FULLERTON : He Hopes to Feather Nest With Ostrich

Peering over a fence next to a busy Fullerton street, an eight-foot ostrich waved his shiny black wings, and stuck out his tongue.

“He’s trying to show me how big he is,” said 32-year-old Dennis Campbell, owner of Orange County’s only ostrich farm.

Once a common sight in Southern California when ostrich feathers were in high demand for lady’s hats last century, the birds are now a novelty.

But entrepreneurs like Campbell and his partner Alex Wilson are hoping to change all that. Campbell envisions a booming business in ostrich meat, feathers, hide and eggs in California and plans to sell the young from his five-ostrich farm to others who want to get into the business.

“It’s not a fad like pot-bellied pigs or llamas,” Campbell said. “There’s an established by-product market for the animals.”

While most people have heard of ostrich-hide boots, belts and purses, and the bird’s enormous eggs, few know that ostrich feathers make excellent dusters used by the auto and computer industry to cut down on dust in sensitive assembly areas, he said.

And ostrich steaks might eventually become a popular alternative to beef, Campbell said, pointing to a block of frozen bird meat in his freezer.

The red meat has the nutritional value of chicken and “tastes like filet mignon,” he said. It now sells for $30 per pound, but ostrich farmers hope that with widespread production, the price will eventually drop to $2 or $3 a pound, he said.

At this stage, though, farmers are concentrating on increasing the “herd” to generate a large enough population for a slaughter market. When the ostrich population reaches half a million nationwide, farmers can start killing their birds and selling the parts, he said.

Campbell and his partner started researching ostrich farming last year and decided to join the ranks of the estimated 200 ostrich ranchers in California. The two raised $60,000 from investors nationwide to buy six birds and start a breeding farm, which is actually a quarter-acre pen beside Campbell’s house on Hermosa Drive. The ostriches have been at the property since November, he said.

The lifelong Orange County resident expects to raise 40 to 50 chicks this year. Female ostriches can continue to produce eggs for 30 to 40 years in captivity and live as long as 70 years, he said.

Besides the financial security he hopes the birds will bring his family, Campbell says the birds are fun and he welcomes visits from schoolchildren and senior citizens.

As he stood beside the muddied ostrich corral, a 150-pound brown-feathered female sauntered over to the fence to say hello. Her spindly, matted neck felt like a warm carpet and her muscles bulged like ropes as she curved her bald head through the fence to peck at Campbell’s hands.

“When you hear about ostriches you think of a gawky, ugly bird, but they’re so interested and curious, and they want to see who you are . . . you really get attached to them,” he said.