LACOMBE, Alta. – Ostrich enthusiasts filled the Lacombe sales pavilion to the rafters for the first of a series of auctions offering breeding stock.
By the end of the day, 44 lots sold for $245,500, to average $5,568. The top selling lot at $47,500 was a Zimbabwe-born breeding pair consigned by Dave Bilinsky of High River, Alta.
While some were disappointed with lower than anticipated bids, sale organizer Darlene Craig said prices were realistic. About 80 percent of the successful bidders were new buyers.
There is still room for good breeding stock in the industry, said Craig, but she expects prices to stabilize compared to last year, when thousands of dollars were being invested.
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The birds were selected from 14 contributors, and because of popular demand for a sales outlet, another auction will be held Oct. 29 at Lacombe.
A select sale was first suggested by a few breeders who decided the industry needed new direction and another avenue to sell birds, said Craig.
Buyers knowledgeable
People buying at Lacombe were selective and educated in their choices.
“They knew what they were looking for,” said Craig, a breeder and a director on the Alberta Ostrich Breeders Association.
The next step for Alberta ostrich breeders is to find a slaughterhouse and to get commercial grade birds into the meat market. Craig expects this to happen within six months.
A team of breeders is approaching meat plants about processing the birds. The meat is destined for the restaurant trade, with requests coming from as far away as Toronto and Vancouver.
