http://funreports.com/fun/15-10-2005/1282-ostrich-0
:mrgreen: Craving for nutritious meat and eggs, Orthodox monks start breeding ostriches in Russia
2005/10/15
In Russia, the Svyato-Troitsky Kamenno-Brodsky monastery of the Volgograd eparchy began to breed ostriches. Ostrich is a bird absolutely atypical of Russia, and the breeding of the African big bird has never been a success in this country. A zoo is the only place where Russians can see ostriches in their native country. So, the monastery is the pioneer of ostrich breeding in Russia. The Saratov national TV company reports the monastery now has three young birds, and in the nearest future these ostriches are believed to breed up to 40 birds a year.
Every ostrich gives 40-50 kg of dietetic meat containing no cholesterol that is to be sent to pupils of the Volgograd Orthodox seminary. Birds from the African savannah turned out to be absolutely undemanding; they have already adapted themselves to the Russian climate and can even sleep on snow. Just twice the ostriches made attempts to escape but were stopped in time. The ostriches easily establish contacts with monks and pilgrims; they particularly love to pick their laces. Besides ostriches, the monastery farm also breeds cows, horses and hens.