FAST FACTS
The farm has a hatchery and supplies the market with day-old ostrich chicks.
The breeding focus is on the production of strong ostriches with premium-quality feathers.
A healthy diet helps to unlock the genetic potential of these ostriches.
Even though ostrich plumage never again generated the riches it did during the 1865 to 1870 and the 1900 to 1914 booms, the production of premium-quality ostrich feathers is allowing Laubscher Coetzee, who farms at Kandrift Boerdery near Oudtshoorn in the Klein Karoo, to weather droughts and market fluctuations.
“Our ostrich feathers fetch a 10% to 50% premium and are always in demand even during times of oversupply. The excellent quality of our genetics has also sparked a good demand for our day-old chicks,” says Coetzee.
He attributes the good quality of his genetics to “years and years” of careful selection. “When meat and leather prices were sky-high, some farmers imported genetics and focused on the production of huge ostriches with lots of meat and leather, but hardly any feathers. We, however, continued to focus on producing
