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Ostrich Feather Information
Ostriches On Line now make available a huge range of ostrich feathers, boas, dusters as well
as a large collection of many other feather types.
Browse our collection.
Wing plumes - as many as 50 at a time from the male - are cut about once a year. Plucking refers to pulling the whole feather, plume and quill, straight from the socket by hand.
Feathers are plucked from the tail, wing coverts, and chests of adult birds and from the bodies of the 7 to 8 month old, and 14-month old, juvenile birds. The wing plumes of adult birds are clipped off with hedge clippers or pruning shears.
The ostrich is restrained in a plucking box, sometimes wearing a hood to render the bird blind and helpless, while feathers are cut approximately two inches above the socket.
Closer cutting causes hemorrhage and feather regeneration damage, as blood vessels and nerves run through the center of the feather stopping near where the feather unfolds.
Quilling is the process of pulling out the quills that are purposely left in the sockets of the bird at the time of clipping. This is done about two months later by hand, or with pliers.
Quilling is used to avoid hemorrhage and to control the growth and commercial quality of the wing plumes. Workers are advised to coat the freshly quilled skin with Vaseline, to protect the open socket from exposure, and soften the skin for leather.
All these procedures are represented by the ostrich industry as painless, that pulling feathers from a young ostrich causes the bird no pain. The main drawback of defeathering is its labor inventiveness.
An ostrich farming manual published in Zimbabwe in 1992 says that years ago there were many anti-feather bodies throughout the world who mistakenly regarded feather plucking as cruel and painful.
A hint of the truth can be seen in a ostrich advertisement promoting the African Black, a variety of ostrich specially bred for feathers in South Africa: "Birds must stand calmly as feathers are pulled. Those birds that accepted the process survived, those that were a problem ended up in the slaughterhouse."
At present, the main products from ostriches is the meat, hide and feathers. The full quill hides are used to make cowboy boots, luggage, and accessories.
These products are related. Plucking increases the commercial value of the skin by making the feather follicle pattern more pronounced. Producers planning to slaughter birds at the recommended slaughter age of ten to twelve months old for meat are advised to pluck the birds at seven months old for maximum profit.
An article in the autumn 1993 issue of Agscene by Compassion In World Farming summarizes a report to its members by the Australian Ostrich Association, (Nov. 12, 1992), on defeathering prior to slaughter. According to the report, ten farmed ostriches were slaughtered in a commercial trial at a livestock slaughterhouse for cattle and sheep.
In South Africa the most important part of preparing the birds for killing was defeathering them. First their feathers were clipped off. Then their bodies were shaved using a pair of electric clippers. The birds were then taken to a stunning pen and shot with a captive bolt pistol.
John Crawford, managing director of the Ostrich/Ratite Research Foundation in Oklahoma reports that the feathers have to be removed without contaminating the meat.
Wing plumes - as many as 50 at a time from the male - are cut about once a year. Plucking refers to pulling the whole feather, plume and quill, straight from the socket by hand.
Feathers are plucked from the tail, wing coverts, and chests of adult birds and from the bodies of the 7 to 8 month old, and 14-month old, juvenile birds. The wing plumes of adult birds are clipped off with hedge clippers or pruning shears.
The ostrich is restrained in a plucking box, sometimes wearing a hood to render the bird blind and helpless, while feathers are cut approximately two inches above the socket.
Closer cutting causes hemorrhage and feather regeneration damage, as blood vessels and nerves run through the center of the feather stopping near where the feather unfolds.
Quilling is the process of pulling out the quills that are purposely left in the sockets of the bird at the time of clipping. This is done about two months later by hand, or with pliers.
Quilling is used to avoid hemorrhage and to control the growth and commercial quality of the wing plumes. Workers are advised to coat the freshly quilled skin with Vaseline, to protect the open socket from exposure, and soften the skin for leather.
All these procedures are represented by the ostrich industry as painless, that pulling feathers from a young ostrich causes the bird no pain. The main drawback of defeathering is its labor inventiveness.
An ostrich farming manual published in Zimbabwe in 1992 says that years ago there were many anti-feather bodies throughout the world who mistakenly regarded feather plucking as cruel and painful.
A hint of the truth can be seen in a ostrich advertisement promoting the African Black, a variety of ostrich specially bred for feathers in South Africa: "Birds must stand calmly as feathers are pulled. Those birds that accepted the process survived, those that were a problem ended up in the slaughterhouse."
At present, the main products from ostriches is the meat, hide and feathers. The full quill hides are used to make cowboy boots, luggage, and accessories.
These products are related. Plucking increases the commercial value of the skin by making the feather follicle pattern more pronounced. Producers planning to slaughter birds at the recommended slaughter age of ten to twelve months old for meat are advised to pluck the birds at seven months old for maximum profit.
An article in the autumn 1993 issue of Agscene by Compassion In World Farming summarizes a report to its members by the Australian Ostrich Association, (Nov. 12, 1992), on defeathering prior to slaughter. According to the report, ten farmed ostriches were slaughtered in a commercial trial at a livestock slaughterhouse for cattle and sheep.
In South Africa the most important part of preparing the birds for killing was defeathering them. First their feathers were clipped off. Then their bodies were shaved using a pair of electric clippers. The birds were then taken to a stunning pen and shot with a captive bolt pistol.
John Crawford, managing director of the Ostrich/Ratite Research Foundation in Oklahoma reports that the feathers have to be removed without contaminating the meat.