What are the characteristics of ostriches? How to breed ostriches

The ostrich is an omnivorous animal with good digestive function and a special digestive system. It can absorb energy from crude fiber, so when providing feed to the ostrich, do not provide feed with too much energy. Today we are going to share with you the characteristics of the ostrich and what fruits it eats. Do you think it is interesting?

Contents of this article

1. Characteristics of ostrich

2. How to breed ostriches

3. What fruits do ostriches eat?

Characteristics of Ostrich

The ostrich has a small, broad and flat head, a long and flexible neck, and its exposed head, neck and legs are usually light pink. Its beak is straight and short, with an oblate tip. Its eyes are large, inherited from bird features, and its vision is also good, with thick black eyelashes. Its hind legs are thick, with only two toes, which is different from the three or four toes of other birds. It has the fewest toes among birds, with the inner toe being larger and having hard claws, while the outer toe is clawless. Its hind legs are strong and powerful, and can be used for sprinting and kicking forward to attack.

The breeding season of ostriches is from March to September. Sometimes several female ostriches lay eggs together. When incubating, the males take turns at night and the females take turns during the day. The eggs are large and have strong bearing capacity. One weighs 0.5 to 1 kg. Generally, 40 to 50 ostriches gather in a group. They also often cover the eggs with sand and gravel to maintain a certain temperature. At the end of the incubation period, the parents will roll some eggs to the edge of the nest to facilitate synchronous incubation. The hatched chicks will soon be able to wander around with the parents.

The ostrich is the largest flightless bird in existence. The male is about 2.75 meters tall and weighs up to 155 kilograms. The length of the neck is almost half of the body length, while the female is slightly smaller. The ostrich egg is the largest egg in modern times. The male's body feathers are mostly black, but the wings and tail feathers are white; the female's are mostly brown. The head and neck are mostly reddish to light blue; there are some down feathers; the head is small, the beak is short and slightly wide; the eyes are large, brown with thick black eyelashes. They live in desert steppes. They live in groups and are diurnal. They have a keen sense of smell and hearing, and are good at running. They use the flapping of their wings to help them run. They can span 8 meters in one step, can reach a speed of 70 kilometers per hour, and can jump up to 3.5 meters.

How to breed ostriches

1. Breeding site. To breed ostriches, you must choose a well-drained sandy land area and use fences on a slope with a slope of about 20 degrees. Keep away from noisy places such as urban areas and traffic areas. The site also needs to be surrounded by wire mesh of at least two meters to prevent the ostrich from getting injured. In addition to the breeding farm, an ostrich playground should also be set up, and the playground should face north and south. The resting area should separate adult birds from chicks for rest. The resting area must be insulated and windproof, with good permeability. The floor of the aviary should be clean, sanitary and dry. Ostriches need the ground to be completely dry, and they cannot survive in a humid environment.

2. Feed selection. Ostrich is an omnivorous animal with good digestive function and a special digestive system. It can absorb energy from crude fiber, so do not provide feed with too much energy when feeding ostrich. If there is too much nutrition, plus the energy in green feed, it will cause excess nutrition in the body, increase body fat, and affect the reproductive capacity of the ostrich. In addition, ostriches grow faster and have a fast metabolism. In order to effectively promote the establishment of a microbial growth area in the posterior digestive tract, the amount of roughage should be increased after two and a half months.

3. Mating period. The female ostrich is very obvious in estrus, and her movements are much gentler than before. She will actively approach the male ostrich, walk over with her head down, and her head almost touches the ground. The wings also droop down, and the mouth opens and closes. After mating, the female bird will lay eggs within 1-2 weeks. If the eggs are taken out, the female bird will lay eggs continuously, one a day, for about 20 days. It is not economical for artificially raised ostriches to hatch themselves. Some with strong breeding ability can lay more than 40 eggs continuously, which is still related to good breeding management.

4. Disease prevention and treatment. The brooding period of ostriches is a high-incidence period for various diseases, and it is also a critical period for the success or failure of breeding. The main disease of ostriches during the brooding period is respiratory infection, which is generally caused by turbid air, dirty environment, wet ground and other reasons. Respiratory diseases will have a certain impact on the growth and reproduction of ostriches, and even cause death. Therefore, during the brooding period, ostriches should be managed by a dedicated person, who should pay attention to the status and eating conditions of the ostriches at any time, clean the aviary, disinfect it regularly, isolate sick birds immediately, and check the conditions for treatment. Provide a good living environment for ostriches.

What fruits do ostriches eat?

Ostrich has a very diverse diet, eating almost any fruit. The main diet of ostriches is plant stems, leaves, fruits, etc., especially flowering shrubs, parasitic creepers, ground creeping cucurbits and wild figs, etc. They also eat insects, mollusks, small reptiles, birds and mammals, etc., and also eat some sand to help digestion.

Ostriches live in the desert grasslands and savannahs of Africa. They are widely domesticated in many countries because their feathers, skins and meat have high economic value, and they have the advantages of fast growth, strong reproductive capacity, easy breeding and strong disease resistance.