Breeding ostriches at home is a godsend for the modern farmer. How to breed ostriches at home? Prices for mesh netting

Ostriches are gigantic birds, successfully domesticated by humans. Having appeared in the hot African savannah, they gradually reached the expanses of the European continent. From Greek, “ostrich” is translated as “camel sparrow”: the inventive Greeks succinctly noted its belonging to birds and the large size characteristic of animals. Breeding ostriches is a profitable and cost-effective investment. The enterprise turns out to be almost waste-free: meat, feathers, eggs, fat and even claws are in demand both in the domestic and foreign markets. If you strictly adhere to all components of the business plan, the initial investment will pay off within 2 or 3 years.

If just a few decades ago these giant birds were considered an exotic curiosity, exhibited exclusively in zoological parks, now Africa has become several tens of thousands of ostriches closer! The number of farms raising ostriches increases every year.

The secret to the success and profitability of this business lies in several components:

• high profitability, which, with an average of 100%, sometimes even reaches 150%;
• product needs: ostrich meat is not only nutritious, but also dietary. Due to its unusual origin, it is in demand among chefs of restaurants and active recreation clubs, as well as among the population concerned about the health and beauty of physical forms;

  

• a constant increase in the cost of food, including an increase in the never-before-democratic price of ostrich products. Interest in ostrich products is constantly increasing;
• free access to the national market for products of domestic manufacturers, in contrast to foreign colleagues. Restrictions on the import of foreign products give domestic producers carte blanche;
• subject to all appropriate conditions, the ostrich business may qualify for benefits and other favorable conditions;

  

• the unpretentiousness of these birds: thanks to their good immunity, they rarely get sick, demonstrate excellent survival rates and calmly react to the cold Russian winters;

  

• income comes not only from the sale of meat and eggs, but also from the sale of lard, leather, feathers and even bird claws.

  

Ostrich meat can easily become an alternative to all other types of meat products. In addition, the birds are known for their high productivity: every year one female produces at least 40 babies, some of which gain up to 100 kg of live weight by the 10th month.

In 1 year from one pair of ostriches you can get:

• 1800 kg of meat;
• 50 m 2 leather;
• 36 kg of feathers.

Birds retain their reproductive qualities from 25 to 35 years: the duration of this period cannot but please farmers, since the purchase of ostriches is a long-term investment.

Valuable ostrich products

The uniqueness of these birds lies in the fact that in addition to their aesthetic appeal, if we consider them solely from a consumer point of view, they represent an invaluable source of meat, eggs, feathers, fat, and leather. Even the claws of these birds can be used as accessories.

Diet meat

It is famous for its low cholesterol content: up to 34 mg per 100 g. But the presence of proteins so beneficial for the body, on the contrary, reaches 22%. In addition, it contains a most luxurious set of micronutrients. If you look at this meat from a culinary point of view, it is difficult to find any drawback in the mass of positive aspects. It is perfectly saturated with spices, which has made it so popular in Mexico and Asian countries. Europe and the United States also could not resist its “charms”: as of 2000, the level of beef consumption by Europeans decreased due to an increase in the purchase of ostrich.

Ostrich eggs

One egg weighs on average 1.5 kg. Similar to meat, it is also low in cholesterol. The gigantic size of eggs is attracting more and more buyers. The process of preparing a hard-boiled egg can take over 75 minutes! In Southern African countries, exotic bird eggs are successfully used to make baked goods. In Europe, restaurants are interested in gigantic eggs, luring guests with huge fried eggs, which can easily be divided into 10 servings.

Ostrich leather

It falls into the luxury category and is increasingly becoming an alternative to leather from animals belonging to endangered or protected species. The skin of these birds has a unique texture. It is valued due to such positive characteristics as wear resistance, elasticity and moisture resistance. The most popular skin is located on the back and chest area: it is in these areas that it has a pattern resembling air bubbles. The skin covering the limbs of birds is used primarily for making boots.

Ostrich fat

From a medium-sized ostrich you can get from 5 to 7 kg of fat, and if the bird has eaten well and managed to accumulate a sufficient amount of fat, then the amount of fat can reach up to 16 kg. Despite the fact that the most valuable and healthy fat is extracted from Emu ostriches, African ostrich fat is also popular in the market. It is famous for its hypoallergenic, antibactericidal and anti-inflammatory properties. In addition, it perfectly complements and enriches the beneficial components of cosmetic products. Fat is able to penetrate deeply into the epidermis, paving the way for other ingredients there, and prevents the loss of invaluable moisture. Ointments based on it are successfully used to treat muscles and joints.

Ostrich feathers

The most popular are the white feathers of males, located in the area of ​​​​the wings and tail: they are used mainly for decorative purposes. The rest of the plumage is also not left without attention: due to its anti-electrostatic properties, it is often used to clean dust on electrical appliances.

After slaughter, you can get from one ostrich:

• 1–1.2 kg of short feathers, up to 22 cm long;
• 0.4-0.5 kg of medium and long feathers, more than 22 cm long.

The share of feather sales is only 10% of total production.

In addition to selling products, income can be obtained from organizing excursions to ostrich farms. In addition to sightseeing walks, you can offer tourists dishes prepared with ostrich meat or eggs.

In addition, bird claws can also be sold: some factories use them as fasteners. The large shape inspired craftsmen to sell painted eggs, from which the contents had previously been extracted.

Main breeds

The ostrich is the largest bird of our time. The resemblance to a camel, so clearly noted by the Greeks, is confirmed by bulging eyes, long eyelashes and the ability to feel good in the vast desert expanses.

There are 3 ostrich breeds:

Breeding ostriches in Russia: how profitable is it?

Russia has always been famous for cattle breeding, pig farming and sheep farming. However, the pace of development of the “ostrich business” is so rapid that in terms of the profits received it will soon be able to compete with them. For home cultivation, the African black ostrich is recognized as the best option among all varieties of this overseas bird.

The average ostrich is characterized by:

• height of a mature male - 2.7 m;
• live weight - up to 150 kg;
• height of a mature female - 2 m;
• live weight - 120 kg.

By nature, ostriches are quite calm and obedient birds, so they do not cause much trouble in keeping them. Only males show concern during the mating season. An additional bonus is their rapid growth: young animals already reach the weight required for slaughter at 10 months.

Productivity characteristics

If in the natural environment females begin to lay eggs at about 4 years of age, then in private farms, the ostrich lays the first egg at 2 years.

To understand how profitable it is to breed ostriches in the temperate continental climate zone inherent in the European part of the Russian Federation, it is enough to refer to the indicators of ostrich fertility, which is impressive in its results:

• egg production - on average from 40 to 80 eggs per productive season, sometimes from 100 or more;
• egg weight - from 1400 to 1900 g;
• egg length - from 15 to 21 cm;
• diameter - 15 cm;
• shell thickness - 0.6 cm;
• duration of incubation period - from 42 to 45 days;
• female productivity - from 25 to 35 years;
• productivity of males - 40 years;
• egg fertilization - 90%.

Females enter the sexually mature period between two and three years, and males lag behind them by 1 year, although sometimes laying hens begin to lay eggs as early as 1.5 years. Females lay eggs 2 times a year: in winter and autumn. Typically, laying lasts up to 2 months: the ostrich lays eggs approximately every 2 days. During the first season, she lays from 10 to 30 eggs, over time this figure increases significantly. Eggs obtained at the beginning and end of the productive season are characterized by a lower percentage of fertilization.

Ostriches are considered long-livers: if well-maintained, they can live up to 70 years. These birds are unusually hardy in relation to temperature changes, which allows them to be bred not only on the European territory of the Russian Federation, but also in Siberia.

Market price

The result of farmers' efforts to raise birds is in demand on the national market. Recently, poultry farmers are increasingly leaning towards the ostrich business.

Name	Cost, rub.
Ostrich chicks: 1 day	7 000
Ostrich chicks: up to 1 month	10 000
Ostriches: 2 months	12 000
Ostriches: 6 months	18 000
Ostriches: 10 to 12 months	25 000
Mature ostriches: 2 years	45 000
Adult ostriches: 3 years	60 000
Family: 4─5 years	200 000
Hatching ostrich egg	3 000
Table ostrich egg	1000―2000
Souvenir ostrich egg	500
Rendered fat, 1 kg	1000
Ostrich meat (fillet), 1kg	1100–2200 depending on quality
Wet salted ostrich leather 1.2 - 1.4 m2	3 000
Tanned ostrich leather 1.2─1.4 m2	7000
Ostrich feather, 60 cm	400

Sample business plan for ostrich breeding

Although this idea may initially seem whimsical, it is based on the solid foundation of a carefully thought out and tested business plan.

Starting points for starting the project:

• determine product sales volumes;
• describe the expenditure part: purchase of feed, consumption of water and electricity;
• plan the main components of marketing;
• find suppliers of products necessary to implement the plan;
• assess risks;
• fix the planned profit.

When assessing potential failures, it should be remembered that ostrich farming, like any other activity, involves certain risks. There is always a danger of natural disasters that could cause the death of the entire livestock.

In order for the “ostrich” event to be doomed to success, you should follow simple recommendations:

1. Purchase or rent a spacious plot of land.

   

2. Prepare the necessary documentation and obtain the appropriate permits, for example, from the veterinary control service. Without the necessary permits, it is impossible to start an ostrich farming business.
3. Hire staff, from a livestock specialist to a watchman. Raising ostriches alone will be problematic.
4. Buy an ostrich incubator. The average cost of a machine with a capacity of 128 eggs is 120,000 rubles.

   

5. Buy ostriches.

   

6. Stock up on all the necessary food.

   

After completing the above points, you can begin the exciting process of breeding these amazing birds.

In order to increase income, you can start processing leather, feathers and lard. An additional source of income can be the opening of points for selling products.

Home care and maintenance

The cultivation of these birds is conventionally divided into 3 types:

• intense;
• semi-intensive;
• extensive.

The first type resembles the features of keeping cattle in a stall, the principle of the second is to copy the natural habitat conditions of birds, and the third is a mix of these two systems.

To ensure comfortable keeping of birds, it is necessary to pay attention to a number of important points.

Territory

First of all, one should take into account the fact that the ostrich is a large bird: the height of a mature male can reach 2.7 m and weight 150 kg. Therefore, the territory for maintenance must be extensive. In addition, the bird is quite mobile, therefore, it requires a lot of open space.

1. Earth. When choosing a place to create an ostrich farm, you should take into account the terrain, the presence of a forest belt that protects from the winds, the distance from the city limits and highways, and the provision of electricity and sewerage.

   

2. Terrain. You should choose dry land with a groundwater level of at least 1 m. It is advisable that there is a slight slope of the topography to the south: in this position the sun will better illuminate the area.

   

3. Pen length. Birds love open areas: the minimum length of the enclosure should be 40 m.

   

4. Walking area area. It is recommended to set aside at least 0.4 hectares for walking birds. It is also advisable to equip the area with 2-meter fences.

   

5. Fencing the territory. If a metal mesh is used instead of a fence, you should purchase an option with small cells: curious birds will not be able to stick their heads through the small holes and damage them.

   

   The size of the cells in the fencing mesh should be much smaller than the ostrich's head, approximately 30x30 mm

After arranging the territory, you can move on to equipping the premises for housing ostriches.

Prices for mesh netting

Rabitz

Containment room

The “ostrich house” must meet a number of requirements, without which it is impossible to raise a full-fledged livestock.

1. As a housing facility, you can rent an abandoned pig barn or build a new stall. It is desirable that its height be at least 3 m. For a family consisting of one male and two females, the occupied area should be 12x16 m. Doors should be made wide, from 1.2 m.

   

2. If the stall has a concrete floor, it is necessary to use a sufficiently large layer of hay or shavings as bedding. Otherwise, the birds may freeze.

   

3. Male ostriches are polygamous individuals: one family can have up to 4 females. It is recommended to keep families separate: for this purpose, the stall should be equipped with partitions separating one “social unit” from another.

   

4. The part of the enclosure adjacent to the room should be covered with sand: birds love to pamper themselves with a sand bath.

   

5. Nests that the male makes after the “honeymoon” should be lightly sprinkled with gravel to ensure drainage, and topped with clean sand.

   

6. It is recommended to install feeders and water containers directly into the fences of enclosures. This will greatly facilitate the work of the service personnel, since employees will be able to update food inventory without entering the ostrich territory. For one polygamous family, a feeder with a length of 1.2 m and a depth of at least 15 cm is suitable. The size of the drinker should be about 75 cm in length and 20 cm in depth. It is not advisable to give cold water to birds.

   

From mid-spring to mid-autumn, it is recommended to keep birds outdoors.

