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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 16, 1996)
rHOTOS BY Scott Bruhn TOP: OSTRICHES ARE BECOMING a new source of red meat that is low in cholesterol and fat. Ostrich meat is already on the menu at Porky’s Bar and Grill in Pleasant Dale and at Crane River Brewpub and Cafe, 200 N. 11th St. BOTTOM: CAl'Hl CHICOINE gets lots of attention from ostriches at the Chicoine Ostrich Farm in Pleasant Dale. Ostriches are attracted to bright or shiny objects and were going after buttons on Chicoine’s shirt. Lepper meat market OstricJ^xroving to be a new low-fat alternative I By Erin Gibson Staff Reporter At 6 feet tall and 85 pounds, Big Baby’s beating the odds. Hot siblings will be eaten, used in medicines and cosmetics. But, at the age of three months, her future is secure. Big Baby’s job is to make more ba bies. She will breed with other ostriches to give Nebraska a taste of new red meat Big Baby is one of many swift footed birds raised in East Campus’ Poultry Science building and on farms southwest of Lincoln. “• Kay Kunze, a junior fisheries and wildlife major, said she watched over Big Baby from birth, making sure the bird survived in an environment differ ent from her native South Africa. Kunze researches growth conditions, antibiotic and probiotic supplements that will keep ostriches thriving for the growing meat market. “Right now, they’re a delicacy,” Kunze said. Unlike most birds, ostriches yield red meat. The meat tastes like beef, but is about 98 percent fat free. Because of this, she said, the market is booming. But Barb Merz, president of the Cen tral States Ostrich Association in Wa hoo, said the popularity of ostrich meat is “just the tip of the iceberg,” Merz said. Ostrich oil is a powerful anti-inflam matory agent, once used by aborigines in Africa to heal wounds. The oil also enhances collagen production in skin and effectively reduces wrinkles. “The market value for cosmetics and healing ointments is just incredible,” she said. Now, meat producers are clamoring for ostriches to slaughter, Kunze said, but growers are running into problems. “Here, about 75 percent of our birds that hatched died of just being stupid. 1 had to baby-sit these guys 24 hours a day. They’re dumber than doornails.” The birds died from stress, Kunze said. They would get confused, eat sand and plastic tarp instead of feed, and then die from the material packed in their stomachs. Kunze said she talked with many ostrich producers who needed five years’ experience in breeding before achieving a low mortality rate. Although Kunze said raising the I birds was a chore, Cathi Chicoine, co owner of Chicoine Ostrich Farm in . Pleasant Dale, said the birds were easy to raise if treated properly. If the birds have good genetics, they will be very happy and healthy in a natu ral, safe environment with proper nutri tion and management, Chicoine said. In spite of some dismal death rates, ostriches are happy birds, Kunze said. “In the mornings, when they see the sun, they are so happy to be alive that they start dancing,” she said. “They open their wings and start spinning in circles. They’re adorable.” Ostriches are also highly productive, Chicoine said. Most hens lay 40 eggs in a 6-month breeding season. She has one hen that never lays fewer than 88 eggs. At about $6 per pound, ground os trich meat is about $4 per pound more expensive than beef. But it is starting to appear at lower prices in restaurants. Porky’s Bar and Grill in Pleasant Dale was one of the first restaurants in Nebraska to make lean ostrich burgers, steaks and filets permanent items on its menu. They sell for about $6 per plate. And Crane River Brewpub and Cafe, 200 N. 11th St, serves $6.95 ostrich burgers and $9.95 fajita specials. Convenience stores statewide carry v/ouruvu o uiouu v/ouivu mvai ouavn sticks, which Chicoine helps produce. Hy-Vee Food Store, 27th and Supe rior streets, started carrying Ostri-bob’s ostrich filets and snack sticks on Oct 8. But Nebraskans aren’t the only people eating the new red meat Townes Rawls, an ostrich producer in McPherson, Kan., shipped more than 5,000 pounds of ostrich meat to Singapore in September. Next month’s , shipment will total 10,000 pounds, he said. Rawls’ company, Obviously Os trich, opened a branch in England and has several orders scheduled for deliv ery in England and mainland Europe. The demand is turning the Midwest ' into an international port of call, he said. Currently, production is light but os trich meat is gaining visibility. And that should ruffle some feath- j ers. v. " 1