Ostrich farms are mostly profitable enterprises. Many entrepreneurs would like to organize such a profitable business in Russia today. And, of course, novice farmers who decide to have ostriches have many questions regarding the rules for keeping and breeding a finicky exotic bird.
For example, how often do ostriches lay eggs? How to collect, store and incubate them? Look for the answer to these and other questions in our article.
What farms earn
Ostrich-growing farms organize several sources of income at once. In addition to excursions to the farm, entrepreneurs organize the sale of:
- meat;
- ostrich skin;
- fat
- feathers;
- eggs.
Ostrich meat, like chicken, is considered a dietary product. It contains low cholesterol and is very popular among consumers. Now ostrich meat has bypassed the popularity of beef and pork - its excellent taste and ease of cooking has captivated many housewives. The ostrich skin, which has a unique texture, is handed over to farmers in factories for tailoring clothes and shoes. Products from it are soft, pleasant to the touch, comfortable to wear.
Fat is sold to pharmacological and cosmetic companies. Ostrich feathers are used mainly for decorative purposes. Since they also have dielectric properties, they are often used to clean dust on electrical appliances.
Ostrich eggs
Farmers earn quite worthy money on poultry meat, fat and skin. Ostriches grow very large, the weight of an adult can reach 160 kg with a growth of 2 m. However, ostriches also produce another product that can bring excellent income to the farmer. Birds live 50-70 years, and most of their lives (about 40 years) they are able to carry eggs, whose weight sometimes reaches 1.5 kg. So the answer to the question of how many ostrich eggs a year and for his life is of interest to many beginning entrepreneurs, we will talk about this a little later.
Farmers leave some of the eggs for incubation, since the ostrich population, if they also breed for selling meat, fat and skin, periodically needs to be replenished with young individuals.
Some of the eggs of ostriches farmers put on sale. In Russia, these products are mainly interested in expensive restaurants offering exotic dishes to their customers. In Europe, ostrich eggs are often used in baking bread, rolls or in the manufacture of confectionery.
How often do ostriches lay eggs?
How much can a farmer earn by selling eggs, and how quickly does a herd of ostriches replenish? Females of this exotic bird usually rush at the age of two years. At the same time, male ostriches of puberty reach only four years old. This is the period for the farmer to wait in order for the selected male producer to be able to fertilize the eggs.
Exotic giant birds rush in a different way from chickens and other domestic birds. The question of how many ostriches carry eggs per month, for example, may be somewhat incorrect. Oviposition in them, unlike chickens, goes in cycles of 30-40 days. In the year of such productive periods, female ostriches have about three. Using certain care technologies, farmers achieve 4-5 cycles per year.
During the productive period, female ostriches lay their eggs usually in a day, most often in the afternoon. That is, the answer to the question about how many eggs an ostrich carries, the answer is as follows: 15-20 pieces per cycle and about 60-100 pieces per year.
What you need to know
To create special conditions for oviposition in the winter for the ostriches in the winter, as farmers with chickens do, unfortunately, is useless. The ostriches' productive season begins in March, and ends in October, that is, in winter, even in a very warm and bright shed, farmers should not expect eggs from an exotic heat-loving bird.
How ostriches rush
So, how often ostriches lay eggs, we found out. But what conditions should be created on a poultry farm to increase productivity? As with chickens, farmers install nests in aviaries and ostriches. Equip them most often in the most secluded corner. Like chickens, females of ostriches do not choose and do not protect “personal” space. Several giant laying hens can lay eggs in the same nest at once.
They guard the common clutch of female ostriches in turn. At night they are usually replaced by males. In one nest, a bird usually has 20-25 hatched eggs.
How to pick up eggs?
How many eggs an ostrich carries per day, we found out. In a cycle for two days, a giant bird lays an average of one egg. It costs quite a lot in the market, and therefore you must handle eggs laid by ostriches very carefully and correctly. The collection, storage and transportation of the most valuable product is a responsible procedure. The loss of even a few ostrich eggs can result in significant losses for the economy.
Each egg should be taken away for storage immediately after it has been laid. That is, you need to constantly check the nests in the room reserved for the bird or in the street aviary. Farmers breeding ostriches have noticed that frequent egg pickling stimulates female ostriches to continue laying: in this way, the bird subconsciously tries to make up for the loss of “offspring”.
The answer to the question of how many times an ostrich carries eggs per cycle is 15-20 pieces, so the farmer will have to look into the nests of the birds more often.
Ostrich eggs need to be taken right away, but hens themselves should not be disturbed during the procedure. If the female has already done her “work”, but has not yet left the nest, it is not worth approaching her. It is advisable to collect ostrich eggs without attracting the attention of a bird. The habits of males of these giant representatives of the fauna also include the protection of masonry, so ostriches will have to distract something before picking the eggs. Otherwise, the farmer may be seriously injured by an angry bird.
Before picking eggs, the farmer should wash his hands with soap and prepare a container in which he will lay eggs. When picking ostrich eggs, in no case should you make any sudden movements. Put eggs in a basket as carefully as possible so as not to break a precious product.
What to do after collection
How often ostriches lay eggs, we learned. Take the clutch on time, store the eggs with all the precautions. After collection, each egg is inspected for cracks. A defective item should be set aside and eaten as soon as possible. Contaminated eggs are gently washed and dried. Such a simple procedure has its own subtleties: ostrich eggs can be washed only with warm water, the temperature of which is approximately +40 ° . In no case can you use cold water, otherwise ostrich eggs will start to “wrinkle”, which will cause pathogenic microflora to penetrate through the shell, which will kill the nestling bird or infect it with an infection.
In the water for washing eggs, you need to add a little iodine or bleach. Soiled contaminants must first be soaked. It is strictly forbidden to scrape them, for example, with a knife, otherwise you can damage the outer layer of the shell, which will also cause microorganisms to infect protein, yolk, and, as a result, soon spoilage of the product.
How to store
It is impossible to store ostrich eggs, such as chicken eggs, in an ordinary cool room. A valuable product is stored (especially if it is intended for incubation) should at a certain humidity and temperature. The optimal indicators are considered:
- temperature +15 ... + 18 ° ;
- humidity - 40%.
To store ostrich eggs, if they are intended for sale, can be no more than 40 days. At the same time, they should be turned over daily.
How to incubate properly
When ostriches begin to lay eggs, we found out above in the article. For incubation, farmers collect eggs only from young laying hens no younger than 2-3 years old, provided that they are fertilized by mature males older than 4-5 years old. In the event that the eggs are intended for incubation, they can be stored no more than 7-10 days. Of course, to remove ostriches artificially, special equipment should be purchased.
Under the condition of continuous laying of eggs in a special incubator, the optimum temperature for embryo development will be +36 ... + 36.5 ° . The humidity should be equal to:
- for eggs of African ostrich - 20-35%;
- nandu - 23-35%;
- emu - 32-44%.
Immediately when laying eggs, the temperature in the incubator is raised to +37.2 ° C. Then the temperature is gradually, over about 5 days, slowly reduced to the required +36 ° C. At the end of the incubation, the temperature is reduced to an indicator that is 2 ° C higher than the ambient temperature.