Caring for bird health

In addition to providing comfortable living conditions, no less attention should be paid to the health of birds. To ensure that birds are always cheerful and energetic, it is recommended to adhere to the following rules.

We should not forget that on an ostrich farm it is necessary to strictly observe all prescribed technological production conditions and periodically check the birds with a veterinarian.

Chicks can see and move from the first minutes of their birth. For the first 3 weeks they must be kept on the floor with bedding. The stocking density should be at least 1 m2 per individual, since ostrich chicks are born quite large, with a body weight of at least 1 kg. It is not recommended to keep more than 40 chicks in one group.

When the babies reach 3 weeks of age, the area of ​​the occupied territory is increased to 5 m2, and after the chicks are 6 months old, each of them needs a personal space of 10 m2.

Features of poultry breeding

Prices for an ovoscope for diagnosing eggs

Features of behavior during the mating season

With the onset of the mating period, the male sometimes becomes hostile: it is important to be extremely careful when interacting with the bird. To calm a male with excessive hormones, a 2-meter hook is used, with which he is laid on the ground to disorientate him. If this measure does not work, you need to put a fabric bag with slits for the beak on your head.

How do ostriches reproduce?

It is important for a novice farmer to know how the birds he plans to keep breed. From here you will learn everything about the reproduction of poultry and how mating and hatching of eggs occurs.

What to feed ostriches

The main dishes of the culinary menu of these fast-running birds are plant foods and seeds. As a dessert, ostriches feast on insects: they have excellent eyesight, so they can spot these small creatures from afar. In addition, the search for bugs is facilitated by a long, well-developed neck.

The amount of food needed for sustenance is determined by the age, degree of mobility of the birds and the nutritional value of the food:

• young individuals eat 3 to 4% of their body weight in food daily;
• adults - 2.5%.

As you grow older, the proportion of weight gain and the amount of food consumed changes:

• chicks: 1.4 - 2.1 to 1, which is deciphered as follows: in order for one baby to gain 1 kg, he needs to be given from 1.4 to 2.1 kg of concentrated food;
• young animals from 3 to 6 months: 2.6 - 3.0 to 1;
• individuals from 7 to 12 months: 4.1 - 15.0 to 1.

Birds are allowed to feed food designed for other farm animals or birds. If there is no financial means to constantly purchase expensive concentrated feed, it is recommended to prepare mash and dry mixtures for birds. It is advisable to mix them with good quality hay, as well as vitamin and mineral supplements.

Types of feed used to feed ostriches

Type of feed	Description
	The basis of the bird nutrition system is: alfalfa; White cabbage; clover; nettle; beet and spinach leaves; feed grains; quinoa; carrot tops; rape.
	meadow hay; straw. After plant feed, hay is the second most important element of the diet.
	carrot; radish; turnip; cucumbers; watermelon; apples.
	pumpkin seeds; wheat; cow peas; corn; sunflower; rye; oats; millet; barley.
	meat and bone and fish meal; gravel; limestone; crushed shells; shell rock Meat and bone meal is an important mineral supplement.

Ostriches also love to eat silage.

The volume of drinking water is determined by weather conditions, dietary habits and the amount of food fed. For example, at high temperatures and a lack of succulent feed, one mature ostrich needs at least 10 liters of water daily.

Ostrich diet

The balance of all elements necessary for the body of babies is very important for the growth of healthy livestock. For example, an incorrect ratio of calcium, manganese, phosphorus and zinc is fraught with deformation of the limbs and metabolic disorders.

It is not recommended to feed chicks for the first 3 days: high-calorie substances enter their bodies from the yolk sac, which makes up 25% of the babies’ total weight. When its contents are exhausted, you can begin to give water from drinking bowls. And on the 4th day, the chicks are already able to eat finely chopped clover leaves, thoroughly mixed with chicken feed.

To help the digestive system work, fine gravel should be poured into separate feeders from 3 weeks.

The topic of preparing a diet for ostriches is vast. Find out more about feeding ostriches from: features of the digestive system, intensive and extensive fattening methods, feeding during the laying period and diet of young animals. And we answer the question, what is the drinking regime of ostriches?

Video - Raising ostriches at home

Video - Keeping ostriches at home

All structures of the ostrich breeding farm can be divided into main and auxiliary. Their size and number depend on the capabilities of the owner.

If the farm is organized by one owner, some structures may not be built, but similar facilities existing on the farm can be used, for example, in which cattle were previously kept.

The main (production) structures include: a stationary poultry house, a pen and a hatchery. Ancillary facilities include warehouses for hatching and commercial eggs, a washing room, a feed kitchen, etc.

In a large farm hatchery, it is necessary to have a room for receiving and sorting hatching eggs, as well as a room for storing food eggs.

On small farms, eggs can be incubated in permanent poultry houses when birds are kept in pens during the summer. For this purpose, incubators and heaters are installed in the premises for day-old ostrich chicks.

It is unacceptable for incubators to be exposed to sunlight during operation, so they are placed near walls away from windows.

A warehouse for storing and accumulating hatching eggs for the next laying in the incubator can be located in another room with good ventilation, the ability to maintain the temperature at +8-12 ° C and a relative air humidity of about 60%.

The warehouse is equipped with shelves with shelves that move around an axis for storing and turning eggs. Edible eggs can be stored in the pantry at normal temperature or in the cellar.

It is also advisable on a small farm to have a carbonation chamber to disinfect eggs before placing them in the incubator.

This chamber must be sealed, preventing the penetration of gases and formaldehyde vapors into the room, which must be equipped with ventilation to quickly remove gases after opening the chamber.

Stationary poultry house- an insulated shed on a foundation, which can be built from brick, plank or other materials.

The best place for it, as already indicated, is an area with sandy soil. It is best to place the building on a foundation, as this helps maintain dryness in the room and its normal sanitary condition. In addition, rodents are less likely to settle in a poultry house installed on a foundation.

The poultry house must have good ventilation, which is carried out in the warm season through an open window covered with a metal mesh, in the cold season - through special exhaust openings in the ceiling or upper part of the wall, in which valves are strengthened to regulate the flow of fresh air.

The upper part of the box, going outside, is covered with a fine mesh to prevent rats and mice from entering the room.

The premises of a stationary poultry house must be ventilated not only in the winter, when the birds are in it, but also in the summer, when the ostriches are in the pen.

This is necessary to prevent dampness and mold from developing in the premises, which destroys the structure. The internal surfaces of the walls and the ceiling in the room must be plastered or upholstered with smooth planed boards so that they can be washed, whitened and disinfected.

On the eastern and western sides there are windows covered with fine mesh so that ostriches do not break the glass with their beaks.

The floors are made of wood or adobe. They are covered with a thick layer of straw bedding. Brick and asphalt floors are called hard floors and are considered unsuitable, since they are very cold and even a thick layer of bedding does not save the ostrich’s feet from severe cooling.

In any case, the floor must satisfy the following conditions: not absorb liquid or impurities, be sufficiently warm and durable, have a flat, smooth surface, and be easily cleaned from dirt. A wooden poultry house is built from beams measuring at least 10x10 cm and boards 20-25 cm thick.

Glass wool or other insulating material is used for insulation between boards and beams. After covering all the external walls, the internal walls are covered with insulating material.

The walls must be strong enough and conduct heat poorly. The best material in this regard is wood.

In the northern regions, log walls are usually made with a thickness of at least 22 cm; the thickness of frame-cladding walls can be 27 cm, adobe - 51 cm, adobe and brick - 55 cm.

In wooded areas, walls can be made of logs or framed with external and internal cladding with boards, between which sawdust, dry or other heat-insulating material is poured. The width of the bulk space between the boards is at least 15 cm.

In southern treeless areas, adobe brick is a good material for walls; You can build adobe and straw walls. To insulate the room, the walls can be plastered.

The roof of the poultry house must protect the room from cooling, overheating and the penetration of precipitation. The simplest and cheapest type of roof is a pitched roof.

A gable roof with smooth and uneven slopes is especially convenient for wide poultry houses. For roofing you can use reeds, straw, wood chips, planks, roofing felt, tiles, and corrugated slate.

Poultry houses are not built very high, but quite high enough so that there is at least one meter from the ostrich’s head to the ceiling. The total area of ​​the room's windows is at least 1 m per 10 m2 of floor area.

They are placed at a height of one meter so that the house is well lit. The best window sizes are 80 x 80 cm. The doors are made solid and hung on metal hinges. The height of single-leaf doors for human entry is 1.8-2 m, width -90 cm.

In a non-walking system for keeping birds, you should attach a pen with a height of slightly more than 2.5 m to the poultry house, fencing it with a metal mesh with a mesh size of no more than 3x3 cm.

A net with a larger mesh should not be installed, since ostriches have a habit of sticking their head into the mesh, from where the bird cannot remove it.

To release ostriches into the pen, double doors are installed with a height of 2.5 m and a width of at least 1.5 m for each door. It is good to keep the parent herd and young ostriches all summer in spacious pens, which are an area fenced with a fence of posts with a metal mesh of 2-3 mm steel wire stretched over them.

Before installing the pillars along the perimeter, it is necessary to make a foundation from logs buried in the ground or a mixture of cement mortar and broken bricks.

Such a foundation with a depth of at least 70 cm will protect stray dogs and rodents from entering the pen. The height of the fence, as in the pens near the poultry house, is 2.5 m. In the pen you need to install feeders and water dishes, over which a canopy should be installed to protect the feed from rain.

While walking around the enclosure, the bird is exposed to the sun, moves a lot, finds invertebrates and rodents, eats grass directly on the root and swallows small pebbles to improve digestion.

All this has a beneficial effect on the health of ostriches; they gain weight, have good egg production and hatch strong, healthy ostrich chicks.

Equipment of premises and pens. Before populating premises with birds, they should be properly equipped with feeders, drinking bowls, electric heaters, and install incubators and other equipment.

Feeders
There should be enough feeders in the room, since their lack leads to the death of birds, especially young ones, due to crowding and fights during feeding.

To avoid unnecessary losses, the feeding front must be sufficient and be at least 50 cm for chicks at the age of 2 months and at least 1.5 m for adult birds.

Extra feeders are not needed, as they clutter the passages in the room, in addition, some of the feed remains in them and turns sour.

Feeding equipment should be convenient for maintenance, prevent the birds from losing feed, not be contaminated with droppings and not be exposed to moisture.

The feeder should be placed at a height that would allow the ostrich to comfortably take food. Feeders are made from dry boards without knots, about 10 mm thick.

Feeders are loaded with food to 2/3 of their capacity. More than half of all expenses for keeping birds is the cost of feed, so special importance should be given to the rational design of feed equipment and the correct filling of feeder containers, which does not allow birds to spill feed.

In imperfect feeders, its loss can reach 15-30%. Using feeders on stands allows you to increase the usable area of ​​the room and save feed.

To feed ostriches green food (leaves, nettles, etc.) and hay, you can use a manger made of iron wire, which is suspended from the metal mesh of the pen or otherwise fixed at a height of 50-70 cm.

Drinking bowls
To water ostriches, you can use dishes made of glass, baked clay and other materials, as well as equipment used in large poultry farms.

Some poultry farms use automatic drinkers. This is an ordinary wooden or iron barrel with a capacity of 130 liters, which is installed horizontally on wooden stands or runners.

A tube and a valve with a diameter of 1.0-1.5 cm are attached to the bottom of both sides of the barrel. Before pouring water into the barrel, the valve is closed and the plug is unscrewed.

When the barrel is filled, it is hermetically sealed, the valve is opened, and water flows through the tube into the trough until it covers the end of the tube located in it. When the ostriches drink some water and its level decreases, the water will again begin to flow into the trough.

Incubators
Ostrich farms should mainly focus on artificial incubation of ostrich eggs. These units create and maintain temperature, relative humidity, gas exchange and ventilation during egg incubation and hatching.

However, incubators used in domestic industrial poultry farming, although they have a large capacity, are not intended for incubating ostrich eggs.

For example, the Universal-55 incubator is designed to accommodate 56 thousand chicken eggs at a time.

It consists of 3 incubation cabinets (each with a capacity of 16 thousand chicken eggs) and one hatcher (for 8 thousand eggs).

Even when using incubation and hatching cabinets, the total capacity of the unit is 24 thousand chicken eggs.

An incubator of this capacity, after its modernization (manufacturing trays for ostrich eggs), can be successfully used on large ostrich farms, where at least 25 thousand ostrich chicks are hatched annually.

In modern Russian farms, it is not practical to use such incubators.

For small ostrich farms, small-sized incubators for home poultry farming produced by the domestic industry are more suitable.

