About
Ostrich
phyllum : Chordata Kingdom : Animalia
Class : Aves Scientific Name : Struthio Camelus
Sub Class : Neornithes Diet : Dmnivore
Division : Gnathostomata Type : Bird
Super Class : Tetrapoda Size : 1.8m - 2.7 m ( 6ft - 9ft )
Genus : Struthio Weight : 63 kg - 130 kg
Top Speed - 74 km / H Life Span : 50 - 70 years
Colour : Brown, Black, White, Grey, White, Pink
Favourite Food : Grass
Wing Span : 1.5m -2m 4.(9ft - 6.5ft )
This bird has a long neck, powerful legs soft plumage, bare skin on head, neck, and thighs. Male is black with white wing primaries; the tail varies from whitish to gray or cinnamon brown; skin on its head and neck, pink or blue flushing bright red during courtship; brown eyes with large eyelashes. Female is pale brown with pinkish neck and head; wing tips sometimes can be white.
This bird breeds at different times and it varies with latitude. The male makes a number of unlined scrapes on the ground. The female selects one and lays up to 12 yellowish-white eggs, then several other females lay more eggs in the same scrape. The nest can contain up to 40 eggs; they are incubated by the male at night, and by the dominant female by day, for about 42 days. This arrangement where the dominant females help to take care of the eggs is almost unigue. Maybe her own eggs benefit from being part of a larger group. There are so many eggs she will kick out those eggs who are not hers. Exactly how she tells which eggs are her own is not clear. The ostrich egg is the largest of any bird on earth, measuring up to 8 inches (20cm) long.
The biggest and heaviest of all living birds, the ostrich is widely distributed throughout the drier parts of Africa.
It is ideally adapted for life on arid grasslands, where its long legs allow it to gather food from wide ranges. It can lose up to a quarter of its body weight through dehydration, which gives it a big advantage in desert regions where sources of water are few and far between. The ostrich cannot fly, but makes up for this with its powerful legs that allow it to out run most of its enemies.
Ostriches will form flocks of 10-50 birds and search for food. The large males will defend their territories with a loud, deep call that resembles the roars of lions, and it will inflate the red-flushed skin of their necks in display.
Not:1 Ostriches
cannot fly, but don't feel too sorry for them. The ostrich is the fastest
bipedal runner in the world, capable of reaching speeds up to 45 miles per
hour--about twice what the fastest human can achieve. What's more, an ostrich
can maintain this speed for up to half an hour.
Not: 2 Male
ostriches are polygamous, but they tend the nest with a single favored mate.
This hen lays about a half-dozen eggs in a shallow depression in the sand,
which takes her about two weeks. Other hens then add their own eggs to the
nest, and once they are finished, the favored mate chases them off. The nest
owners then incubate all the eggs: The female sits on them during the day, and
the male takes a turn at night.
NOT: 3 Although the ostrich egg is the
largest of all eggs, it is the smallest egg in relation to the size of the
bird. A three-pound egg is only about 1 percent as heavy as the ostrich hen; by
contrast, a kiwi's egg--the largest in comparison to the mother--is 15 to 20
percent of the mother bird's mass. An ostrich egg is equivalent in volume to
two dozen chicken eggs.
NOT:4 The ostrich is the largest living bird
in the world. An ostrich chick grows one foot taller each month until it is
seven or eight months old. Adult ostrich roosters are six to ten feet in height
and can weigh as much as 340 pounds. Because of their prodigious size,
ostriches were occasionally used for riding or pulling chariots in ancient Egypt; the practice never really took off, because the ostrich has
a nasty tempe.
Not: 5
This great bird has only two toes; all other birds have three or four.
Ostriches kick forward, not backward, because that's the direction in which
their knees bend. Ostriches never need to drink water some
of it they make internally, and the rest is derived from the vegetation they
eat.
A male ostrich stands
between 6 and 9 feet at maturity, while
females will range
between 5 [1/2] to 6 [1/2] feet tall at
maturity. Ostrich
chicks grow about 10 inches per month for the
first year and weigh
about 100 pounds at 12 months of age.
Domesticated ostriches
reach maturity at 2-to-3 years of age.
Females mature about 6
months earlier than the males. Ostriches
normally live from
30-to-70 years in captivity.
Even though ostriches
are flightless birds, their wings are
surprisingly strong.
Ostriches use their wings for aggressive
display and courtship
rituals. Males have contrasting bright white
and black plumage. The
female's plumage is grey and drab. Their
lead-blue skin color
usually becomes scarlet over the beak, on the
forehead, and around
the eyes during the mating season. The normal
body temperature range
of the ostrich is between 103 and 104 F.
During hot weather,
ostriches lift and fan their wings, while
during cold weather
they cover their thighs with their wings. The
ostrich is the only
bird to have only 2 toes on each foot. Emus,
rheas and cassowarys,
which are also classified as ratites
(flightless birds),
have three toes on each foot. Ostriches are
fast runners, and
their first instinct upon being frightened is to
run. Ostriches can
cover between 16-to-23 feet per stride and
maintain speeds
between 30 and 50 miles per hour for 30 minutes.
Breeding
The breeding season
for ostriches begins in March and April and can
last until September.
Breeding season length largely depends on
food availability,
bird condition, and weather. Approximately two
months prior to the
beginning of the breeding season birds should
be separated into
breeding pairs. Groups of one male and two female
birds can also be
penned together. Bird condition is important as
unhealthy and
improperly conditioned birds will often be less
productive egg layers.
Courtship of ostriches
involves elaborate displays by both sexes.
Shortly after mating,
the female will lay between 12-to-15 eggs.
