Chinese scientific name: ostrich
Latin scientific name: Struthio camelus
Realm: animal kingdom
Phylum: Chordata phylum
Subphylum: Vertebrate subphylum
Class: Birds
Subclass: Today Bird Subclass
Order: Ostrich.
Family: Ostrich
Genus: ostrich
Species: ostrich
Distribution: Desert areas and grasslands in eastern Africa from Senegal to Ethiopia.
English name: Ostrich
Pinyin: Tuo Niao
Appearance characteristics
Ostrich's head is small, wide and flat, and its neck is long and flexible. The exposed head, neck and legs are usually pale pink. Beak is straight and short, and the tip is oblate; Eyes are big, inherit the characteristics of birds, and their eyesight is also good, with thick black eyelashes (Eyfyusfr). China ancient Guo Yigong's Guang Zhi, "Gong Daque in the country of rest. The goose has camel's hoof, pale color, and its head is seven or eight feet high, its wings are outstretched, and it eats barley. Its eggs are like urns, so it is called ostrich. " "Biography of Tuhuoluo in the Book of Tang Dynasty" "Tuhuoluo, a big bird presented in the first year of Yongzheng, is seven feet high, black, and is a camel-like, flapping its wings and walking for 300 miles a day. It can smash iron, which is commonly called ostrich."
Ostrich's hind limbs are very thick, with only two toes (toes III and IV), which is different from ordinary birds with three to four toes, and is the bird with the least number of toes. The inner toe (toe III) is large and has hard claws, while the outer toe has no claws. The hind legs are strong and powerful. Besides sprinting, they can also be kicked forward to attack. The wing is quite big, but it can't fly, mainly because the sternum is flat, there is no keel protrusion, the clavicle is degraded, and the feather hair is evenly distributed, and there is no distinction between feather area and bare area, and the feather is fluffy and underdeveloped.
The black-haired ostrich is a male ostrich, which lacks differentiation and has no small hooks on its feathers, so it does not form feathers. Obviously, the main function of such feathers is to keep warm.
The mature male bird (Adult cock) is1.75 ~ 2.75m in height and 60 ~160kg in weight. Male adult birds are mostly black, and the feathers at the end of wings and tail feathers are white and beautifully wavy; White wings and tail feathers set off black feathers, which makes the male bird stand out in the daytime. Its wings and feather colors are mainly used for courtship.
Female birds are small, and their wings degenerate. The function of wing feathers is mainly to balance their bodies. In cold seasons, wing feathers are used to cover featherless thighs to keep their body temperature and to courtship and estrus during mating. Adult birds also often use wing feathers to protect young birds and eggs in their nests. The coat color of females (Hens) is roughly similar to that of males, but the coat color is not as bright as that of males. Chicks' feathers are mottled with brown and gray, and they have to molt several times before they can reach the feather color of adults at the age of two. This coat color is mainly for camouflage. The chicks of both sexes look very similar, even the young ostriches have little difference. So far, it is still impossible to distinguish between males and females from their appearance, only from their sexual organs. The pelvis of ostrich is closed,
Atlas ostriches (18) left and right pubis B. form healing in the midline. It is worth noting that ostrich urinates and excretes feces separately, which is different from other birds. The sex organs of ostriches are very small before maturity; Male ostriches have mating devices. In mating season, the testicles of mature males are the size of a man's fist, but they will shrink in non-breeding period and will not expand until the next breeding season. The egg is large and looks like a duck's egg. It is15 ~ 20 cm long and weighs1400 g. It is the largest bird's egg, and its shell is very hard and can bear the weight of a person. The female bird is grayish brown, and the male bird has white feathers on its wings and tail.
Male birds can be as high as 2.5 meters, and the maximum weight can reach 155 kilograms. Female birds are small, and their wings degenerate. The function of wing feathers is mainly to balance their bodies. In cold seasons, wing feathers are used to cover the featherless thighs to keep their body temperature and to courtship and estrus during mating. Adult birds also often use wing feathers to protect young birds and eggs in their nests. An ostrich is a walking bird with a flat chest. Therefore, the sternum and keel process are underdeveloped. The head proportion is small, the brain weighs about 40 grams, the neck length is about 90 centimeters, the leg length is about 1 meter, and the foot has two toes, which evolved from the third toe and the fourth toe. It is the only two-toed bird in the world at present. The male bird is black and the tail feather is white, which is a very valuable decorative feather.