The most suitable incubator for these purposes is IPH-5, although it has one significant drawback - the unit is designed for incubating common types of farm birds.

However, it is quite possible to make certain design changes (make new trays for ostrich eggs).

Incubators of varying capacities and degrees of automation are produced abroad. Small-sized incubators of the Italian company “Victoria”, the French company “Nationals”, the West German company “Schumacher” and the American incubator “Roll-x” have proven themselves well.

The room in which the incubators are placed must be solid, well-ventilated, with the ability to maintain the specified air temperature (+18-20 ° C) and humidity (about 60%).

For stability, incubators should be placed on a concrete base, and the floors and walls should have a washable coating.

Adult ostriches can be kept in ordinary poultry houses in winter. At the same time, heating is not at all necessary for them. There must be a deep bedding on the floor. There must be access to walking in a spacious paddock.

It is advisable to keep young ostriches in a room with additional heating. The temperature in the poultry house should be at least +10 degrees.

The poultry house for ostriches should be completely free from drafts. It must be properly equipped.

Stalls for ostriches

When keeping ostriches, much attention must be paid to stalls. Ostriches require different types of stalls. Depending on their age, ostriches should be kept in different stalls. Stalls for young birds and chicks must be protected from all adverse weather conditions, they must be warm, and there must be no drafts in them.

It is necessary to provide space for quarantine stalls. They must be completely isolated from healthy birds.
An important issue is the size of the stall. To keep one adult ostrich you will need 8-10 square meters of space.

The stalls should be located in a large, spacious room.

Pens for ostriches

To keep ostriches, you must organize a place for walking. The pen for ostriches should be large. The paddock is enclosed by a high wooden fence. The pen must be adjacent to a room with stalls so that the bird can go out for a walk at any time.

Ostriches are very demanding when it comes to walking. It is desirable to have a large amount of green food in the pen area. The pen area should be at least 20 square meters per bird, but the larger the better.

For young animals, a corral is also desirable, but not required. For young birds, the walking area is much smaller.

CHAPTER 6
BREEDING AND KEEPING OF OSTRICHES

OSTRICHES AT HOME CONDITIONS

The largest birds currently living on Earth, the flightless flat-chested ostriches, are attracting more and more attention as an agricultural object. They are bred to obtain high-quality meat, feathers, and skins.
Although the ostrich is an exotic bird for our region, it is no more difficult to breed than any other farm bird. You just need to know both the biological and practical features of keeping and breeding ostriches.
The most promising in Russian conditions, especially in the southern regions (Astrakhan, Volgograd, etc.), is the black African ostrich (hybrid form - Struthio camelus domesticus), fully adapted for breeding in artificial conditions. It tolerates both hot weather (+30-50 °C) and low temperatures (-20-25 °C). In the conditions of central Russia, these birds are kept in winter in heated rooms (temperature not lower than +10-20 ° C), with the onset of a warm period they are transferred to pens (pasture areas fenced with wire mesh).
Ostriches can graze in meadows and fields sown with perennial grasses throughout the warm period of the year. The ostrich is an exotic bird, but not at all picky. For successful breeding, it requires enough space (land), a constant water supply (ostriches love to take a shower in the summer), pastures where grassy and rocky areas alternate, and, in addition, pens are required, where ostriches are located in inclement weather, which is very sensitive.
As for ostrich nests, during the mating season the male chooses three females and digs a shallow hole in the sand. This is the nest in which the eggs will be laid. It should be noted that some scientists consider the ostrich not a very smart bird, because a female ostrich can dig a hole for eggs in any, even the most inconvenient and inappropriate area of ​​the terrain. For example, outside the farm, “under the noses” of other animals. Ostrich breeders should take this into account and ensure that their pets do not leave the territory allotted to them, since otherwise the eggs can be rolled over long distances, lost, and the farmer will suffer losses.
Female African ostriches begin laying eggs at 2–3 years of age, and males become sexually mature at 4–5 years of age. The egg production of ostriches is small compared to chickens, but their eggs have a larger mass (1300-1700 g) and one egg is enough to feed 10-12 people. Ostrich eggs are tasty, superior to chicken eggs in the content of essential amino acids - lysine and threonine, but inferior to them in alanine content.
When the egg is in the nest, the males are filled with pride. A three-meter giant in black plumage looks down, as if asking: “Well, do you understand who is the boss here?” The long neck rises above the fence, the wings spread out - and the author of the book hurries to move away from the enclosure in one of the ostrich farms.
The owner reminds that this African broad-winged ostrich can kill a person with a kick. Because, firstly, it guards the nest, and secondly, it can’t stand strangers. Moreover, you may not even recognize your owner if she is wearing unusual clothes.
As for specially equipped premises for ostriches in the cold season, the first breeders already have experience. These can be buildings like a shed for baby ostriches or premises like a Russian hut, only without a stove, with high ceilings (up to three meters high), to which outdoor enclosures should be adjacent.
The diet of ostriches is approximately the same as that of any other poultry: feed, alfalfa specially prepared for the winter, vitamins, shell rock. They also very willingly search in the area allotted to them and greedily eat pebbles, chicken shells, pieces of lime, apples, and carrots. Experts say that birds need this to strengthen their bones.
Among the herbs they prefer are clover and alfalfa. In winter, the main food for them is hay from grass mixtures consisting of meadow fescue, perennial ryegrass, meadow grass, cocksfoot, meadow (red) clover, creeping (white) clover, fodder sainfoin and seed seradella. The daily rate of feed consumption for young animals over 14 months of age, weighing 100-120 kg, is 2-3 kg per day.
Young animals raised for slaughter are suitable for this purpose at the age of 9-10 months. At this age, his weight is 100-110 kg. One adult female ostrich with an egg production of 50 eggs per year provides about 4 tons of meat per season. For comparison, from one sow you can get only 1.5-2.5 tons of pork in the same period. Moreover, its fattening requires mainly expensive feed, while in ostriches, weight gain occurs mainly due to cheap green feed and hay, which you can prepare yourself on the site.
An adult domestic ostrich weighs about 120-150 kg (female 100-120 kg). Ostrich meat is red in color, its fat and cholesterol content is slightly lower than that of chicken or turkey meat. It tastes similar to veal, is high in calories and contains a lot of protein. In addition, ostriches produce exceptional quality leather and black feathers. When selling one skin (price about $240 per 1.5 m2), the costs of raising poultry are fully covered.
In addition to African ostriches, rheas and emus can also be bred. However, breeding of these species has not yet reached such a scale as it did with the African ostrich. Our zoos have shown that rheas and emus can also be bred profitably in captivity; they are in no way inferior to other species of farm birds.
Ostrich farming can become very profitable on Russian farms. Of course, the basis of poultry farming will apparently remain the production of broiler chickens. Nevertheless, it is more profitable to breed ostriches, especially on sandy soils and in arid areas, than to breed, for example, ducks and geese, for which it is necessary to build reservoirs with appropriate equipment in waterless areas.
So, what does it take to start ostrich farming? Let's summarize the preliminary results:
1. Availability of land.
2. Water supply.
3. Pasture conditions.
4. Corrals, nests.
5. Young animals.
6. Availability of funds, start-up capital. Currently, the establishment of ostrich farms in Russia is entirely dependent on enthusiasts who organize the breeding of these birds at their own risk. Without any help from research institutions and the state, they are developing methods for keeping and raising ostriches in the conditions of our country, preparing rations for feeding poultry with local, cheaper feed, developing GOST standards for the products of their farms, etc. All this hinders the rapid development of ostrich farming in Russia and requires legislative support from the Government of the Russian Federation and other government bodies.

CHARACTERISTICS OF OSTRICHES

Classification
Modern ostriches are completely unrelated to each other in structure, they are large and very large birds, and are united by taxonomists into a group of keelless or running birds, which are characterized by the absence of a keel, which other birds have. The wings of ostriches are underdeveloped and unsuitable for flight, there is no coccygeal gland, the plumage evenly covers the entire body (pterylia and apteria are absent), the feathers are spread out (due to the lack of hooks, the barbs do not interlock into a vane), their vanes are symmetrical, there is no additional rod, flight feathers and tail feathers reduced or serve as decorative feathers.
Ratites are divided into four orders, of which the ostriches have three orders with the following families:
American ostriches (Rheidae) with one genus and two species - the northern rhea (Rhea americana) and the long-billed rhea (R. pennata). The first species is common in the steppes of Brazil and Argentina, the second - in Patagonia and in the mountain steppes of the Andes. It is smaller than the northern rhea, has darker plumage, weaker legs and a longer beak.
True ostriches (Struthionidae) with one genus and one species - the African ostrich (Struthio camelus), currently found only in the steppes and deserts of Africa.
Australian ostriches (Dromaiidae) with one genus and species, the emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae), living in the scrub sandy deserts and savannas of Australia.
African ostriches, rheas and emus usually stay in small groups. Sexual dimorphism is well expressed in some species, but not so in rheas. Males clearly exhibit lekking behavior: they take various poses, flap their wings and dance in front of females. Monogamous, but more often polygamous: up to 4-5 females stay with a male.
The eggs are small relative to the female’s body (1.5-3.9% of the female’s weight), shiny or rough in appearance. On average there are 8-10 eggs in a clutch, sometimes several more. Incubation lasts 6-8 weeks, depending on the species and external conditions. Chicks of the brood type: hatch together, fully pubescent, sighted and, having dried, leave the nest. They feed on their own. They become sexually mature at the age of 3-4 years, females a little earlier.
All species of ostriches feed mainly on plant foods, but on occasion they do not refuse animal foods. Due to the way they feed, their esophagus is highly distensible and their glandular stomach is voluminous.
The muscular stomach is small in volume, but has powerful muscular walls and a thick tuberous cuticle, which ensures the grinding of coarse plant foods. The intestine is very long; it exceeds the body length, depending on the type of bird, by approximately 8-20 times. You can find stones and even metal objects in the stomach of ostriches. All ostrich-like birds can go without water for a long time, but on occasion they drink willingly and a lot, and some like to swim.
All species of ostriches were destroyed by humans mainly because of their good tasty meat and feathers, which led to a reduction in their numbers. The population of the African ostrich was especially undermined by the fashion for its feathers, which were used for ladies’ hats. In this regard, ostrich farms began to be organized in southern Africa, which raised young animals and received a good income from their breeding. In captivity, African ostriches, rheas and emus easily begin laying eggs and incubating, especially if caught at a young age.
Currently, ostrich farms successfully raise chicks not only in African countries, but also in the USA, Europe and some Asian countries. In Russia, enthusiastic poultry farmers began to do this in the 1990s and have achieved some success in obtaining products from these birds.

AFRICAN OSTRICH – THE MOST OPTIMAL OPTION FOR FARMING

The largest modern bird is the African ostrich: its weight is 75-100 kg. He runs well, reaching speeds of over 50 km/h; Of the four toes developed in most birds, these birds have lost the first and second and retained only the third and fourth. In terms of the structure of its legs, the African ostrich is as unique among birds as the horse is among mammals. The beak of these ostriches is short, its cut almost reaches the eyes, and the nostrils lie in the middle of the length of the beak. In adult birds, the neck is covered with short down, its color is determined by the color of the skin. The plumage shows a sharp sexual dimorphism: the female is a uniform brownish-gray color, the male is black, with white flight feathers and tail feathers, which act as decorative feathers.
Currently there are three subspecies: the common African ostrich, which has a dark red head, neck and legs with a brownish spot on the crown; the feathers at the base of the back of the neck are white, on the body they are black with a reddish tint on the back; tail and flight wings are white; the beak is yellow-pink with a brown tip and a reddish mandible. This subspecies belongs to North Africa (south to Niger in the west and Abyssinia in the east).

