Just some photos of my Ostriches and Emu :)

[moonjelly]

 

[yinepu]

lol.. I want the Dobie!!!..

i used to raise them.. one of my favorite breeds!

 

[chooks4life]

Interesting birds. Almost makes me want to get some. What do you keep them for?

 

[yinepu]

Interesting birds. Almost makes me want to get some. What do you keep them for?

we keep ours mainly for meat, oil and feathers.. others keep them for pets
(though we do have a few which we call "pets" too... lol)

 

[Nicophorus]

we keep ours mainly for meat, oil and feathers.. others keep them for pets
(though we do have a few which we call "pets" too... lol)

Yinepu, I see you are in Texas and I take it that there are facilities in Texas to process Ratites (well I know there are). Do you know what producers in other states do that don't have nearby access to dedicated facilities?

I'm just wondering what does someone do if they live in a state with NO facilities that process birds and/or render the oil. I wonder if they slaughter/process themselves and maybe ship the fat to one of the oil rendering plants in Texas.

 

[Grassman 52]

For myself - I can process the meat, but what do you do with the oil? Are there places you can ship for processing?

 

[yinepu]

Quote:
we slaughter and process ourselves.. even rendering the oil ourselves... it's not hard.. just time consuming.. and you do need to make sure it's a nice quick clean kill

as far as other states that process?.. no idea.. SOME poultry plants are said to handle them.. but the slaughter houses and plants I have worked at out of state weren't equipped for them

 

[yinepu]

For myself - I can process the meat, but what do you do with the oil? Are there places you can ship for processing?

you scrape the fat off of the hide and carcase .. wash with cold cold water to remove as much blood as possible .. cut it up or grind it.. toss it into a pot with more water and heat it to about 212ºF ( i use a digital thermometer).. as the oil floats to the top we skim it off... once it's skimmed off we raise the heat to 240ºF to steam off any water that may still be in the oil

this isn't "refining" it though... we don't refine ours.. instead we keep it is the "raw" condition so none of the good stuff is lost in the refining process... plus we are really small scale.. so it's just not worth it to bother to refine it.





edited to add:... Sorry Moonjelly if this offends you.. but the question was asked.. so I figured I would answer it...

and I dunno if it offends or not.. but it's your thread.... so yeah.. figured I would add this anyway...
I know some people keep them as pets (don't remember if you do or not).. but if it weren't for the ranchers who decided to raise them for meat and oil.. none of us would be able to own them so easily for pets or for other purposes.....

 

[moonjelly]

Chooks -- I keep them for pets. I also raise sheep and have camels. To me, it's just a hobby. Like stamp collecting, but most interesting.

Yinepu -- They are pets, but I'm not offended. I also keep sheep and other animals people would eat and although I've been a vegetarian since I was a little kid and I couldn't imagine eating them, I don't mind that other people do.

 

[chooks4life]

I've only ever met hostile and aggressive ostriches in captivity, and wild emus in the outback, so I've not seen their friendly side but it does seem plenty of folks keep them as livestock and pets. I also keep livestock breeds as pets as well, what the animal does in its life determines whether or not I will cull it, rehome it, or keep it as a pet.

Abnormal violence towards its own species or humans equals a cull for me, but others try to rehabilitate them. I raise my animals as peacefully as possible as I don't believe they need to be afraid to respect a human, so if it turns violent it has no cause, in my opinion. But each to their own. I don't condemn anyone who does it differently though it is a bit hard to condone the idea of someone breeding an animal known to kill humans.

Best wishes.