The feathers on the wings are significantly different from the hard wings of other flying birds. They are insulated. And claws on it. Strong legs are featherless, stand on two toes, and the big one is like a hoof. This is the unique adaptability of ostriches, which run fast in order to cope with sudden danger. Ostrich's huge eyeball, with thick black eyelashes, is the largest eyeball in land creatures, and only whale's eyeball is bigger than it. Ostrich has good eyesight. One eyeball weighs 60 grams, and it can see things 3 to 5 kilometers away clearly. Its instantaneous membrane (third eyelid) has the function of stopping sand and protecting eyes.
Adult male birds have obvious black and white feathers, pure white wing feathers and tail feathers, and blue-gray or peach-red skin is exposed in the sparse thin feathers on the neck. Most male birds have a circle of white hair on the lower edge of the naked hair on the neck, and the scales on the upper mouth shell, the front edges of the legs and the back of the two toes will appear peach-red. The male bird is larger than the female bird, with a height of about 200 to 250 cm, a maximum of 270 cm and a weight of about 100 to 150 kg. Adult female birds have mostly grayish brown feathers, and their mouths and legs are not pink. The female bird is slightly smaller, with a height of about 175 to 190 cm and a weight of about 100 kg.
The young bird's feathers are prickly light yellow soft hair, the top of the hair is black, and the neck has black spots. After 3 months old, the feathers need to be changed many times, and the color of male feathers will not appear until 1 1 month old.
life habit
Behavioral characteristics
Ostrich is a gregarious, diurnal walking bird, adapted to life in desert wasteland, sensitive in smell and hearing, and good at running. When running, ostrich can help by flapping its wings, with a speed of 70km/h and a jump of 3.5m in one step. In order to collect food that is scarce and scattered in the desert, ostriches are quite efficient eaters, thanks to their open pace, long and flexible necks and accurate pecking. When an ostrich pecks, it first gathers food above the esophagus to form a ball, and then slowly swallows it through the neck esophagus. Because ostriches have to keep their heads down when pecking, they are easily attacked by predators, so they have to look around from time to time when looking for food.
Ostriches often live in groups of 5-50, often accompanied by herbivores. Ostriches use powerful legs (only two toes, and the main toe is almost a hoof) to escape the enemy. When frightened, the speed can reach 65 kilometers per hour. Male ostriches will divide their spheres of influence during the breeding season. When other males approach, they will use their wings to drive them away and shout loudly. Their calls are loud and deep.
food source
Atlas of ostriches (20 pictures) Ostrich has a wide range of nutrients, such as grass, leaves, seeds, twigs, succulent plants, roots, flowers with stems, fruits, etc., and also eats lizards, snakes, young birds, small mammals and some insects, which are omnivorous. The ostriches raised artificially in the park are fed with synthetic feed. When eating, ostriches always deliberately eat some sand grains, because ostriches have poor digestion ability. Eating some sand grains can help grind food and promote digestion without hurting the spleen and stomach.
Breeding mode
Because ostriches have many advantages mentioned above, such as rough feeding tolerance and strong adaptability, they are in line with the national industrial policy of developing "grain-saving" herbivores and have received strong support from the state. Zhiyan Data Research Center shows that there are a large number of sandy wasteland and non-arable land unsuitable for cultivation in China, and forage resources are very rich, which has broad prospects for developing ostrich farming, which will play an important role in adjusting agricultural production structure and people's food structure, improving agricultural economic benefits and prospering rural economy. The state attaches great importance to ostrich breeding and development, and has many policies to support it, such as exemption from income tax. Ostrich breeding industry started late in China and has great potential for development.
According to the characteristics of birds in different places, ornithologists have found that the world can be divided into six geographical regions, each region has unique birds, and the birds in the same region are generally similar, which is the result of evolution and adaptation to the environment, among which ostriches are distributed in Isopia and Africa. Of Africa and America.
Ostriches are widely distributed in dry areas with low rainfall in Africa. During the Cenozoic and Tertiary, ostriches were widely distributed in Europe. Not only ostrich eggs but also leg bones were found in Zhoukoudian, a famous Peking man's birthplace in China. In modern times, it was distributed in Africa, Syria and Arabia, but now the ostriches in Syria and Arabia have disappeared. Their distribution is from the Sahara desert to the whole Africa, while Australia introduced them in1862 ~1869, forming new habitats in the southeast.
