A SPUR-of-the-moment birthday present to his wife has led to a farmer offering some unusual pets for sale.

Steve Nesbitt, of Alwent Hall Farm, near Staindrop, County Durham, bought five rheas, a type of South American ostrich, from a neighbour who was moving.

Mr Nesbitt presented the four females and one male to his wife, Mary, for her birthday.

He said: "Mary was pretty amazed when I gave them to her on her birthday."

After successfully breeding the Rheas, Mr Nesbitt, who normally breeds pedigree sheep and cattle, now has another 12 birds which he is offering for sale as unusual pets or for breeding.

Although the birds can live up to 40 years, Mr Nesbitt said they need very little looking after and make great pets.

However, he had to adapt an incubator for the birds' eggs and, when the eggs hatched, the chicks had no one to show them how to eat.

Mr Nesbitt got round this problem by placing a bantam chick in with the young rheas.

"They make really good orchard cleaners, they eat thistles and nettles and all the weeds, but not the flowers," he said.

A spokeswoman for the RSPCA said anyone considering taking on a rhea as a pet should first do plenty of research and get plenty of advice about keeping the animal.

She said: "People should examine the financial, practical and emotional implications before taking anything on.

"We say that with every pet, but a rhea is not domesticated like a dog and we find with a lot of exotic pets, such as reptiles, that sometimes they are not what people expect."

Anyone interested in buying the birds can contact Mr Nesbitt on 07979 593170.