Ostrich chick: appearance of cubs and diet, conditions of keeping and care

Creating ostrich chicks has many nuances, and the slightest inaccuracy in their observance can lead to the death of the livestock. The ostrich is a southern bird, sensitive to cold weather and drafts, so you need to ensure the most comfortable microclimate of the house. Ostriches are exposed to pathogenic microorganisms, so due attention is paid to hygiene and timely vaccination.

The appearance of ostriches

If the baby ostrich cannot hatch on its own at the appointed time, the egg shell will have to be carefully broken. Unlike chickens and ducks, ostriches are born feathered and ready to live on their own.

The size of a newborn chick is about 20-30 cm in length. The legs are long and strong, the ostrich can develop high speed within a few hours after birth. For easy identification, light plastic tags are often hung around the neck of the chicks, indicating birth weight and hatching date.

Features of birth

In the wild, ostriches do not incubate eggs from start to finish, but prefer to bury them in hot sand, occasionally returning to the nest. In industrial conditions, an incubator is most often used. One female can lay up to 60 eggs per season, so it makes sense to lay exactly this number of cells per bird. Chicks are born 42-43 days after the start of incubation.

Conditions and care

The main condition for the successful rearing of ostrich chicks is the appropriate size of the room. It is recommended to calculate the area based on the parameters - at least one square meter per chick in the first month of life. As they grow older, this value increases to 5 square meters. meters, and adult birds will need 10 meters of space.

If you do not follow these standards, strong animals will injure the weak, take away their food, so the livestock will gain in height and weight unevenly.

The floor and walls should preferably be made of wood or clay mixed with sawdust. Such material is quite warm, close to natural conditions, prevents the appearance of corns and corns on the feet of birds. Windows - on the south side, for sufficient sunlight. Lack of ventilation will lead to the accumulation of pathogenic bacteria, and the chicks will often get sick. Best of all - natural ceiling ventilation or regular ventilation of the room, but so that drafts do not form.

Cages are usually limited to cellular grids. The diameter of the cells should be such that the ostriches could not stick their heads between them. In the first few weeks of life in the chicken coop, the temperature is maintained at 32-33 degrees, and then gradually reduce the rates to 20-25. Humidity - 60%.

Diet

The first week of life, ostriches lose weight using subcutaneous reserves of yolk. This is normal. After a forced hunger strike, complementary foods begin. From the second week of life, chicks can eat solid food. The diet is gradually introduced ground alfalfa, which is considered a rich source of protein.

In the wild, chicks also peck at the dung of adult birds, colonizing the intestines with the microflora needed to digest food.

Adult chicks are accustomed to a special granular feed. It is enough just to scatter it on the floor.Only after the young are accustomed to eating it from the floor, you can pour food into the feeders. In summer, 3-4-month-old chicks are released to pastures, especially clover and alfalfa. For winter time, hay is necessarily harvested from these herbs.

What do ostriches get sick with

Ostriches are rather delicate birds, prone to disease in conditions of inappropriate climate or keeping. Most often, chicks are affected by bird flu. Typical symptoms are lethargy, apathy, refusal to feed, clear discharge from the nose and eyes. Sick chicks are immediately isolated from the rest. There is no effective treatment, so it is best to vaccinate the livestock in time.

Newcastle disease is transmitted to ostriches from chickens, so the birds should not be kept together.The main signs are impaired coordination of movements. There is no specific treatment, there is a preventive vaccination. The same symptoms can be seen with hypoglycemia, a condition that occurs when there is not enough glucose in the diet. In severe cases, intravenous glucose can help.

Chicks often get helminthic parasites with green food. After the invasion, young ostriches gain weight poorly, appetite worsens, and body weight decreases. Antihelminthic drugs are sold in veterinary pharmacies. The dosage is selected based on the body weight of the chick.

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