The second subspecies - the Somali African ostrich - is common in Somalia and Central Africa, differs from the ordinary one in the grayish-blue color of the skin on the head, neck and legs; on the crown of the head there is a horny shield of a dirty yellow color, densely surrounded by hair-like feathers; the scutes on the front side of the metatarsus are not meat-colored, as in the ordinary subspecies, but cinnabar; the beak is pale red with a yellow-horned tip; There are no white feathers at the back at the base of the neck. This species is slightly larger than the previous one. The third subspecies, the South African ostrich, belongs to South Africa. His head is lead-gray, his neck and legs are the same color, which become light when ostriches are kept in captivity. The beak is horn-colored, with a red rim and a red base of the upper jaw; (beak); in breeding plumage the beak becomes reddish; the skin near the corners of the mouth is red. The crown is bare, but without a horny shield; instead of a white stripe at the base of the neck, there are separate white feathers at the back; the back is an intense black color, like that of the common African subspecies, without a reddish tint; black feathers are sometimes found between the flight and tail feathers. The metatarsal scutes are horn-colored in front, becoming bright red during the mating season. The female is smaller than the male and is colored uniformly in grayish-brown tones.
Desert plains and sandy deserts, covered with sparse herbaceous vegetation and sparse bushes, are the indigenous habitat of African ostriches. Thanks to its high height (height 2.7 m, weight more than 100 kg) and amazing eyesight, this bird can survey a large space and notice approaching danger in time. Ostriches often graze together with zebras and antelopes. Possessing extraordinary visual acuity and being very careful, ostriches serve as guards for mammals. An angry or defensive ostrich is dangerous to humans. During the day, these birds are in constant motion: moving from place to place or going to a watering hole. By its nature, the African ostrich is a social bird, gathering in flocks of 10-20 individuals or more. Ostriches feed mainly on plant foods - grass, leaves, fruits, and the latter can have a very hard shell. In addition, they eat various small animals, birds, lizards and insects. African ostriches can go without water for a long time, but when it is available, they drink a lot and willingly bathe.
The nesting conditions of the African ostrich are very interesting. Their breeding season occurs in early spring, when the male, after persistent competitions with rivals, marries a family with 3-4 females. All females lay eggs in one nest, which is a simple depression dug in the sand and surrounded by a roller made of the same. One common nest can contain up to 20 eggs. Sometimes females lay so many eggs that they do not fit in the nest and lie around it, becoming bait for jackals and vultures. Almost all care for the offspring lies with the male. At night the male sits on the clutch, and during the day the female sits, but not all day. Often during the daytime, eggs are heated by the sun's rays. Incubation lasts at least 42 days, but, apparently, this period varies quite significantly at different latitudes. During the first two months of life, the chicks are covered with brownish, hard, bristle-like feathers, then they dress in an outfit similar to that of the female. They become capable of reproduction depending on their sex: females in the third year of life, males in the fourth.
For a long time, African ostriches were persecuted for their flight and tail feathers, which, after appropriate processing, were used to decorate ladies' hats and fans. In 1840, for example, about 1000 kg of ostrich feathers were exported from South Africa; in 1910, already 370,000 kg. With such shooting of these birds, the number of ostriches sharply decreased, and if they had not been bred in captivity on farms, they would now be completely exterminated. As for the cost of these products, in 1875 only from Egypt (where there are no ostriches now) they were exported for 2,325 thousand rubles, and from the then Cape Colony for 2,139 thousand rubles.
Currently, the domestic black ostrich, which was obtained by hybridizing subspecies of the common and South African ostriches, is most widespread on ostrich farms.
The domestic black ostrich produces meat with excellent nutritional and dietary properties, skin and feathers of exceptional quality. These birds easily adapt to local conditions, therefore they make up the bulk of the African ostrich population bred in the world on ostrich farms.
African ostrich lifestyle
Of all the types of ostriches, the African ostrich is mainly used for farming. To successfully keep it in captivity, the owner needs to have an idea of ​​what kind of life these exotic birds lead in natural conditions.
Here is what the famous television presenter and expert on world fauna Nikolai Drozdov writes about his impressions: “African ostriches are not only the largest of modern birds, but also the most caring parents and faithful spouses.
The female lays eggs directly on the ground and incubates them during the day. The female is gray and cannot be seen among the grass. And the black male is on duty on the sidelines, he can drive away any predator. He has enormous strength in his legs, and on his main toe (there are only two) the claw is powerful, like a hoof. An ostrich can kill a jackal and a hyena with such a hoof! And by night the male replaces the female on the nest.
He is almost three meters tall and weighs up to one hundred kilograms! True, it cannot fly - it is heavy, and the wings are very small for such a giant. And the feathers are soft, suitable only for fans. But the African ostrich runs at a speed of 70 kilometers per hour!
You can't keep up with him off-road, either on horseback or in a car.
It is black and is not visible at night. A female ostrich lays 6-8 eggs. But one day I saw a male and female ostrich near a nest in which there were 18 eggs!.. I looked around, and in the distance two more pairs of ostriches were walking. It turns out that females sometimes build collective nests and entrust the most exemplary pair to incubate the triple clutch. You may ask - how did I approach it if the male with his claw-hoof is so dangerous? Here you need to know the secret. The ostrich boldly attacks everyone who is shorter than him! But I don’t really want to get hit by an ostrich “hoof”, and I prepare in advance. I take a long stick, put my cap on it, and when the ostrich rushes at me, I lift the stick with my cap up! My “head” on a thin “neck” soars up to a height of more than three meters! The ostrich looks in surprise, stops abruptly and even runs back a little. This is how I have managed to deceive warlike ostriches many times.”
Ostrich breeders need to take advantage of the experience of a famous zoologist in order to avoid troubles when working with their pets.

The disadvantage is that the unit is designed for incubating common types of farm birds. However, it is quite possible to make certain design changes (making new trays for ostrich eggs). Incubators of varying capacities and degrees of automation are produced abroad. Small-sized incubators from the Italian company “Victoria”, the French company “Nationals”, the West German company “Schumacher” and the American incubator “Roll-x” have proven themselves well. The room in which the incubators are placed must be solid, well-ventilated, with the ability to maintain the specified air temperature (+18-20 ° C) and humidity (about 60%). For stability, incubators should be placed on a concrete base, and the floors and walls should have a washable coating.
Selection and transportation of ostriches
You have built a poultry house, equipped the premises with the necessary equipment, and prepared feed. Now you can purchase ostriches.
The formation of a parent herd of ostriches for a newly organized farm can be carried out in three ways: purchasing eggs and then incubating them on the farm; purchasing young animals from another farm and raising them to adulthood or purchasing already adult birds.

Herbal flour. It is prepared from freshly cut greens with short-term exposure to heated air, which does not negatively affect the preservation of the vitamins and nutrients present in the grass. Such grass flour is noticeably superior in nutritional value and carotene content even to flour made from good vitamin-rich shade-dried hay. It is prepared from alfalfa or clover, less often from other legumes and cereal herbs. Grass meal, due to the presence of a whole complex of useful substances in it - protein, easily digestible macro- and microelements, carotene, folic acid and some others - has a positive effect on the growth and vitality of ostrich chicks, egg production of birds, fertilization and hatchability of eggs. When kept in winter, grass meal should be included in the diet of ostriches. It is introduced into feed mixtures for adult birds in an amount of 5-7%, for ostrich chicks 3-5%. Freshly prepared good quality flour contains 17-20% protein, up to 250-300 mcg of carotene (per 1 g of flour) and other vitamins, but its energy value is approximately half that of oats. However, during storage, especially with free access to air and light, the carotene in flour is destroyed quite quickly, so it is stored in thick, preferably paper, bags in dark, cool warehouses, in relatively small stacks. It should be remembered that when stored tightly and in large stacks, it can spontaneously combust. Herbal flour can also be successfully prepared from nettles. They feed it in the same quantity as alfalfa or clover meal.
Root tuber crops (carrots, beets, potatoes, pears) have valuable properties and are the most important source of vitamins and mineral salts in the winter-spring season. Fodder and sugar beets should be given in finely chopped form and fed together with bran.
Melons and garden crops (cabbage, pumpkin, zucchini, watermelons) can also be fed to ostriches. When giving cabbage, especially white cabbage, stomach upset is sometimes observed, so it is better to feed it in small quantities.
Potatoes (boiled) are fed to ostriches in mashed form, mixed with bran and herbal flour. The norm of root crops per day depends on the age of the young birds, and for adult birds - on the period of the year. On average, about 200 g of root vegetables, except greens (hay), can be given per ostrich baby at the age of four months.
Carrots are fed to ostrich chicks in finely chopped form. 1 g contains 80-85 mcg of carotene. It is fed fresh to ostriches of all ages, up to 30% of the total feed mass. Red carrots are the best - they have more carotene. If necessary, medicinal preparations can be given along with carrots: vitamins A, D, E (in oil), group B and multivitamins. Carrots are included in many wet combination foods. Sometimes turnips, rutabaga or beets are added to the feed instead; beets, even after long-term storage, do not lose their nutritional properties.
Animal feed. They are necessary to maintain normal metabolism and the development of young animals. These feeds contain the most valuable proteins containing many essential amino acids.
Milk. Whole milk is not used to feed birds; curdled milk, cottage cheese, skim milk and liquid waste obtained from churning butter are used. Whey, compared to other dairy products, is poor in proteins, but it contains easily digestible minerals. Therefore, it should be given to ostrich chicks and females during the laying period. Usually whey is given instead of water. Dairy products should not be stored in galvanized containers.
Fish. Only fishing waste is used to feed ostriches: non-commercial varieties of fish and fish meat and bone meal. The fish is pre-boiled and chopped. It is introduced into the diet of birds in small quantities, since meat when fed with fish alone has an unpleasant odor. Fish meal contains from 46 to 60% protein and up to 15-18% fat, almost all amino acids, many minerals and vitamins. It is given to chicks starting from one day of age in an amount from 3 to 12% of the food weight. Since fat oxidizes quickly, fishmeal should be stored in the refrigerator and used only fresh. In this regard, it is better to use low-fat flour containing no more than 2-3% fat. It is added to feed at the rate of one incomplete teaspoon for every 10 kg of live weight of the bird.
Meat and bone meal. It is made from meat processing waste. To ensure sterility, meat and bone meal is processed at very high temperatures, as a result of which the proteins, or rather their protein part, undergo profound changes, which significantly reduces their feed value. However, recently a new cooking technology has been developed - with heating of raw materials to 100 °C. The quality of flour obtained using this technology is much higher. Good meat and bone meal contains 47-50% protein, no more than 9-11% fat and 25-28% ash elements. The high content of the latter cannot be considered as a disadvantage of this feed - this is its valuable mineral part (a source of calcium and phosphorus), formed as a result of processing not only the meat parts of animal carcasses, but also their bones into flour. Meat and bone meal is included in the poultry diet in an amount of 3-7%.
Bird eggs. They have all the substances necessary for the body. They are given to chicks in the first days of their life, hard-boiled and thoroughly crushed. Chicken eggs are boiled for 5 minutes, ostrich eggs - 75 minutes, then dipped in cold water. Egg shells need to be collected, dried and used for mineral feeding.
Diets and feeding techniques for ostriches. A feed ration is a daily supply of a set of feeds compiled in accordance with the developed feeding norms and rules. The diet is formed according to the number of feed units, energy, digestible protein, calcium and phosphorus. These feed components are the most important in the nutrition of ostriches. In poultry farming, the nutritional value of 1 g of average quality oats is taken as a feed unit, and the nutritional value of other feeds is determined in comparison with it. Ostriches at any age should receive a complete, balanced diet. Restrictions on the consumption of this or that food are used only for adult ostriches raised for breeding.
During the period of preparation for mating, their diet should contain less fat and easily digestible carbohydrates (starch, sugar) and somewhat more indigestible fiber. This diet reduces the deposition of fat in tissues and keeps the birds in normal condition. A diet that fully satisfies the need for dry matter, energy, nutrients, and vitamins is called balanced. The composition of a balanced daily diet for emu chicks in the first months of life is presented in the table.
Balanced daily diet for ostrich chicks
_ When preparing balanced diets, it is necessary to determine which of the feeds available on the farm are important and profitable to feed and how much should be given daily.
The main requirement for any diet is to fully satisfy the needs of birds using the cheapest and least scarce feed.
The calorie content of the feed taken should correspond to the needs of ostriches. It is impossible to calculate the calorie content of the diet based on fatty foods if only foods containing a small percentage of fat are available. The table shows the feed ration that poultry farmers can take as a basis when preparing diets for ostrich chicks on their farm.
If, based on the availability of feed, you have to compose the diet yourself, then it is necessary to take into account the nutritional value of each feed, the weight of the birds and their physiological state.
There are two periods in feeding the parent flock of ostriches: unproductive and productive. Unproductive in winter, when African ostriches are not used for breeding, and must be preserved until the next breeding season in a state of average condition.
And a productive period of rest, which occurs in males after the laying of the young and before the next mating with the onset of spring, and in females after the end of oviposition and until the next nesting season. The ability of males to fertilize females depends on the state of health and nutrition. They should not be allowed to become obese and should not be given low-nutrient food. For example, ostriches quickly get fat from barley and corn, so they should be given more green matter.
When there is no green food and the hay is of low quality, sprouted wheat should be given and meat or meat and bone meal should be introduced into the diet.
Ostriches should be fed daily and at certain times. Adult birds and young birds over one year old receive food twice a day. Feeding the parent flock with a diet typical for the breeding season begins a month before the start of egg laying. The current year's young are fed 3–4 times a day. The transition to summer or winter diets should be gradual and last at least 10 days. The diet for the non-productive period is replaced by a more highly nutritious diet, characteristic of the breeding period.
Food should not remain in the feeders, as it loses nutritional value. Feed should be eaten within 24 hours. In this case, it is necessary that the feeders are under a canopy and the feed is not soaked by rain and does not turn sour.
Due to the fact that the industry does not yet produce feed for ostriches, feed produced for chickens or domestic ducks can be used.
Low quality hay is given in cut form. The chopped hay is poured with warm water for 0.5-1 hour, then drained, sprinkled with bran, salted according to the norm and placed in feeders.
Ostriches should be given clean, fresh water every morning (more often in hot weather); contaminated or very warm water should be changed more often.
To prevent gastrointestinal diseases, ostriches should not be given wet, dirty leaves or grass. They must be washed and dried a little with warm air.
Feed requirements of ostriches
_ Walk
Pastures for ostriches are most suitable with alternating grassy and rocky areas; a constant water supply is desirable, since ostriches like to shower in the summer.
During the warm season, it is advisable to keep ostriches in spacious pens, covered around the perimeter with a metal mesh with a mesh size of no more than 30x30 mm. A mesh with larger meshes is unsuitable, since ostriches often stick their heads into them and can die from suffocation. Along the perimeter of the pen, it is advisable to make a foundation of logs and clay, on which pillars are installed to secure the net. Such a fence will prevent stray dogs from entering the pen.
The height of the fence should be at least 2-2.5 m, otherwise ostriches can jump over it.
In our conditions, when there is a lot of precipitation in spring and autumn, it is recommended to build sheds on the paddock area, where it is also convenient to place feeders. Sheds are built either along the fence or between trees - a lightweight plastic canopy is attached to the branches. It is necessary to lay straw on top of the plastic - this will protect it from the scorching rays of the sun. Hanging feeders under the roof keeps the feed from getting wet and makes it convenient for the bird to eat even in rainy weather.
Feather collection
During the mature stage of the feather, the blood vessels in the feather dry out to the level where the feather connects to the surface of the skin, but its shaft remains below this level and continues to grow. The lower part of the feather shaft is called the “green level”, the germ cells of this part multiply and increase in size, which subsequently pushes the feather out of the well. At the "green level" of the shaft are blood vessels and nerves that approach the center of the feather some distance outside the feather well, but do not reach the area where the feather opens. From this point, the feather becomes a dry, keratinized tube filled with air throughout the entire area of ​​the mature feather. A feather above the "green level" is dead and no longer requires a blood supply for nutrition. Trimming feathers at this stage is the same for ostriches as cutting human hair; the birds do not experience any painful sensations. A feather, like hair or nails, lacks nerves and blood vessels.
When trimming feathers, do not go below the "green level" as this will cause significant bleeding and pain in the bird. The feather must be trimmed at least 5-8 cm to the level of the well.
It takes six months for the wing plumage to mature, and eight months for the feather shaft to fully form. Instead of removing the "green" feathers (not fully mature), they are trimmed above the medulla. The rationale behind this technique is that the feathers are removed as soon as they are fully formed, thus avoiding the deterioration that can occur if they are left to mature fully in a well. Feathers are usually trimmed using special scissors (secateurs).
After pruning, unpruned remains of feather stems remain in the wells. These trunks are fully mature two months after cutting. After this, the mature trunks can be removed, then new feathers begin to grow. For removal, use ordinary forceps. After the procedure, the ostrich’s skin must be lubricated with Vaseline or fat to protect the wells from clogging and other external influences.
It has been established that the wing plumage grows by approximately 0.5-0.75 cm per day.
Ostriches do not shed seasonally. Plumage change occurs gradually throughout the year. This means that if the feathers are not collected, they will ripen continuously throughout the year. It is very important to consider the fact that de-feathering a bird improves the commercial quality of its skin - when plucked, the root follicles become more pronounced, thereby increasing the value of the skin. If a farmer plans to slaughter a bird at 12-14 months of age, then feathers should be collected from ostrich chicks at 7 months of age.
Before the feathers are collected, the birds are driven into pens, and from there they are moved one by one to a clipping box.
The box has a triangular shape and in most cases the following dimensions: width of the front edge - 50 cm, width of the rear part - 70 cm, length - 1.2 m, depth - 1.2 m.
After the bird is placed in the feather collection box, the first feathers to be plucked are the two rows covering the long white feathers. Then - two rows of silk feathers from the bottom of the wing. After this, they begin to trim the white feathers of the wings and tail, leaving the stems of the feathers protruding about 2.5 cm from the epidermis. These protruding ends are removed after 2 months.
Currently, there are two main systems for collecting ostrich feathers - at intervals of eight and twelve months. The previous practice of collecting feathers at 6-month intervals was discontinued after it was discovered that such frequent collections caused the resulting feathers to grow shorter and stiffer, reducing their value.
The eight-month system is practiced where the climatic conditions in winter and summer are not too different, and there is abundant vegetation, which allows the birds to eat well all the time. With this system, the first feather trimming occurs at 6 months of age.
Subsequent harvests are at 16 months and two years of age, which makes it possible to harvest feathers 3 times in 2 years.
The one-year system is used where climatic conditions vary significantly throughout the year. During the cold season, feather growth slows down. Feathers are collected before the onset of sexual instinct.
The main generally accepted rule for collecting feathers under any system is to start collecting feathers only when the bird is in good condition. If the bird has been ill, weakened, or simply exhausted, the growth of subsequent feathers will be uneven.

