When big birds ruled the roost
Ostriches farmed for feathers on finery
Alexander Allison farmed at Letham, about 11km south of Whanganui. His dairy operation was not paying, so he bought a pair of ostriches from South Africa to start a new enterprise. The birds arrived in Whanganui in 1904.
The Letham ostriches were not farmed for meat or eggs, but to produce ostrich feathers for fashionable hats, cloaks and dresses.
The large feathers adorned hats, the small feathers enhanced clothing. They were also made into long airy, fine scarves, called boas for their resemblance in shape to boa constrictors.
Top notch white wing feathers sold for £14 to £20 a pound. Inferior ones were used for making dusters.
In 1904, at the wedding of Isobel Duncan to Charles Mackay, a future mayor of Whanganui, the bridesmaids wore white frilled bonnets adorned with ostrich feathers. It was a very special occasion.
At the outbreak of World War I, ostrich feathers fell out of favour — too frivolous — but Allison kept his big birds.
They became a great local attraction and were notorious for causing horses to bolt in terror when they rushed to the fence, wings flapping in a friendly way.
Allison’s female ostrich died in about 1920 and the corpse was donated to the museum, which had it stuffed and mounted for exhibition.
The male was sent to Wellington Zoo in 1929, attracting lots of interest until his death in 1935.
Sometimes ostrich eggs were made into ornaments.
A local example is a pair of silver stands, manufactured by Drew’s Jewellers in Whanganui, in which to display two ostrich eggs painted with African scenes.
Ostriches continued to be farmed in Whanganui and other places in New Zealand, mainly in the North Island. A photograph from around the 1950s in the museum collection has written on the reverse:
“We visited an Ostrich Farm. They are very strong birds, this one I rode around the Compound. As soon as the keeper let him go he went the pace. To get off all you have to do is to let go its wings, and unloose your legs around his belly and slip off on his tail, just as simple as that.”
A boom and bust in the 1980s saw the end of ostrich farming in the Whanganui district.
Today, some petting zoos keep a few ostriches that earn their keep by entertaining paying visitors.
In some parts of the world, ostrich farming continues to thrive through diversification of use.
Some ostriches are bred to produce food in the form of large eggs, each one equalling the capacity of about 25 hen eggs.
Others are bred for their quality meat, low in fat but high in protein. Yet others are bred for their hides, recognised as one of the luxury leathers.
It is thick and soft and can be made into bags, shoes and coats.
Libby Sharpe