COLUMN: Carillon Flashback September 27, 1995 – Ostrich farming a fast-growing industry

Ostrich farming is a fast-growing alternative agricultural livestock business and is widespread in Canada, with about 60 to 75 breeders in Manitoba alone.

Judy Barnes, marketing director for the Canadian Ostrich Association, suggested in the February, 1995 issue of the COA magazine Runner that Canada could soon be “the ostrich capital of the world.”

Ostriches are fascinating birds, standing seven to eight feet tall and weighing 250 to 350 pounds. They can live up to 80 years and average egg production is 30 to 50 eggs per year, with some hens laying more than 100 eggs annually. One ostrich egg equals 24 to 27 chicken eggs and will weigh up to five pounds.

The ostrich industry is a wide open field. Birds are raised as breeding stock, for meat, for the hide and the feathers. The red meat is very palatable, lean, low in cholesterol, with a taste similar to roast beef. It sells for $6 to $20 per pound and is an expensive delicacy in restaurants. Ostrich hides measure 10 to 20 square feet per bird and are in large demand, because of the durability of the leather. It is used for shoes, cowboy boots, briefcases, clothing and fashion accessories. Feathers, harvested twice a year from live birds and in total at slaughter, are used for elaborate showgirl costumes, dusters, decorations and fashion accessories.

Sunshine Ridge Ostrich Breeders, owned and operated by Melanie Rennie and her husband Ken Lewis, is one of five or six ostrich breeders in the RM of Springfield.

The Oakbank area farm, raising birds for breeding stock, started with six young chicks in February of 1994 and in a year their flock increased to five adult pairs.

According to Lewis, adult ostriches are very hardy and easy to care for.

“Even in winter the barns are mostly open and it only takes me half an hour daily to look after them. The chicks are more delicate and prone to sickness, if not cared for properly.”

When they moved to the Oakbank area, the owners of Sunshine Ridge were not sure what kind of livestock they were going to raise. After thorough research and comparing beef to ostrich production, they decided to raise the birds.

“A cow will produce one calf a year, generating 60 square feet of hide and 500 pounds of dressed meat. A pair of ostriches produces 45 birds, each generating 120 pounds of meat and 14 square feet of hide, for a total of 5,400 pounds of meat and 630 square feet of hide.”

The low acreage needed was also a factor in their decision. Five pairs of ostriches on two acres compared to the 80 to 100 acres needed to raise 40 cows.

“The low feed conversion rate for ostriches is less than two pounds of feed to one pound of body weight and you have the ingredients for a lucrative livestock business.”

It is not difficult to see why Rennie, one of the directors of the Manitoba Ostrich Association (MOA), chairs the promotion committee.

– with files from Marion Clemens