Ostriches & Engraving

​Raising the birds offered some diversity which was very important during the farm crisis.

But more that was the personal and dollar value of the ostrich products themselves. The low fat, low cholesterol, tasty red meat became important to Marion, who was encouraged by a significant drop in his high cholesterol readings after a short time of including it in his diet.

The infertile eggs produced the first couple of years inspired another new but related business. Beautifully engraved eggs were admired at one of the National Conventions, and soon the Striegel’s had invested in equipment and classes to be able to produce intricate and beautiful designs on eggs. The eggs became popular at first with other producers, engraved with their farm or ranch names on them. It didn’t stop there.

Although Marj does the engraving, they both traveled to Las Vegas, Utah, and Wisconsin to learn to apply the engraving skill on other mediums. Their skills now included the ability to engrave and sand etch on glass, metal and wood, in addition to the eggs. They also gained the skill of electroplating which makes it a broad ranged business.