In English
We are middleage married couple, Helena and Elmet Erik, living in the beautiful island of Muhu, In Nautse village Laasu farm.
It was a great interest to those gracious and fabulous flightless birds, what inspired us to start ostrichfarming in the end of 1999. We have two breedingfamilies of ostriches and we farm them for tastive red meat and nice strong leather.
Beside ostriches,there are also nandus/rheas (South-American Ostr.) and emus (Australian Ostr.) in our farm. They are flightless birds, which can be farmed for read meat and oil, used in cosmetics.
Kangaroos are our pets.
Ostriches (Camelus Strutio-Latin) are the biggest flightless birds in the world. They can live 50-70 years, grow 2,0-2,75m high, weight 120-150 kg and run 50-70 km/h. Their egg weights 1,5-1,8 kg and it is compared with 22-24 hen eggs. Ostriches are grasseaters. They are very productive for the farmers. One can use everything from this birds if onely knows and cans; feathers, skin, meat, eggs, eggshells, even manure. One can olso ride on it and saddle the ostrich in front of the carret.
The ostrich meat is the healthiest red meat in the world because of it`s low fat and colesterol. The leather is second by the strenght after kangaroo. Fat of the ratite binds is known for its deep penetrating quality and used as a base of creams in cosmetics. It also smooths the pain of artrites and used as an emollient for dry skin.
No, they don`t bury their heads in the sand, they don`t have teeth, but they do eat stones.
We have focused on the incubating the chickens and growing them up for meat and breeders.Ostich meat is in the menues of the restaurants in Tallinn as well as in Muhu , in the restaurant of Pädaste Manor and Muhu Restaurant. We have a little shop in our farm, where visitors can see and buy the ostrich products: eggs, eggshels, packed meat, lamps and candelstands from eggshells, letherproducrs and fethers. There is also a nice place to have a rest and play egg-games. Groups service should be booked in advance HERE.
You are welcome!
You will find our farm, when You drive from Kuivastu in Kuressaare direction 16 km and turn to right down at NAUTSE signpost 800 m.