Danes Find New Tradition For Holidays

As an image of Christmas, the partridge in the pear tree may be facing some serious competition from the ostrich under the pine tree.

The Danish government is subsidizing a two-year project in which the big birds work as caretakers on Christmas tree farms.

The scheme was hatched by Christian Moeller-Nielsen, who owns the plantation where the experiment is under way.

Denmark this year banned many chemicals used as herbicides and pesticides, sending fir-growers searching for alternatives for keeping their trees healthy. The economic ramification is substantial - Denmark produces about 60 percent of the 150 million Christmas trees sold annually in Europe, the Danish Forest Association says.

Moeller-Nielsen considered various alternatives, but found they all had failings.

“Heavy machinery hardens the soil and damages the trees. Sheep munch Christmas trees, and using a scythe is a time-consuming method,” said Moeller-Nielsen.

Then, while visiting an ostrich farm in Denmark, he realized that the huge birds eat weeds but avoid the prickly fir needles. At the same time, their manure is a fertilizer.

He bought a male and three females, built a stable for them and now uses them to tend the 50,000 trees on his farm.

The birds lay eggs about a dozen times a year and he plans to sell the chicks back to an ostrich farm, which in turn processes ostrich meat, which is low in fat and cholesterol.