OSTRICH RECREATION

The technology for breeding ostriches (African, rhea and emu) on farms is in many ways similar to breeding domestic chickens. Basic techniques and modern achievements of industrial poultry farming can also be used on ostrich farms. However, there is a certain specificity in the technology of breeding ostriches, dictated by the biological characteristics of these birds and the degree of their domestication. Of the ostrich-like birds, the most developed breeding technology is the African ostrich. A head or more of these birds are produced and processed annually. However, effective breeding of rhea and emu is also possible and largely depends on rational methods of breeding these birds and selling the resulting products on the market.
Recruitment of the parent flock of ostriches
With the onset of sexual maturity of young animals, it is necessary to begin recruiting an ostrich parent herd, which is understood as the selection of the best young animals for the tribe, and the selection of females and males for use in the production of breeding offspring (repair young animals), placing them indoors and obtaining marketable products. Before the parent herd is completed, the pullets and males are kept in separate rooms, intensively fed, and given a lot of fresh herbs and sprouted grains. Raising a family is a very responsible job that requires relevant knowledge and experience that comes as a result of many years of practice. In order to ensure uniform egg production, the parent flock of ostriches should be recruited once or twice annually. Sexual maturity in male African ostriches usually occurs at the age of 30-50 months, in rheas - 30-40 months, in emus - about 40 months. Puberty in ostriches when kept in captivity can occur earlier. Much depends on how they are kept on farms. Under normal conditions of selection and maintenance, sexual activity of males of all types of ostriches can last on average up to 10-20 years or more. Female ostriches reach maturity earlier than males (at the age of 2-3 years), but can lay unfertilized eggs earlier.
When artificially breeding ostriches, the sex ratio in the family should be 1:3-5. Keeping these birds in pairs is contrary to their biology and is unprofitable for the farm. The polygynous ratio allows for fewer males and more females, resulting in larger and cheaper production (hatching eggs) for the same cost. In addition, it gives the best indicators of egg production, fertilization and hatchability. However, if the male for some reason loses his activity, all females of this family begin to lay unfertilized eggs. In such cases, when a male cannot serve the largest number of females or is generally unsuitable to be a breeder, he is given fewer females or culled.
When forming families, it is more convenient to keep ostriches in the first year of laying eggs separately from the second or third. This approach will make it possible to select breeding birds in the fall of this year to complete the parent flock with the best laying hens. In the event that for one reason or another it is impossible to keep them separate, it is necessary to carry out individual marking of birds, which gives the best results with any method of their selection. To do this, all data for each ostrich is entered either in a special statement or on an individual card, which shows in detail: the type of ostrich, gender, date of hatching, place of hatching (farm), date of arrival at the farm, number of the ring or wingtip, etc.
A visual assessment of the constitution and exterior of a bird usually cannot give an accurate and complete picture of its productivity, therefore it is necessary to evaluate the quality of the parent flock not only by the egg production of the past year, but also take into account other indicators: origin, weight, height, etc. Select for breeding should be birds of known pedigree, normally developed, healthy, free of defects and well-fledged young. It should be sufficiently well-fed, but not exceed the average weight of the birds that graze in the pen. Replacement young animals are transferred to the premises for adult livestock in February-March, i.e. even before the nesting season. With the late transfer of sexually mature young animals, there is a delay in egg laying due to great stress. 2 days before transferring the bird from one room to another, an anti-stress diet is introduced (the dose of vitamins is doubled).
A male is first placed in the room, preferably older than the females. Before planting, it is good to check the quality of the seed from the breeding male. After a short period of time (2-3 days), when he gets used to the room, females are introduced. Each section should have the same number of females per male.
Maintenance of the parent flock
Males and females selected for productive (eggs and meat production) or breeding herds must be properly placed in the poultry house. At the same time, first of all, over-densification is not allowed, that is, placement of more birds per unit area than provided for by the standards (Table 3). An increase in density worsens the microclimate of the room (the content of moisture and harmful gases in the air increases), makes it difficult for birds to have free access to feeders and drinkers, and the frequency of their contact with each other increases. At the same time, weakened birds appear among the females, which after some time have to be culled prematurely, which significantly reduces the number of birds and egg production.
An increase in stocking density when raising ostrich chicks for meat also leads to inevitable losses: they eat more feed than they gain in weight, and they often get sick. Consequently, due to high stocking densities, the poultry farmer is often forced to replace birds prematurely, using them for productive purposes not completely, but only for a few years. When keeping ostriches in a stationary poultry house, the size of the section, the area of ​​which is allocated for one family, as well as for young animals, is important for their health and productivity. In cramped quarters, young birds develop and grow worse, and adult birds take longer to begin laying eggs and hatching chicks (when natural incubation is used). You cannot sort and transplant ostriches during the laying period, since a bird accustomed to a certain community will reduce its egg production or stop laying eggs altogether. In addition, birds from the new community will definitely begin to peck at the new individual and not allow it to the feeder or watering hole, which will negatively affect not only it, but also the entire herd of ostriches - the egg production of other females will decrease. After the end of the nesting season, you can begin replacing bad females and males with replacement young animals, so as not to reduce the productivity of the parent stock next year. The conditions under which ostriches are kept can greatly influence their productivity, since they are very sensitive to biological factors (like other farm birds) that control their bodies. Highly productive laying hens consume the maximum amount of feed that the body can process. In addition, such females produce eggs while maintaining a constant live weight. Therefore, eggs from such females should be specially selected, incubated, and breeding young animals raised. The high productivity of birds is based on a genetic basis and is inherited, so you need to pay great attention to breeding and selection work when breeding ostriches on your farm.
All other factors affecting poultry productivity are classified under the broad concept of “environment,” which includes microclimate, feeding, factors affecting the endocrine system, etc. Let’s consider some of them in order.
Factors affecting the endocrine system
We have already talked about the effect on ostriches of the duration and intensity of lighting, which stimulates the release of internal secretion hormones associated with the reproductive system of the bird. Another hormone that also affects productivity is the thyroid gland. Apparently, low temperature causes an increase in the function of this gland, which causes partial molting and reduces productivity. Installed-------
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That the critical temperature for birds is +2°C.
Physical factors. These factors affect feed and water consumption, and therefore the productivity of ostriches. In poultry houses with poor ventilation, high or low temperatures, the lowest egg production is observed. In such rooms, it is necessary to install additional fans or vents so that the air changes faster and there is less dust and moisture. It is also necessary to maintain a normal temperature (+18-20 °C) in the poultry house by better ventilating the room, if the temperature is too high, or by adjusting the heating.