Generally, females
will lay an egg every other day. If the eggs are
taken from the nest
daily, the hen may lay up to 80 eggs, although
40-to-50 is more
typical. An inadequate diet may result in less egg
production. Ostrich
eggs are the largest of all eggs and weigh
about 2.75 pounds. The
contents of one ostrich egg is equivalent to
two dozen chicken
eggs.
Breeding Paddock
Ostriches prefer
larger paddocks; however, oversized paddocks can
cause birds to become more wild, skittish
and harder to control. A
good paddock size for
a breeding pair is 1-to-3 acres. Planting the
paddock to alfalfa
will allow the birds to have quality forage for
grazing. A few trees
or shrubs for shade and privacy are advised.
The paddock should be
enclosed with 5-foot high wire fence. There
should be a double
fence between two paddocks, with at least 6 feet
between fences, to
prevent males from injuring themselves fighting.
Four-to-five strands of 8 gauge smooth
wire is sufficient with
posts spaced 10 feet
apart. Never use barbed wire as birds will
inevitably do serious
harm to themselves. A hedge or windbreak is
also good between pens
to provide more privacy during courtship
displays. The pen
should have an area about 25 square feet by 6
inches deep of clean
sand for the birds to roll in.
Ostriches are hardy
birds; however, they do require protection from
snow, ice, extreme
wind, cold rain, and sleet. Paddocks should be
designed so birds have
to access a shelter (confinement pen) to
obtain feed and water.
Pens designed in this manner simplify the
task of catching and
restraining the birds. Also, having feed and
water in the shelter
protects it from the elements. Feeders and
waterers should be
positioned so that managers can access them
without exposing
themselves to overly aggressive ostriches. While
not prone to
aggressive behavior, ostriches may become more
aggressive during the
breeding season.
Feeders should be
open-type measuring about 48 inches long by 14
inches wide and 4-to-6
inches deep. Feeders should be partitioned
into equal sections:
one containing a ratite breeder ration, one
containing shelled
corn, and one containing oyster shell. A one day
supply of breeder
ration and shelled corn should be placed in the
feed box. The water
pan should be 24-to-30 inches wide and 5-to-8
inches deep. Ostriches
drink by scooping water with their beak.
Therefore, they need a
depth of water sufficient to immerse their
beak and a long enough
distance to move across to adequately drink.
Feeders and waterers
should be mounted at the bird's chest height.
Incubation
There are two main
methods of incubation for domestic ostrich
production, natural
and artificial. Many African ostrich producers
prefer natural
incubation because they feel chicks hatched with
artificial incubation are not as healthy. This
is probably true,
since under natural
conditions only the strongest chicks survive;
however, fewer chicks
survive under natural incubation. Also,
allowing ostriches to
sit on eggs for up to six weeks can cause
strain on the birds
and deteriorate their condition. Both male and
female ostriches share
sitting responsibilities, usually the male
at night and the
female during the day.
If the hen is allowed
to sit on the eggs, she will normally lay
about one egg every
other day for a total of 12 to 15 eggs. The
nest will generally be
a shallow depression in the ground. It is
possible to enhance
the nest by digging a small hole next to the
nest, filling it with
coarse sand, and building a small bank around
it.
Producers in the
United States usually practice artificial
incubation. United
State's producers generally feel there is too
much investment in the
birds and eggs for natural incubation.
Greater egg production
should result if eggs are removed from the
nest each day. If
artificial incubation is used, eggs should be
gathered twice daily,
stored with large ends up or on their sides,
cooled to 65 to 70 F,
and placed in the incubator within 2-to-4
days. If eggs are not
incubated within 4 days, hatchability usually
declines. Eggs should
be turned 3 times daily prior to being placed
in an incubator.
Only clean, sound eggs
should be incubated. Dirt and manure should
be gently scraped off
or removed with sandpaper. Eggs should not be
wiped with a cloth as
this could force bacteria deeper into the
pores of the egg
shell, increasing chances of infection. If eggs
must be washed, use
water containing a sanitizing agent, with water
temperature maintained
10 F warmer than the eggs. Sanitizing agents
suitable for use on
ostrich eggs include ammonium compounds or
compounds containing
chlorine, iodine or synthetic phenol. Water
should be changed
frequently to prevent spreading of bacteria.
Improper cleaning is
worse than no cleaning at all. Latex gloves
should be worn when
handling eggs to prevent oil on skin from
penetrating the shell.
Good quality
incubators and hatchers are necessary. Other than
birds themselves,
incubators and hatchers should represent the
greatest monetary
investment. Several companies manufacture ostrich
incubators and hatchers. Some of the
companies are listed:
Humidaire Incubator
Co., New Madison, OH (513/996-3001); Kuhl
Corporation,
Flemington, NJ (201/782-5695); and G.Q.F. Mfg. Co.,
Box 1552, Dept. OST,
Savannah, GA 31498 (192/236-0651).
Ostrich eggs need to
be incubated for 42 days. Unless otherwise
specified by the
manufacturer, the eggs should be incubated at 97.5
to 98.5 F. Relative
humidity should be kept at 35 to 40 percent
through day 40
(beginning of pipping), after day 40, humidity
should be kept at 83
to 88 percent.
Fertile eggs should
begin to hatch on the 42nd day. Chicks will
usually hatch without
assistance within 12 hours after they first
pip (break) the shell.
Chicks should not be removed prematurely as
blood vessels may
break, or if not given sufficient time to
struggle, the yolk sac
may not be drawn into the chick's body. If
a chick has not
hatched after 20-to-30 hours and appears weak,
carefully remove a few
pieces of shell. Be sure to remove pieces of
shell which are
cutting the chick's bill.
After the chicks have
hatched, let them dry for 3-to-4 hours in the
brooder (90 to 95F).
After the chicks have dried sufficiently,
place no more than 3
birds in a 4 foot by 5 foot pen.