Ostrich Farming.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6309, 6 August 1888, Page 4

Ostrich Farming.

• (All the Year Round.) The ostrich egg is very delicate and will not keep its vitality for more than thirty days. Now, as the laying lasts a couple of months it is evident that half of it becomes worthless for sitting and can serve no purpose except as curiosities in bazaars. It is, therefore, the business of man to provide against this improvident character of nature and utilise what is wasted by that force. There iB no occasion to go into detail about incubators; the principle is well known. Practically they are padded boxes, each holding fifteen to twenty eggs and heated by hot water, which can have ita temperature readily under control. The eggs are taken away as laid, one always being left in the nest. Each one is numbered and dated, and a list made out with its weight and description of the parents. They are kept in a dry room till the necessary number is obtained, when they are placed in the box and the heat is applied. The temperature is 40deg Centigrade at first, 39deg at the end of eighteen days, and then 36.5deg to the finish. During the whole process each egg must be turned upside down every day at a regular time. Thiais absolutely necessary. About i the fifteenth day the eggs are examined to see which are impregnated and which not. This is done with a box containing a lamp | and a reflector, in front of which is j an opening which fits an egg supported j on the outside by a little shelf. If i the egg is clear it will not hatch; if opaque, except at the larger end, where the air chamber is, it goes back to the incubator. Sometimes the egg is rotten, in which case the gas formed within forces the liquid through the shell and turns it yellow. After forty days the greatest attention must be paid day and night to listen for the noise of the chick. On the forty-third day a small hole should be made in the shell near the air chamber, which has already been marked with a pencil. Next day this hole is enlarged bo as better to notice any movement inßide. When this is seen the shell must be broken, the membrane torn away, and the chick j freed, taking care to use the greatest delicacy in every movement. The chick is wrapped up and kept warm for twentyfour hours, when it has a very small lot of finely-chopped green Btuff with a few bread crumbs. On the third day it gets a little ' milk ; on the Bixth a little grain with the vegetables and a little water to drink. '