The environment can influence poultry performance depending on the housing system: house or paddock, poultry house with or without range. The type of feeders, stocking density, length of the feeding front, depth of feeders, and community composition in a flock of ostriches can also influence.
Feeding is the key to productivity, all other factors are the connecting links. When using factory-produced feed, it should be taken into account that the quality of the ingredients included in the feed is better controlled in laboratories located at veterinary institutions and poultry farms.
Fatness. The intensity of egg laying and the weight of eggs are more closely related to the fatness of the bird. The degree of fat deposition can be used to judge the future productivity of young females. Fat deposition in females is not a favorable sign. It is obvious that feed consumption significantly exceeds the nutrient requirements that are necessary to maintain the life of the bird and lay eggs, so the feed rate should be slightly reduced. If the bird’s appetite has worsened, then you need to find out the reason, otherwise in a few days egg production will begin to decline. In connection with the above, you should take into account the amount of feed eaten daily by weighing, and not determine their amount by eye. A very important indicator of a decrease in egg production in ostriches is the weight of the egg. In case of disturbances in feeding (worsening of appetite), the weight of eggs first decreases, and only then, after 2-5 days, the intensity of egg laying decreases. In this way, we can draw a conclusion in advance about the upcoming decrease in egg production.
Oviposition and egg collection
In early spring, as daylight hours lengthen, African ostriches and rheas kept in a stationary house begin to show signs of mating behavior, which gradually intensify, and the males begin to pursue females. Oviposition can begin even when kept in a winter room, and after the ostriches are transferred to pens (when the snow melts), it intensifies and the females begin to lay eggs actively.
In a farm environment, females typically not only lay eggs in a nest prepared by the male, but also scatter them throughout the paddock. The nest is a compacted hole, lined with grass, which is guarded by the male. The clutch usually does not exceed 12-14 eggs, the remaining eggs lie to the side of the nest. On average, you can get about 40 eggs from each female ostrich, but some of them have high egg production and lay up to 100 eggs during the nesting season. The offspring from such females should be left to the tribe in order to eventually concentrate a highly efficient parent flock of ostriches on your farm.
Eggs laid by a healthy bird are sterile. But after demolition, they can be affected through the pores of the shell by viruses, bacteria, and fungi. A newly laid egg is at the bird's body temperature, it is still warm, moist and does not have a pug. When the mass of the egg begins to cool, its contents shrink in volume and at the blunt end, where the shell has more pores, a space (puga) appears, which is filled with air. Bacteria enter the egg along with the air, and here they find favorable conditions for reproduction. This process occurs during the first 2 hours after the egg is laid. This is why the poultry house and egg storage areas should be kept clean to reduce microbial damage to the eggs.
Under conditions of artificial incubation, it is necessary to preserve the eggs for several days before placing them in the incubator. As a result of long-term storage, the development of the embryo in the eggs may not occur. The main reason is the death of the embryo and the development of microflora in the egg as a result of its long-term and improper storage. The shelf life of ostrich eggs does not exceed 5-6 days, and the hatchability of young animals at the end of this period is approximately 50%. Under conditions of natural incubation, where the shelf life is practically equal to 0, hatchability is 81.8% with egg fertilization of 88.1%. When storing eggs for no more than 3-4 days and under the same conditions, the number of eggs with developing embryos averages 85.4%, that is, the hatchability percentage approaches that of natural incubation.
The ability of poultry embryos to tolerate longer storage has resulted from artificial selection by humans over a thousand years or more. Ostriches have a very short history of breeding under artificial conditions, and during this time they have practically not changed and the embryos have not developed adaptation to a long-term state of suspended animation. This is especially true for rheas, which begin incubating from the first egg.
Eggs must be collected at least twice a day. Their regular removal helps to increase the number of eggs laid by females during a given period and preserve their incubation qualities. One of the most important aspects of increasing egg production is also adequate feeding of ostriches. Birds should be switched to the breeding period diet no earlier than a month before the start of egg laying.
On the cold days of early spring, eggs laid at sub-zero temperatures during frosts at night lose their incubation qualities and may even burst. At this time, eggs should be collected frequently, especially in the evening if they were laid outdoors. In most farms, egg collection is carried out in the afternoon and especially at dusk. The eggs are marked. To do this, write the date of collection and section number on the shell of the sharp end of the egg with a simple soft pencil.
Often ostrich eggs are contaminated. However, you cannot wash or wipe eggs during collection, as this helps to clog the pores of the shell and allow infection to penetrate into the egg through them. From eggs wiped with a rag or hand during collection, hatchability is low, and a high percentage of embryo death from mold fungi is observed.
After marking, the eggs are placed in special baskets or plywood, cardboard and wooden boxes with pads. You cannot place eggs in several layers in baskets or boxes, as the lower eggs may be crushed or microcracks will appear on their shells. Baskets and cartons of eggs are immediately taken to the warehouse to be stored in places protected from sunlight. If transportation of eggs is required, they are packed in wooden boxes. Packaging materials can be straw, special cardboard pads and shavings of deciduous trees. Boxes and packaging materials must be dry, clean, free of resin and free of foreign odors. The packaging technique is like this. The bottom and inner walls of the box are lined with an evenly dense layer of shavings or straw 5 cm thick, on which the eggs are laid in rows. A second even layer of shavings or straw is spread on top, on which eggs are placed in the same order. There should be no more than two rows of ostrich eggs in the box. The top row of eggs is covered with a layer of shavings or straw 2-3 cm above the edge and hammered with boards.
When transported by car or horse-drawn transport, boxes with eggs are placed on straw (20 cm layer), covered with a tarpaulin and firmly strengthened to avoid shaking. The boxes are laid across the body or cart so that the eggs are positioned with their long axis in the direction of travel of the car. Although oviposition in ostriches, except for emus, occurs during the warm period of the year, sharp fluctuations in air temperature during the period of storage and transportation of eggs are undesirable. Eggs can be delivered to another farm at a speed of no higher than 30 km/h.
Once delivered to site, the boxes are unpacked and manually sorted to ensure the eggs are suitable for incubation. Store them in a dark room at a temperature of +5-12°C and a humidity of 65-70% in a vertical position with the blunt end down. If the eggs have to sit for several days before incubation, they must be turned daily, otherwise the yolk will float and stick to the shell: such eggs are unsuitable for incubation. The hatchability of eggs also depends on how many days after transportation they are placed in the incubator.
Morphology and chemical composition of the egg
The main function of hatching eggs is to ensure the proper development and growth of the embryo. During its embryonic development, the necessary nutrients come from the yolk and white of the egg. The contents of the egg are covered with a two-layer shell and protected by the shell. During the incubation process, the embryo uses the mineral substances of the shell to form a skeleton, and through its pores it carries out the evaporation of moisture and gas exchange during incubation. The ratio of the components of the egg depending on the type of ostrich is shown in the table.
The average weight of an egg in an African ostrich is 1400 g, in a rhea - 620 g, in an emu - 650 g. The yolk in the egg is located in the center, on its surface there is a germinal disc in the form of a light spot with dark edges. During prolonged storage, it approaches the shell. In unfertilized eggs, the germinal disc is always smaller and without a dark zone along the edges. The yolk consists of alternating dark and light layers, enclosed in one common very thin shell. Its color, which depends on the content of carotene and xanthophyll, is influenced by the composition of the feed and the season of the year. The intense color of the yolk indicates that the birds are provided with vitamin A. The maximum content of pigments in ostrich eggs is observed in the summer months, when ostriches eat a lot of greenery on their paddocks. In the yolk, under a microscope, you can see yellow grains filled with fatty substances, from which germ layers are formed, and white, almost colorless balls - the first nutritional material for the embryo.
The organic matter of the yolk is mainly represented by fats (lipids) and protein. It also contains carbohydrates, minerals, microelements, and vitamins.
Egg white for the embryo is the main source of both protein and water-salt nutrition. It consists of four layers: the outer liquid, adjacent to the subshell membranes, the middle dense, consisting of a thicker mass, the inner liquid and dense, associated with hailstones and adjacent directly to the yolk membrane, covering it with a thin layer.
The hailstones extending from the sharp and blunt ends of the egg keep the yolk in the center. Egg proteins are in a dissolved state due to the content of neutral salts in the protein.
Composition of an ostrich egg
__ Requirements for the quality of hatching eggs
Hatching eggs must have the correct shape, a smooth, uniform shell, a sedentary yolk, occupying a central position when exposed to light, without clearly defined boundaries. The air chamber should be at the blunt end of the egg.
All eggs are incubated, with the exception of those that are clearly unsuitable. They are assessed visually and using an ovoscope. The eggs should be medium size. Small chicks hatch into weak chicks that will be difficult to preserve and raise. In addition, the small size of the eggs is passed on to the offspring, and the future female will also lay small eggs. Excessively large eggs often have two yolks, which are unsuitable for incubation.
In a fresh, just laid egg, the contents are not dark, almost transparent, the egg is barely noticeable during ovoscopy, and the yolk is less noticeable than in an old egg. When turning, the yolk moves slowly and does not come close to the shell. The longer an egg is stored, the more it dries out and the size increases, and the yolk is located near the shell of the old egg. For incubation, fresh eggs with barely noticeable puga are best suited, which, when sorted, should be sorted into a separate batch and incubated separately from other eggs. From such eggs, chicks hatch earlier, are more friendly, develop better and gain weight faster.
With proper collection of newly laid eggs, the rejection of eggs unsuitable for incubation is usually no more than 5-15%. Eggs with cracks in the shell should also be considered unsuitable for incubation. An egg with a very thin shell will be crushed when incubated by a hen and its contents will stain all the eggs. You cannot wash dirty eggs: this destroys the membrane above the shell and clogs the pores in the shell through which air exchange occurs. The practice of poultry farms shows that it is impossible to obtain biologically complete eggs that are fully suitable for incubation from a young bird that has begun laying eggs for the first time. Among the eggs obtained from pullets, many are unfertilized, and the hatchability of fertilized ones is low. Chicks from such eggs often have reduced viability. The best results are obtained by incubating eggs laid by females in the second or third nesting season. The egg production of females also depends on age. Young females give 10-25 eggs, at 6-7 years of age - 60-70 eggs.
Egg incubation
Ostrich eggs, like the eggs of other farm birds, can be incubated in two ways: artificially - in an incubator and naturally - under ostriches. Regardless of the incubation method, the development of the embryo in the egg is significantly influenced by environmental conditions, feeding of the female before oviposition, time and method of egg storage. In addition, the laid egg should not be immediately transferred to the incubator, since the bird, as a rule, does not immediately begin to incubate the laid egg, but only after several hours or even a day (depending on the type of bird). The incubation results largely depend on the duration of this period and the storage conditions of the eggs.
The main conditions for normal incubation are: a certain temperature and humidity around the eggs, regular changes in the position of the eggs in the nest tray or in the incubator.
Temperature is the leading factor in egg incubation. She resumes the development of the embryo in the egg, which ends soon after it is laid. In the nest tray, the eggs find themselves in different temperature conditions. In the center, the eggs come into contact with the body of the brooding bird, and the embryonic disk, under its influence, thus finds itself in conditions of a fairly high temperature (+40-42 ° C). Along the edges of the nest tray, the eggs, even on the surface, are heated less. The underside of the eggs is in a zone of low temperatures, which are not the same in the center and on the periphery of the nest tray. The temperature in the nests of brooding birds depending on the position of the eggs is shown in the table.
Hatching birds sense the temperature of the eggs and constantly move them from the center of the nest to its periphery, while rotating them around the longitudinal axis. The lower surface of the egg turns out to be the upper one, and the yolk, slowly turning, moves the germinal disk with the developing embryo into this, which has now become the upper zone. Birds periodically leave the nest. In hot weather, absences are longer; their duration varies depending on the period of incubation. The hen either sits tightly on the clutch or rises above the eggs. Periodic cooling of eggs while the bird is away from the nest is of great importance for the process of embryo development itself. As it cools, the contents of the egg seem to absorb air from the environment and become enriched with oxygen. Temperature changes apparently accelerate the development of one's own thermoregulation and normalize the course of metabolic processes.
At the beginning of incubation, the egg develops only due to the heat from the incubating bird and coming from the environment, and with the intensification of metabolic processes it acquires its own temperature. In this regard, the amount of heat that the embryo must receive from the environment also changes. Thus, during natural incubation, the embryo goes through a complex system of temperature changes, which, even for domestic birds, has not yet been sufficiently studied. It has been established that the optimal temperature parameters during the incubation period are +37.6 °C and 38.5 °C (not counting cooling periods). This formed the basis for the incubation regimes used in industrial poultry farming.
During artificial incubation, the optimal temperature in modern incubators is maintained at +37–38 °C. Failure to comply with the temperature regime negatively affects the development of the embryo. The weaker the heating, the slower the embryo grows and develops, and vice versa. With very rapid growth, development is disrupted, deformities appear and embryonic mortality increases.
Eggs are heated in incubators in two ways: by maintaining the proper air temperature and by using the heat emitted by the eggs. Previously laid eggs provide additional heat to those eggs that are laid later in the adjacent row of the tray.
During the first half of incubation, it is necessary to maintain heat in the heated eggs, but in such a way as to reduce the evaporation of water from them and prevent the consumption of heat to turn it into steam. In addition, the walls of the incubator must also be warm, which also take away a lot of heat from the heated eggs if the room temperature is below +20-25 °C. Opinions about the advisability of cooling, its degree and duration depending on the development of the embryo, as well as the frequency of cooling during the incubation period, are contradictory. Most researchers consider cooling necessary. Rhythmic short-term temperature changes (small deviations from optimal values) have a positive effect on incubation results. There is an opinion that such changes play the role of a thermal irritant that stimulates the growth of the embryo. They create optimal conditions for gas exchange, increase the body’s resistance to low temperatures, and accelerate the development of its own thermoregulation. The humidity of the air around the developing egg has a great influence on the development of the embryo. The evaporation of water from the surface of the egg depends on the temperature and relative humidity of the air. In the initial stage of incubation, when the evaporation of moisture from the egg obeys almost exclusively physical laws, it is very important to retain water in the egg. To do this, the air humidity in the incubator is maintained at a high level. With the development of the allantois and especially after its closure at the sharp end of the egg, the process of evaporation almost entirely depends on the activity of this organ and is determined by the intensity of embryo development - humidity as a factor recedes into the background. High humidity during this period can make it difficult for water to evaporate from the allantois, which will negatively affect the development of the embryo. During the hatching period, the humidity is increased, since at low humidity after pecking the shell, the chick may dry to the shell of the egg, which will not allow it to turn around the longitudinal axis, punch a furrow in the shell and crawl out of it.
At the same time, very high humidity makes it difficult for the chick to dry inside the egg after the air chamber and the egg shell have broken through. It is also important to remember that the relative humidity of the air is directly related to its heat capacity; operating limits for relative humidity during egg incubation are from 40 to 70%.
It is also necessary to monitor the composition of the air in the incubator chamber. Since eggs emit carbon dioxide, its content in the incubator, despite gas exchange with the external environment, is increased, which leads to massive death of embryos. The optimal level of oxygen in the air should be 21%, and carbon dioxide 0.5%. In the first two days of incubation and during hatching of chicks, an increase in carbon dioxide content to 2% is allowed.
The friendly hatching of chicks in the nest is due to the calling sounds made by the hen (in this case the male), as well as the clicking of the chicks that have not yet broken through the shell. These signals significantly stimulate the process of chicks hatching from eggs, and they hatch together. In incubators, this process sometimes stretches to 1.5-2.0 days. Chicks that are late in hatching are weaker and less viable. Therefore, at a number of poultry farms, incubators are installed with speakers that begin to play at the right moment acoustic sounds recorded on tape during the hatching of the chicks, loud enough to be heard against the background of the hum of the fans - this speeds up the hatching process.
Incubation regimes for poultry have been developed with the simultaneous selection of breeds and lines in which embryonic development is adapted to these regimes. They can be used to incubate ostrich eggs, but the results are usually lower.
Obviously, to incubate ostrich eggs, it is necessary to slightly change the artificial incubation regimes in order to obtain the same hatchability as when incubating eggs with ostriches. To do this, it is necessary to reproduce natural incubation regimes, which have not yet been sufficiently developed for ostriches. Therefore, the development of optimal regimes for incubating ostrich eggs in our climate is of great importance for the development of ostrich farming in Russia.
To monitor the progress of incubation and timely amendments to the regime, biological control is used. Its essence boils down to periodically determining changes in the mass of eggs during development, monitoring the progress of development of the embryo and its temporary organs by candling the eggs (ovoscoping under strong pressure) and monitoring during hatching. Ovoscopy of rhea and especially emu eggs turns out to be ineffective. Therefore, to control such eggs, the so-called water test is used. Water heated to a temperature of +37.5 °C is poured into a fairly wide and deep vessel and an egg is lowered into it. As a rule, on the 12-14th day of incubation it emerges. When the water in the vessel calms down, you can notice that the floating egg periodically twitches and moves in the water. This is a sure sign of embryo development. If the egg freezes motionless, the embryo is dead. At the end of the water test, the egg with the living embryo is placed back under the incubator without wiping or drying it.
Temperature in nests during incubation of eggs
_ Main disturbances during incubation
The reasons for the infertility of eggs can be different: too many males (fighting and interfering with each other) or not enough males; males are too old; insufficient level of feeding or watering; insufficient area for maintenance (crowding); seasonal decline in fertility; sick or genetically defective bird.
The eggs may be fertilized, but embryo development does not occur at all. Here, the causes may be damage to the eggs by excessive cooling or heating; too long or improper storage, improper disinfection of eggs before incubation.
The reasons for the deterioration in the incubation performance of ostrich eggs are basically the same as for chicken eggs: poor quality of the shell, disturbances in the feeding of parents, genetic factors, and incorrect position of the embryo. When humidity decreases below the permissible level, moisture evaporation through the egg shell increases, which adversely affects the development and hatching of chicks.
On the contrary, with excess humidity in the incubator, evaporation from eggs slows down, excess fluid accumulates in the fetal membranes, and swelling occurs in the embryo.
At the last stages of incubation, the most likely causes of embryonic mortality may be very high temperature in the incubator, too low or too high percentage of egg weight loss, hypoxia.
Incubators
Modern incubators for chicken (goose, duck) eggs are difficult to adapt to the incubation of ostrich eggs, that is, to ensure reliable control of temperature, humidity and air exchange, and automatic rotation of trays.
In recent years, the production of incubators designed directly for ostrich eggs has been established. In particular, they are produced by Buckeye (England) and Victoria (Italy). It is advisable to have several incubators on the farm - one or two of larger capacity and a couple of smaller ones - in case problems arise due to significant fluctuations in the size of eggs: one for large ones, the other for small ones. In low-capacity cabinets it is easier to maintain the required conditions, including humidity. Small capacity incubators can also be used during periods of the year when egg production is reduced. The best conditions for the development of ostrich embryos can be created in incubators with separate cabinets - incubation and hatching - with a one-time and full load of eggs (Fig. 10). At the same time, many farmers with small flocks of ostriches are forced to lay eggs for incubation as they arrive, as a result of which embryos of different ages are in one cabinet, and the parameters of the incubation regime are averaged. In this case, different schemes for placing eggs are used, but it is important that there is a homogeneous gas environment inside the incubator - with a uniform distribution of oxygen and the release of carbon dioxide.

