
companions, and these attempts have
often resulted in Injury to a bird and
sometimes in death. The breeding pad
docks contain six acres each, and here,
when the birds are not actually engaged
in sitting they are fed np for breeding
purposes. As the visitor walks along be
tween tiie paddockb he is accompanied on
either side by great raking black roosters
and gray hens, whose heads tower high
above the wire fences, and who gaze wist
fully at his glittering pendant, Teetulpean
scarf-pin, or other trinket, for there aud
bits of fencing wire, old nails, Aa., the
ostrich takesln witha relish that tsneverap-
P—rent when it is having its ordinary meal
of green feed. In the breeding season
the male ostrich maybe seen covering a
neat of eggs deposited In a shallow hole
scratched in the' sand by the birds them
selves, while his better half looks round
for food. Care is taken not to pluck
sitting birds bare, their inner wing
feathers being left on so as to cover the
eggs. A plucked bird has a decidedly
funny appearance, with Its great naked
hams exposed to the sun. An ostrich ham
is said to make an excellent dish, bat the
meat Is so lean that without a little fat
pork it Is Impossible to cook it. Not agte_t
distance from the breeding paddocks there
Ib another enclosure in which the young
birds from the latest sittings sre running
about In a atrong and healthy condition,
Five of the last sittings added 30 ostriches
to the stock on the farm, while another
three neste are represented by 21 birds,
an average which, is considered highly
satisfactory. It is impossible to deter
mine the sex of the birds until they are
sIK. t three months old. A pair of ostriches
will have three or four nests a year if
allowed to do so, but it is deemed advis
able to check the breeding by allowing
them to have'oiily two nests a year. There
are now about 5W birds on tfae farm, 1(50
ofwhichareyoung ones- In alargepaddock
a considerable distance ftt>m the farmhouse
there fa sua. Immense drove of healthy
birds, the feathers of whic_ sre dally in
creasing in value, and will id time find
their way into the market. When passing
through an enclosure containing grown-.?
birds it is advisable to carry a forked or
bushy-topped stick witfa which to ward off
any attacks that might be made by the
feathered monsters, for there have been
many d?_o_sb__o_s of hostility ill the
paddocks, and more particularly where a
male and a hen bird are running about
witfa a brood. We were next conducted
to a small hut in which the Incubators are
kept,|and where, in the proper season, a j
veiy 'large somber of yoong birds are r
artificially brought to light. There I
are now five incubators ln the
but, tonr of which are of the
Christie type. The other machine ia a
Douglas's patent. Outside the hut there
is a boiler in which the water used in the
Christie machines ia heated. In the
Douglas contrivance the heating agency
consists of a couple of kerosine lamps
placed in a space between two drawers.
Over these drawers a tank containing 25
gallons of water ia placed, and by the heat
generated by the lamps the water ia kept
at a temperature of 110? Fahrenheit The
incubators are brought Into use when eggs
have been laid and there are no sitting
birds to sit them, and alao when a bird
deserts the nee., and when a hen lays
„more eggs than ehe can conveniently
cover. A method Is . Eometim.es re
sorted to on ostrich farms by means
of which hens are induoed to lay
many more egga than are contained
in an ordinary sitting. The average
nnmber of eggs in a sitting Is 15, but by
removing one at Intervals the hen can
nearly alwaj? be deluded into believing
that she has not laid a sufficient number
of eggs for a nest, and induced to lay
considerably more than a proper sitting.
In this way a large number of egga are
procured on ostrich farms and hatched In
tbe incubators, the hens themselves being
sUowed to sit and hatch a proper nnmber
of egga. Bad eggs, when too far gone to
be blown, are aUowed to lie out in the
sun, where they burst of their own ascord
with a lottd report, but eggs that are only
addled and full of liquor are blown and
sold as curios and ornaments. Fresh
ostrich eggs average 3i lb. In weight, and
are said to ana wer every purpose for which
the domestic fowl egg is used. Some per
sons, indeed, regard them as a delicacy,
and spend a good deal of time and trouble
in procuring them. They are used in
omelettes and sponge and Sultana cake,
and give tbe goods a splendid flavor andnlce
color. Of course they are only used as diet
wben they are found to be unfecundated.
The pluck—?g had been completed and the
feathers dispatched to town long before
our visit, bat it will not be a great while
before another lot of birds are ready to be
despoiled of their valuable plumage.
When the feathers are to be taken the
fclrds are driven into a crush-pen, and
blindfolded with a black stocking, having
a breathing aperture. They then stand
and allow tbe plucking operation to be
carried on quietly. The feathers are
afterwards sorted and sent away in parcels
of varying quality. It is to be regretted
tbat tbe price of ostrich feathers is at pre
sent very low—lower in fact than it has
been for a long time. We left the farm
just after sonaet, and had a pleasant drive
heme In the cool of the evening, having
spent a most profitable afternoon.
$