Ostrich breeding at home: how to grow and care for beginners

In Russia, many species of poultry are raised. Recently, farmers want to start breeding ostriches, as this type of business is considered profitable. Consider why these birds are grown, the main promising breeds, how to organize the maintenance, feeding and breeding of ostriches at home. How to start an ostrich farm as a business.

Why ostriches are bred

From an ostrich you can get not only standard products for poultry - meat and eggs, but also fat, feathers, skin and even claws and a beak. All this is valued in cooking and light industry as an exotic but valuable raw material.

Meat

Ostrich has a lot of meat, it is tasty, nutritious, but low in calories. Contains proteins in large quantities, contains almost no cholesterol. It tastes like beef, but the cost, of course, surpasses it. As for meat productivity, one bird weighing 100 kg can produce 55 kg of meat.

Eggs

One ostrich egg weighs, on average, 1.5 kg. From one bird you can get about 50 pieces per year. It, like the eggs of other birds, contains a lot of protein, vitamins and minerals. One such egg can feed several people at once, the content in it is the same as in 20-25 chicken ones. They prepare different dishes, just like chicken dishes.

Leather

Because of the original pattern, ostrich skin is used for sewing fashionable expensive bags, shoes and clothes (gloves, belts, etc.). Such products are waterproof, durable and appreciated by buyers, even belong to luxury items.

Feathers

Ostrich feathers are used to decorate dresses, hats, suits. They are dyed in different colors or left white. From one bird you can get 0.7 kg of feathers. Black and gray are used in the electronics industry to clean dust from precision mechanisms and parts.

Claws and beak

An ostrich has only 2 claws, they are used to make necklaces, pendants, bracelets. The powder obtained from the claws is used as an abrasive for polishing precious stones.

Fat

From one carcass you can remove 5-7 kg of fat. It has anti-inflammatory, bactericidal and hypoallergenic properties. Fat is used in creams and ointments, it goes well with other valuable components. It is used to treat burns, skin diseases, arthritis, rheumatism.

Popular breeds

African ostriches include black, Namibian, Zimbabwean, Masai breed. Australian emus and American rhea are also bred. It is recommended to breed emus for meat, and rhea for eggs.

African ostriches also have high productive rates. In addition, they are distinguished by a calm character, they live long.

Facilities and conditions of detention

For cultivation, 3 methods are used: intensive, extensive and mixed - semi-intensive. In the first case, the birds are raised in a small space, where they receive food. In the second case, ostriches grow in large areas, where they partially take care of themselves. The intensive method combines the principles of the intensive and extensive methods. Two rearing schemes are used: when birds of the same age are grown together until slaughter age and when birds of different ages are kept in the same area.

Ostriches are kept in rooms with solid walls and high (from 3 m) ceilings. For 1 bird up to 3 months of age, at least 1 sq. m. They are kept in groups of 10-12 heads. A small number of ostriches can reduce the likelihood of diseases, facilitate care.

Rules for bird care at home for beginners

The floor of the house is covered with a layer of dry straw or shavings. You need to accustom to the chips gradually, as birds can eat them. The room should be bright, warm, without drafts. The temperature in the room for young animals should not fall below zero. Adults are kept at a temperature of 20 ° C and a humidity of 60%. The length of daylight hours is natural in summer, at least 9 hours in winter. With good lighting, birds increase their appetite, and there is an increase in live weight.

Ostriches do not like noise, harsh sounds. From fear, they can rush to run, hit or get hurt.Constant noise irritation provokes a decrease in productivity, food consumption, feather pecking and pecking in birds. You need to take care of ostriches in the same way as for other birds, that is, remove droppings and bedding, and ventilate the house. Clean out feeders and drinkers every day to ensure no leftover food remains.

You need to build a paddock next to the poultry house. Its walls must also be high - at least 2 m, made of durable material. You can let ostriches out for a walk even in mild frost, but you need to make sure that the surface is not icy.

In addition to the poultry house and paddock, the farm should have a quarantine room where sick or suspicious birds are placed, as well as newcomers.

Diet

The diet of ostriches consists of grain and grass. Grain can be varied: cereals, legumes. You can give any grass and tops of garden crops, graze on pastures with clover and alfalfa. Do not display on areas wet from dew or rain. This can lead to the death of the young.

For the winter, you can prepare silage, hay, straw. They eat vegetables, fruits, fish and bone meal. From mineral additives give limestone, premixes, s alt, fine gravel. Before slaughter, you need to grow ostriches for 8-12 months. By this age they reach 100-120 kg, the slaughter yield of meat is 55%.

Features of breeding

Ostrich families consist of 1 male and 4-5 females. The eggs are incubated by both parents.

Mating season

Puberty in male ostriches occurs at 2-2.5 years, in females - at 2 years. It is possible to determine that the male is ready for the mating season by the color of the legs, beak and skin around the eyes.They turn red. In African breeds, the mating season lasts from March to October. Weather conditions may make minor adjustments to these dates.

Egg-laying

Female can lay 40-80 eggs, egg laying frequency is every 2 days. Young laying hens during the first season carry 20% less than adult birds. The maximum number of eggs can be observed during the 3rd season. Females are able to rush for 30-35 years, the life span of the species is 70-75 years. The female lays 12-18 eggs in the nest. To obtain incubation material, it is necessary to regularly remove them from the nest.

Hatching dates

African ostriches hatch on days 39-42, emus hatch on days 51-54. The average incubation temperature is 36 ˚С, humidity - 24-35% and only during hatching it rises to 60%.

Is Incubation Necessary?

Breeding in an incubator is used with an intensive breeding method. This is necessary so that the chicks are all the same age. Incubators are used special, with trays that can fit large eggs. If birds of different ages are kept together, you can give the right to breed ostriches to females.

Ostrich breeding as a business in Russia

Ostrich farm is a profitable, fast-payback business. You can get a stable profit already in the second year. Of course, first you need to spend money on the purchase of equipment, premises, young animals, feed, medicines. But it will all pay off in time.

When following the rules of maintenance, disinfection, care for the he alth of the wards, the losses will be minimal. To sell products, you need to find stores that will buy it regularly.Otherwise, meat and eggs will have to be stored in refrigerators, and this is an additional cost.

If you not only grow birds on the farm, but organize the processing of products on its territory, you can receive additional income, since you do not have to sell raw materials at unprofitable prices.

Exotic ostriches can be as profitable as any farm bird that everyone knows about. Meat, eggs, leather, feathers - everything can be recycled. The only drawback of the ostrich breeding business is that not everyone knows about the value of the bird and, perhaps, therefore, they treat it and the products obtained from it with some prejudice.

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