A Detailed Guide to Ostrich Farming Techniques and Management Methods

The ostrich is native to Africa and is the largest extant herbivorous bird in the world. It cannot fly but is a strong runner. An adult ostrich weighs about 120-150 kg and stands 1.75-2.75 m tall. Ostriches grow very quickly; a one-year-old bird can already weigh over 100 kg. Under normal circumstances, ostriches reach sexual maturity at around 2 years of age.
Ostrich meat is a high-protein (containing 21 amino acids essential to humans), low-fat, low-cholesterol, low-energy, tender-textured premium red meat, and is an ideal healthy food for humans. Ostrich leather is soft, tough, highly breathable, and features beautiful patterns formed by its feather roots. It is a premium raw material for making high-end clothing, apparel, leather shoes, suitcases and bags. Its price is higher than that of crocodile leather, and it is in short supply on the international market. Ostrich oil has relatively high medicinal value and can be used to make high-end cosmetics and medicines with excellent properties. Ostrich eggs, feathers and bones can be made into craft, light-industry and other products.
Ostrich farming techniques:
Ostrich: the order Struthioniformes includes the African ostrich, the rhea, the emu, the cassowary and others. Because the African ostrich grows quickly, has strong reproductive capacity, is easy to raise and has strong disease resistance, basically all ostriches farmed domestically and abroad are African ostriches. In the order Struthioniformes, it belongs to the family Struthionidae, genus Struthio, species African ostrich. Species is the basic unit in animal taxonomy, while breed is a concept in animal husbandry science and is mainly the product of artificial selection.
The African ostrich has been domesticated by humans for only 100 years, and relatively large-scale farming has only emerged in the last twenty to thirty years. Therefore, there are only 3 breeds of farmed ostrich, namely the blue-necked ostrich, the red-necked ostrich and the African black ostrich. To facilitate breed introduction and feeding management, the following briefly introduces the 3 breeds of African ostrich and other major groups in the order Struthioniformes.
1. Blue-necked ostrich: divided into two types, the South African blue-necked ostrich and the Somali blue-necked ostrich. The South African blue-necked ostrich originates in South Africa; it has feathers on the top of its head, the male's neck is blue-grey, the tarsometatarsus is red, there is no bare crown patch, the tail feathers are brownish-yellow, and it usually holds its beak relatively high. The Somali blue-necked ostrich originates in Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya; it has no feathers on the top of its head, the male has a relatively wide white neck ring, the body plumage is clearly black and white, while the female is greyish. The neck and thighs are blue-grey, the tarsometatarsus is bright red, the tail feathers are white, there is a bare crown patch, the iris is grey, and it usually holds its beak relatively high. The blue-necked ostrich is relatively large in size and grows quickly. As a commercial bird it can be marketed at 10-12 months of age, 1-2 months earlier than the black ostrich, and its egg-laying performance is slightly lower than that of the African black ostrich.
2. Red-necked ostrich. Divided into the North African red-necked ostrich and the Masai red-necked ostrich. The North African red-necked ostrich originates in the Sahara Desert of northern Africa; it has no feathers on the top of its head, with a ring of brown feathers around it extending all the way down the back of the neck. The male's neck and thighs are red or pink, the beak and tarsometatarsus are even redder, especially obvious during the breeding season, and there is a bare crown patch. The Masai red-necked ostrich originates from southern Kenya to Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Tanzania. It has feathers on the top of its head, the male's neck and thighs are pink and turn red in the breeding season. The legs are bright pink, the tail feathers are dirty white with a slight tinge of brown or red, and at about 1/3 of the neck along the area where black body plumage replaces the bare skin there is a small ring of white feathers. The red-necked ostrich is raised relatively little, mainly to introduce bloodlines to improve the growth rate and increase the body size of the African black ostrich.
3. African black ostrich. A artificially bred breed, developed in South Africa through long-term selective breeding after crossbreeding original breeds such as the blue-necked ostrich. The African black ostrich is relatively small in size, with short legs, a short neck and a full body; it is docile in temperament, with dense, evenly distributed feathers and relatively long feather barbs. It looks very beautiful and is easy to feed and manage. Its egg-laying performance is better than that of the blue-necked and red-necked ostriches. Generally, a 4-5-year-old female lays an average of 100 eggs per year, and outstanding ones can reach 150 eggs.
Other major groups in the order Struthioniformes
1. Emu
The body plumage is blackish grey-brown, and the afterfeathers of each feather are very well developed, becoming feather vanes about the same size as the contour feathers. The wing feathers are degenerate, leaving only 7 primary flight feathers the same as the body plumage, and there is no helmet on the top of the head. The inner toe claw is not well developed. An adult bird weighs 30-45 kg, with the heaviest reaching 55 kg. It stands about 1.5 m tall. Males and females are similar, and the top of the head and neck of the adult bird are black. During the breeding season, the female's head and neck have dense black feathers, and the head and neck of the young bird have black transverse bars.
2. Rhea
Its main features and appearance resemble the African ostrich, but its body size is smaller; the male is smaller than the female. The male stands about 1.3 m tall, and the female stands about 1.4 m tall.
3. Lesser rhea
Its height rarely exceeds 1 m. In addition, there is a strong claw on each wing. Its running speed is 60 km per hour. It has very good eyesight and hearing. The two sexes are similar, but the male's body colour is slightly darker and its body size is slightly larger than the female's. It weighs 25 kg. During the breeding season, the lesser rhea has obvious rings on its neck. Young birds are darker in body colour than adults. The lesser rhea has many white spots on its back, but young birds have no spots on their backs.
Sources of ostrich feed:
Plant feeds include: alfalfa, red clover, stylo, elephant grass, king grass, sweet potato vine, bitter lettuce, carrot, ryegrass, Mexican corn, pagoda tree leaves, etc.
Compound feed varieties: corn, wheat, soybean meal, bran, imported fish meal, alfalfa meal, salt, calcium bicarbonate, shell powder, bone meal, methionine, lysine, various vitamins, trace elements.
Construction of ostrich pens and housing:
Fencing: The ostrich farm is divided by fences, with a fence height of about 2 m. The material should be smooth and free of thorns, and preferably somewhat elastic, so as to prevent the ostriches from being injured when they collide with it. Wire mesh and metal pipe fencing can be used, or simple bamboo and wooden fencing.
Sand bedding: Spread sand 5-20 cm thick indoors and in the exercise yard to keep the ground hardness moderate.