Johnny Cash and the Cons of Owning an Ostrich Farm

The tough-talking rebel of rock may not have been as tough as he thought, at least when it comes to large birds. Back in 1981, Johnny Cash’s flame was beginning to dim as he spent most of his time in Tennessee at his studio and many farms, a place which was referred to as “The House of Cash.” As one might choose to do with this farmland, Cash included an ostrich farm, because why not? The ensuing story was described in detail in Cash’s autobiography, Cash: The Autobiography.

One winter was brutally cold and wiped out nearly half of his ostrich population, including the female of a pair that refused to be captured to be kept warm in a nearby barn. Because of this, Cash recalls that Waldo (the male)’s demeanor toward him had changed for the worse. After a slight altercation, Cash decided to assert his dominance – he came back to approach the ostrich armed with a 6-foot stick. Cash took a swing and missed. The ostrich lunged through the air at him and came down hard.

“He was in the air, and a split second later he was on his way down again, with that big toe of his, larger than my size-thirteen shoe, extended toward my stomach. He made contact—I’m sure there was never any question he wouldn’t—and frankly, I got off lightly. All he did was break my two lower ribs and rip my stomach open down to my belt, If the belt hadn’t been good and strong, with a solid belt buckle, he’d have spilled my guts exactly the way he meant to. As it was, he knocked me over onto my back and I broke three more ribs on a rock—but I had sense enough to keep swinging the stick, so he didn’t get to finish me. I scored a good hit on one of his legs, and he ran off,” said Cash.

Although Cash had won this round for now, in the long run it seems Waldo had the last laugh. After experiencing incredible pain from the attack, Cash became addicted to the painkillers that were prescribed to him. He would eventually seek treatment for his addiction in 1983, when he went to The Betty Ford Clinic. Finding light in the most unlikely of places, it was here that Cash befriended fellow music icon, Ozzy Osbourne.