Ovoscope for candling eggs:
1 – egg in position for candling; 2 – rubber ring; 3 – electric lamp 100 W; 4 – base; 5 – stand
It is advisable on the 39th day of incubation of the first batch of eggs to transfer them to another cabinet for hatching in order to prevent the remaining eggs from coming into contact with the chicks and the fluff and dust that appears during their hatching. Violation of sanitary and hygienic conditions for incubated eggs is extremely unfavorable. In addition, with continuous loading of the incubator, it is very difficult to carry out deep disinfection.
Hatching of young animals under brood hens
On small farms, it is easier to raise ostrich chicks under a broody hen, which is a male brood hen. They usually incubate eggs well and warm the chicks; hatchability of chicks with this method of incubation gives better results than when hatched in an incubator. The higher efficiency is apparently associated with the most suitable incubation regime for ostrich eggs. However, for the farm, there is also a negative side to the natural method of hatching ostrich chicks - the number of eggs heated by the bird’s body is limited, therefore the productivity of the herd is low compared to hatching chicks in an incubator, and the cost of production is high.
In order for a male ostrich to begin incubating a clutch, he must first be prepared for this process. Nesting material (hay, grass, straw) is placed in the room where ostriches are kept. The male prepares a hole for the nest, into which he pulls nesting material and compacts it with his body. Nest construction begins almost immediately after the male's first mating games.
Females lay eggs at intervals of 2-3 days. Before laying an egg, the female becomes very excitable, constantly walks around the paddock along the fence, sometimes makes sounds, and the male approaches the nest, bows and makes the same sounds as when mating. The female approaches the nest several times, then squats on bent legs and assumes an egg-laying position, then gets up and leaves the nest again. It is not advisable to disturb ostriches with your presence at this time.
Finally the female lays an egg within 1-3 minutes and both birds stand over it for a while, covering it with nesting material. This moment is important for the manifestation of the incubation instinct in the male. This happens every time the female lays the next egg.
Male ostriches, as a rule, have high sexual activity, so the fertilization rate of eggs is very high, not lower than 80%. It should be remembered that he does not feed during incubation, so you need to prepare him for the nesting period so that he is not fat, but well-fed.
The same applies to females. During the period of egg laying, they are reluctant to eat food, the body is exhausted, which is why they may even die. Therefore, if there is no incubator, you should not strive to get as many eggs as possible, since all of them will not fit under the male anyway. When there are 15-20 eggs in the nest (depending on the type of ostrich), the female is removed, which usually leads to the cessation of egg laying. When keeping ostriches in a poultry house with paddocks throughout the year, it is better to immediately remove the eggs laid by the females, and replace them with artificial ones (dummies), which are made from soft wood. They should be the same size, shape and color as real eggs. 2-3 days after laying the first egg, the male begins to incubate the clutch.
When the male has finally settled down and one can hope that he will not abandon the nest, the artificial eggs are replaced with real ones. While incubating the eggs, he turns them over, periodically moving the eggs from the center of the tray to its edge, and then in the reverse order.
As already mentioned, incubation of eggs in the African ostrich lasts 42-43 days, rhea - about 40, emu 52-56 days. In exceptional cases, incubation can be longer, so you can’t rush for another 5-6 days.
Industrial hygiene
Industrial hygiene during incubation and after chick hatching is extremely important.
Before entering the incubation room, you must have a disinfection tray for shoes. It must be filled with one of the effective disinfectants available on the market. Every time you approach the incubator, you need to wet the soles of your shoes in this bath.
The same goes for disinfecting your hands before handling eggs. It is recommended to use disposable paper towels for drying your hands, since using regular towels may allow the transfer of harmful microorganisms from egg to egg.
When constructing an incubation room, an important detail must be taken into account: the incubation and adjacent auxiliary rooms must have only one entrance and one exit. That is, you must enter and exit through different doors. This reduces the risk of transmitting infection.
Raising ostrich chicks
You can recognize the hatching of chicks by the characteristic squeak they make during this period. Male ostriches are good brood hens. They are very attentive to their chicks and careful when getting up from the nest, so they should not be disturbed before the chicks hatch until they leave the nest themselves.
Ostrich chicks can be raised with or without a male. If the chicks are bred under brood hens, it is better to leave them with the male. He leads them, warms them, promotes their active movement; Ostrich chicks learn from him how to find and collect food.
At first, hatchery ostrich chicks should be kept in a room where there is a heater (brooder), especially if the weather is cold or rainy. They are very sensitive to fluctuations in temperature and humidity in the first days of life. Subsequently, the ostrich chicks become stronger and tolerate fluctuations in temperature and humidity well. As soon as the ostrich chicks dry out after emerging from the egg, they need to be provided with food and water. The final success of their rearing depends on how quickly the chicks receive food. Therefore, the premises, equipment and feed must be prepared in advance. In cold, rainy weather, two or three days before hatching, the necessary microclimate is created in the incubator at the future place where the chicks will be kept, and the operation of the brooder is checked. A few hours before they hatch, water is poured into the dish so that it is heated in a timely manner. They should be fed with crumbly food (hard-boiled and crushed eggs, porridge, greens). As the ostrich chicks grow and their appetite improves, the variety of food and their quantity gradually increase; Bread, carrots, beets and other foods are introduced into the diet.
Particular attention should be paid to the raising of replacement young animals intended for completing the parent herd. It is advisable to obtain such young animals from breeding birds that have been laying eggs for the second or third year.
During the entire period of raising young animals, you need to carefully monitor the general development and condition of the ostrich chicks by weighing them daily. These data, recorded in an observation diary, make it possible to control the feeding and maintenance regime of ostrich chicks and make appropriate adjustments in a timely manner. For ostriches, the patterns of growth, and therefore the parameters of changes in body weight, as well as exterior measurements, have not been sufficiently studied. Therefore, you will have to obtain this data on your farm yourself.
During the rearing process, it is necessary to select all chicks that are stunted or have external defects.
To accustom ostrich chicks to humans, it is necessary to contact them more often. Training should begin from the first day of life for hatchery ostrich chicks. When caring for them and giving them food, you should constantly say different words in a gentle voice so that the young animals get used to you faster. Tame ostrich chicks will take you for the leader, they will be easier to raise, and when they become adults, they can be grazed like cows in the pasture.

