After having worked in the engineering field for years and entered the private business, Adrian Miclaus set up an ostrich farm in the outskirts of Sibiu.
Adrian Miclaus entered this business one year ago, when he acquired a couple of offspring and adult ostriches together with a friend. A few months later, he decided to continue the business all by himself. He built a little farm where to breed his little livestock of four offspring and three adult ostriches.
"I was only curious about this issue at the beginning. I found plenty of information on the Internet and even an ostrich stock exchange established by the Italians for the European market.
This business required a lot of money and commitment, as I entered a field in which the Romanians had never stepped before," says Adrian Miclaus.
The ostriches were brought from Belgium under contracts concluded through the Internet. They arrived in Romania after having crossed Europe in a special bus.
When they reached the Romanian border with Hungary, the owner faced the first problem, as his "stuff" category was not registered anywhere for customs clearance.
"Our sale-purchase and sanitary documents were in order, but the customs officers were confused with the situation. We eventually entered Romania declaring the ostriches fixed assets."
Adrian says that growing an ostrich requires a lot of ambition, patience and money. Though this animal is quite resistant, it is affected by the stress and features a strong personality.
"The ostriches need space to move, otherwise they get irritated and flurry. My ostriches have more than one half of hectare to move in. A wide space helps them to grow, as they are runners."
His seven ostriches need 1 million lei monthly to spend on food as each animal eats 1-1.5 kilos of meat daily. There is only one person who takes care of them so that they do not feel abandoned.
The ostrich farmers consider that the most difficult period in the bird's life is the infancy, the period up to three months old.
"The offspring have keen sensibilities and I have to keep them away of the stress and diseases. One offspring once had a heart attack due to a thunder and this is why the farmer should assume the risk when starts the business. The offspring need to be kept in a separate place and not together with the adults." Though the ostriches are generally resistant to diseases, they should not be raised together with other poultry as they may catch specific diseases.
Ostrich incubators are currently missing from Romania, as their price ranges between 3,000 dollars (a second-hand one) and 8,000 dollars (a new one).
An ostrich egg needs 42-day incubation and specific conditions: alternate 35% humidity and dryness. One-year-old ostriches become possessive and they usually fight for a female's attention.
"The scandal of the mad cow disease which spread all over Europe and America was a genuine chance for ostrich breeders to launch their business, although this animal is seen as a large, winged oddity with long neck and legs, always ready to swallow anything," says Adrian.
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