Market Grows For Ostrich Meat

Market Grows For Ostrich Meat LIVESTOCK Exotic Animals Michael Lehman says the market for ostrich meat is growing quickly When Lehman moved home to a small farm in Oregon he looked for income options and ostrich caught his eye “I fell in love with them as an exotic meat animal for the challenge of building a business from scratch ” says Lehman “There was very little information available so you had to be creative and build up a knowledge base ” Lehman found that veterinary knowledge as well as management information was hard to come by Even finding a slaughterhouse that can handle a 7-ft tall 250-lb bird can be difficult “When we decided to try ostrich production we started by buying some meat tasting it and sharing it with friends ” says Lehman “We took it to lots of farmers markets and offered samples We wanted to find out if people would buy it and what they would pay We had an enormous positive response ” Lehman concentrated first on the grower market rather than the breeding and brooding side of the business He developed a ration of fortified brewers grain from a local brewery that he feeds for 12 to 14 mos supplemented with foraging “It is a low-density diet but they are eating machines ” says Lehman “They are eating all the time ” After a few years Lehman began raising his own chicks Today he produces all of his own birds maintaining breeding families in colonies of 10 birds in their own 3 to 4-acre paddocks He believes the space and family grouping improve temperament “We try to handle them as naturally as we can with room to run and play and dig out nests ” says Lehman He notes that ostriches are very social and move as a unit “They have an attention span of about 5 seconds ” explains Lehman “You want enough running room so they will forget why they are running by the time they reach the other side of the paddock Each paddock is surrounded by a fence consisting of a high tensile wire at an 8-ft height with a visual barrier covering the top 4 ft with woven wire beneath Lehman stresses that the strength of the fence is less important than the visual barrier “An adult ostrich has about 80 lbs of meat which sells for about $10 per lb ” says Lehman a board member of the American Ostrich Association “We have about $325 invested in them including the cost of the chick What other ag business has a 200 percent return?” Lehman is excited about the potential for ostrich as a meat animal and believes they are wells-suited for sustainable farming His have done well even with temperatures dipping to a minus 10°F Lehman reports that breeding age adults sell in the $3 000 range while 30-day old chicks can run $200 each Chicks sold in larger quantities sell for $150 each Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Central Oregon Ostrich 7600 S W Quarry Ave Redmond Ore 97756 ph 541 923-5076; info@centraloregonostrich com; www centraloregonostrich com

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