OSTRICH DISEASES AND THEIR PREVENTION

To successfully farm any animals, the farmer must have sufficient knowledge of the specific needs of these animals. When intensification of the livestock system on the farm begins, this becomes even more important. The better these needs are met, the less stress the animals experience.
The “ability” of African ostriches to die “for unknown reasons” is quite well known, but in most cases it is still quite possible to determine errors in bird care and prevent further development of stress and death of animals. Every farmer is interested in acquiring as much knowledge as possible about the needs of his birds. Then he will be able to reduce the risk of their diseases to a minimum. Ostrich farming can be very profitable, but if done incorrectly it can be ruinous.
Adult ostriches are resistant to infectious diseases, excluding avian pox and encephalitis. However, they are prone to digestive disorders and respiratory diseases.
Pelleted feed can sometimes upset digestion, while finely ground feed can cause respiratory problems.
Prevention of ostrich diseases includes all kinds of vaccinations, constant attention to sanitary and hygienic rules, and timely disinfection.
Disease Prevention
If your business activity develops successfully and ostrich farming begins to gain momentum, it would not be a bad idea to invite a professional veterinarian to a full-time position on your farm. After all, no matter how competently the farm itself is organized and the process of breeding ostriches is established, a program for preventing diseases of the bird flock is still necessary. The disease prevention program should include all kinds of vaccinations and biological safety.
Biological safety is the cheapest way to prevent diseases. It includes constant monitoring of birds and other animals, as well as staff and visitors, and must also ensure the proper sanitary condition of the farm and its inhabitants.
By the way, you should not get carried away with cheap disinfectants - they are not always of good quality.
Main diseases of ostriches
The diseases most common in ostriches can be divided into four groups:
– respiratory;
– gastrointestinal;
– neurological (musculoskeletal system);
– others.
The most common respiratory diseases are rhinotracheitis and aerosacculitis (inflammation of the air sacs). Untreated rhinotracheitis often develops into aerosacculitis.
Gastrointestinal diseases can be divided into gastric and intestinal.
The most important neurological (musculoskeletal) diseases are leg deformity and Newcastle disease. Other diseases include dermatological diseases, hepatitis and reproductive problems.

OSTRICH PRODUCTS

Breeding exotic birds at home is a rare business, as it requires special conditions and large investments.

How to breed ostriches?

According to the established classification, birds are divided into swimming, flying and running. Of the latter species, the African ostrich, the largest representative of the genus, is a flightless flat-chested bird. According to experienced farmers, breeding ostriches is no more difficult.

The height of the African ostrich is 2.5-2.7 meters, weight is about 120-150 kilograms. The life expectancy of this bird is almost the same as that of a human being, and is 75 years. Their peculiarity is a very small brain (the size of an eye). But this does not prevent them from adapting well to their environment - picking up speeds of up to 70 kilometers per hour, running away from danger, and fighting off animals that view them as prey (they can even fight off a lion). Also, the small size of the brain does not interfere with the loyalty of this bird, its family organization. A polygamous male lives with 3-4 females, one of which is his favorite. When they were separated, there were cases of death of males who simply could not bear the separation after several weeks.

You can raise poultry at home; in Russia this option is beginning to gain popularity.

To breed ostriches at home, you need to take care of the living conditions. The territory should be large, since, unlike this bird, it is large and loves space. The breeding site consists of an overnight pen and a walking area. If possible, you can set it up in former pig pens. The main condition is the ceiling height, which should not be less than 3 meters.

Since ostriches at home live in families of 4-5 individuals, it is better to divide the pen into sections for each individual family. Experts recommend doing this kind of zoning in the walking area to avoid conflicts. The height of the fence must be at least 1.7 meters.

This bird tolerates temperature changes and frosts well in Russia. In their homeland, the temperature during the day can reach +50ºС, and at night drop to +5ºС. But it is better to insulate the room in which it is planned to be kept at home. If the floor is concrete, it should be covered with a dense bedding of hay and straw. For earthen or wood floors, the underlay may not be as massive, but it must be there.

For two families, consisting of two males and six to eight females, the paddock area should be 150 m² in size, and the walking area should be about 1500 m². Sand should be poured onto part of the pen so that the birds can take sand baths.

If the walking area is planned to be fenced with a metal mesh, the cells should be either very small so that the ostrich does not poke its head through, or very large. This bird is very curious and will definitely want to see what is happening behind the fence. If you can't put your head back in, it can even lead to death.

You also need to be careful with metal objects in the area, as they will quickly swallow nails, hairpins, etc., leading to mortality.

Selection of food supply

Ostriches are very unpretentious in their choice of food. An adult consumes up to three kilograms of food per day. As with, ostriches are fed in the morning and evening. The daily dose should consist of 70% plant foods, the remaining 30% are special mineral supplements.

A favorite delicacy is cabbage; it can be given with fodder beets and carrots. Vegetables are cut finely, since ostriches do not have teeth. In summer, clover, alfalfa, spinach or rapeseed, also finely chopped, can be added to vegetables. Feed and mineral supplements are added to the crushed mass, then poured into trays. It is not recommended to place food on the ground.

Advice: ostriches should not be given parsley, and small chicks should not be given ghee. They also do not digest potatoes well.

To improve digestion, pebbles and sand are placed next to the trays, which the bird pecks as needed. In this case, small grains of sand and stones act as teeth.

Feeding chicks at home is significantly different. Newly hatched ostrich chicks may not consume food for 3-6 days, as they feed from the yolk sac. But there should always be a feeder with porridge near them. Moreover, if adults are fed in the morning and evening according to a schedule, then the chicks must have access to food constantly.

They are fed a mixture of concentrated feed with the addition of alfalfa leaves. Before 4 months, the amount of fiber is limited. You can add grated apple and carrot to small chicks; they will peck sand and eggshells. They also need to be provided with access to limestone and shell rock, since these ingredients are responsible for the formation of the skeleton in young animals.

You need to add 5 grams to the chicks’ food every day. biotin and B vitamins. Both chicks and adult birds should always have clean water, although they may not drink it all day.

Reproduction

In the central regions of Russia, regardless of weather conditions, ostriches breed at home from March to October. This bird becomes an adult at the age of 2-3 years - this is evidenced by its bright color and thick plumage. Many of them begin to make a loud sound and hiss.

The male in his family covers all the females, but incubates eggs with only one of them. To do this, he digs a hole 30-50 centimeters deep, into which all females lay eggs.

The egg is large, 15-20 centimeters long, weighing 1.5-2 kilograms (when bred at home in captivity, they can be slightly smaller - 1.2-1.5 kilograms). The thickness of the shell is approximately 3 millimeters. The egg is quite dense and can support an eight-year-old child.

One family will bring the owner 40-60 eggs per year. At an ostrich farm in Russia, the eggs are collected and placed in a sterile box equipped with an incubator. The price of technology for incubating eggs is much lower than.

After 42 days, the ostrich chicks appear. Starting from the 41st day, you need to carefully watch each egg - often the chicks cannot break the shell on their own and get out. If this does not happen, the person independently hits the egg lightly with a wooden hammer and helps the chick get out. After this, they are transferred to boxes with soft bedding, where the ostrich chicks dry out.

Taking care of your health

Ostriches, unlike ostriches, tolerate winter well, so even when bred at home, they need to be released into fresh air. The main thing is that the area is not icy so that they do not get injured.

Young animals should have access to the pen at all times so they can warm up and rest during the day. For adult animals, a canopy should be installed in the pasture area so that they can hide from the rain.

Advice: Make sure that cats or dogs do not enter the walking area, as they can frighten the bird and be carriers of diseases.

To raise healthy offspring, experienced farmers recommend:

1. Every day, clean the walking area and the room where the poultry is kept at home;
2. newly acquired birds should be kept separately for a month;
3. set up a quarantine area in which to place ostriches that appear weak until a veterinary examination is carried out;
4. disinfect walls, floors, feeders, drinking bowls;
5. examine droppings to identify various diseases;
6. fight rodents that carry diseases;
7. carry out vaccinations according to schedule;
8. change the water once a day;
9. Ensure ventilation of the area where the bird is kept.

Ostriches: breeding at home, prices

Ostriches are valued not only for their meat and eggs, but also for their fat, skin, claws and feathers. Leather is of increasing interest to designers who use it to make bags and shoes. This material is waterproof and has better qualities than crocodile leather.

Ostrich fat is beneficial for humans; it is used for skin diseases and to treat wounds. Feathers are used to sew concert costumes, decorate hats, souvenirs, and pendants, bracelets and necklaces are made from claws.

Breeding ostriches at home is only the first stage of implementing a business plan. It is important to find product suppliers. Meat and eggs are supplied to markets, wholesalers, supermarkets, restaurants and sports clubs. Leather and feathers can be bought by ateliers and factories that make shoes, clothes, and accessories. Many people sell products online by creating their own website or posting information on a free bulletin board.

Breeding ostriches at home does not apply. To organize even a small home farm for two families, you will need a capital of at least 900 thousand rubles (this amount includes the cost of renting a plot of 1,500 m², arranging the premises and walking area, purchasing an incubator, ostriches and feed).

Ostrich eggs: price

Many people are interested in how much an ostrich egg costs. The average cost on farms varies between 1800-2500 rubles per piece. Some farms sell empty eggs for making souvenirs (price - 500 rubles), hand-painted eggs - from 1,500 rubles.

An ostrich egg is not much different from a chicken egg. The main difference is the size. One such egg replaces 20 chicken eggs. To prepare it, you just need to break it into a frying pan and fry it, adding salt and spices. It takes about 2 hours to boil such an egg.

Ostrich meat: price per kilogram

The weight of an adult ostrich is 120-150 kilograms. One bird produces about 40% pure meat (this is 45-60 kg). It has a pleasant taste, contains a lot of protein and has virtually no cholesterol. How much does ostrich meat cost in Russia? Let's look at the prices of popular ostrich farms:

• price for 1 kilogram of fillet – 1000-2000 rubles;
• chilled steak (300 grams) – 500 rubles;
• minced ostrich (1 kilogram) – 700-800 rubles;
• rendered fat (40 grams) – 100 rubles;
• rendered ostrich fat (2.5 kilograms) – 1500-1600 rubles.

How much does an ostrich cost in Russia?

Breeding ostriches at home is one step lower than pharmaceuticals in Russia. An exotic bird pays for itself completely. According to experts, competition in this niche is small, because this business is just beginning its development. In addition to selling meat, eggs and related products, you can sell young animals and even adults. The price directly depends on the age of the bird:

• hatched chicks, several days - 9,000 rubles;
• ostrich chicks up to 1 month old - 10,000-11,000 rubles;
• ostrich chicks (1-2 months) – 12,000-13,000 rubles;
• ostrich chicks aged from 2 to 4 months - 17,500-19,000 rubles;
• young animals 9-12 months – 33,000-35,000 rubles.
• adult bird from 1.5 to 2 years – 50-52 thousand rubles;
• adult bird from 2.5 years - 75-80 thousand rubles.

There is also the option to buy an already formed family of a male and two females. The price for such a family is 225-250 thousand rubles.

A very profitable way to increase farm income is to attract tourists. In addition to the fact that interested visitors can feed ostriches and watch the birds, they can be offered an omelet or dishes made from ostrich meat for an additional fee. Some enterprising farmers even produce products from ostrich fat - hair masks, creams, ointments.

Where to buy ostriches for breeding, price

For those who want to start breeding ostriches at home, the issue of purchasing young or adult animals becomes relevant. In order not to spend money on transportation, it is recommended to search among operating farms that are located nearby.

Please note that this business does not pay off immediately, after about 3-4 years of operation. To organize a business at home, you can purchase an incubator and buy eggs. This option is the cheapest, but the most risky, since it will be difficult for a beginner to follow all the breeding rules.

The second option is to purchase chicks 4-8 months old, in which case you just need to monitor them and provide proper care and feeding. But profit can be expected after a couple of years.

You can buy several adult families at once, but it will be expensive, since one family of three birds in Russia costs 220-250 thousand rubles.

In order not to mix birds within a family, it is necessary to update the stock. To do this, you can negotiate with nearby farms for periodic purchases, since they are experiencing the same problems.

Until recently, many people went to Poland, Germany or Holland to buy young animals, but recently they are increasingly abandoning this idea in favor of domestic suppliers.

In Russia, there is a growing demand for exotic types of livestock breeding - breeding ornamental pigs, squirrels, nutria, guinea fowl and even camel breeding. Breeding ostriches at home is gaining popularity. Birds are unpretentious in maintenance and nutrition, and their meat, eggs, feathers, fat and skin are highly valued in various fields. This direction pays off within 3-4 years of farm operation and makes it possible to receive a stable and high income. At the same time, entrepreneurs need to take into account all the risks - the high price of ostriches, the difficulty of establishing distribution channels and the need for a large area for raising poultry.

Despite this, the business is quite profitable. And with the right organization, it can bring in a lot of income.