PAULA: Today I'd like to introduce Ted Hunter,whoused to rear sheep and poultry but who is here totell us about a rather unusual type of livestock thathe's been concentrating on in the last few years.TedHunter is a member of the Domesticated OstrichFarming Association,and is here to tell us about thepossibilities of breeding and rearing these birds herein this country.
TED: Thank you,Paula.When you look atinternational restaurant menus and supermarketsthey all tend to feature the same range of meats-beef,lamb,chicken,pork,that sort of thing.But people are always interested in somethingdifferent and we're now finding that farming can bring new types of meat to our tables.Thekangaroo is one animal that's now being farmed for its meat and eaten outside Australia,whereit comes from.It looks and tastes rather like rabbit,though it's slightly darker in colour,but it israther tough,so that's a problem for some people.Crocodiles are also being farmed for theirmeat.This is rather like chicken,pale and tender,and it's getting quite fashionable.Some peoplealso find it's rather fatty,but I think it makes a really tasty sandwich.Now a third type of meatbecoming increasingly available,and the one that I think is by far the nicest of the three,isostrich,which most people say has a similar taste and texture to beef.However,it's much betterfor you than beef,as we'll see later.