Ostrich ostrich breeding time varies from region to region. In North Africa and East Africa, most of them nest in the dry season (July to January). During the breeding period, males often occupy territory by flaunting their wings and shaking their necks. Only those males who can defend their territory can mate with females. The male bird rubs out many shallow pits in its territory. During the breeding period, ostriches have many females. A male ostrich often mates with five females, but the male ostrich maintains an imprecise single pairing relationship with one of them. The female bird will find one of the caves to lay eggs, usually one every two days, and * * * can lay as many as10 ~ 20 eggs in a few days. About six or more females will lay eggs in the same cave, but they are not responsible for hatching eggs. There are as few as 30 eggs in a nest, and as many as 50-60 in Marseilles. Male birds hatch eggs at night, while female birds do it during the day. The incubation temperature is about 96.8 ~ 97.6 ℉. Incubation temperature is 36.90℃, humidity is 25 ~ 35 RH%, and incubation period is 40 ~ 42 days.
Taking care of other individuals' eggs in this way is relatively easy to be eliminated in evolution, but among other kinds of birds, some are really willing to take care of them like ostriches. It seems that the main reason for this feature is that eggs are large and easy to attract natural enemies. Although ostrich eggs are the largest among all birds, they are also the smallest among all birds in proportion to their bodies, so an ostrich can cover a large number of eggs. The male-female ratio of the hatched ostriches is about 1 male pair 1.4 females, and the ostrich nests are easily destroyed by natural enemies, which means that many females have no nests to lay eggs. Obviously, it is beneficial to have other places for them to lay eggs. For Major hen, it is also a good thing to have extra eggs in its nest, because its own eggs can be protected from being destroyed; Usually, if there are more eggs in the nest than Major hen can cover, it can identify its own eggs and roll other extra eggs around the nest to be destroyed.
Comparing ostrich eggs with eggs, there are many predators in the desert who like to steal ostrich eggs, so the nests guarded by birds are easy to be visited by natural enemies. For example, Egyptian vultures will throw stones at eggs to break egg shells up to 2mm thick; Even if the eggs are guarded by birds, there are natural enemies such as hyenas and wolves, so less than 10% of the eggs will hatch during the three-week spawning period and the incubation period of about six weeks.
The ostrich lays open the soil with its feet in the depression of the ground, and presses its body into a nest on the soil, with a diameter of up to 3m.
Young birds are early adult birds, which are raised by both males and females. Several nests of young birds often form a large group, which is guarded by one or two adult birds, but only about 15% of them can grow to be one year old. At this time, they have grown to adult height. Female birds reach sexual maturity in two years, while male birds are later, about three to four years, and their life span is about 25 to 40 years.
Growth stage
Young stage
The chick period is from birth to 12 weeks old. In this period, the nutritional level is slightly higher than that of chickens, and at the same time, inorganic salts, especially additives such as calcium, phosphorus, trace elements and multivitamins, are added. Green feed should be easily digested and absorbed by fresh and tender grass and vegetable leaves, and each animal should be given green feed 1.2- 1.5 kg and concentrated feed 1- 1.5 kg per day.
growing period
The growth period refers to the growth stage from 13 weeks old to the prenatal period. The weight increased from 40-60 kg to 100 kg. At this time, the young birds were mainly raised by outdoor grazing. The conversion of young materials into breeding materials should be carried out step by step, and 2/3 young materials should be used in the first week or two after the temperature of 3 months old, and 1/3 breeding materials should be added; In the third week, use 1/3 chick feed and add 2/3 breeding feed; It was not until the fourth week, that is, at the age of 4 months that all the materials were used. At this time, each feed is given about 1.5-2.5 kg of concentrate daily, of which forage powder can account for 10%-20%, and green feed is given an average of 2.5-3.5 kg or even 5 kg per day, depending on the weight increase or decrease.
Laying period
The daily activities of artificially raised ostriches during the laying period are more regular. Therefore, it should be fed regularly and quantitatively according to its life law. Every morning at dawn, ostriches run around the side net on the playground, and after running 15-20 minutes, they mate and feed. So the first feeding time is 6:30-7:30 in the morning. Feed it four times a day, and the interval between each feeding is as equal as possible. The feeding order can be coarse before fine, or the fine feed can be mixed with green feed to feed together. The feed amount of concentrated feed is generally controlled at about 1.5 kg each to prevent the egg production from decreasing or stopping production due to over-fertilization.
mature period
Female ostriches reach sexual maturity at 24-30 months old, while male ostriches reach sexual maturity at 36 months old. Before sexual maturity, they are raised in large groups, with 20-30 animals in each group, and their spouses are grouped 1 month before laying eggs. Generally, 4 animals (1 male and 3 females) are a feeding unit. Grouping work is usually carried out in the evening. First, female ostriches are introduced into the aviary, and then male birds are introduced, which can reduce the rejection between males and females and between populations.
Main population
There are six strains of ostriches that can be distinguished because of their geographical isolation:
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Protection level
It is listed in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
Historical evolution
Pan Qingchi's Chinese painting "Waiting" Academy Award Instructor: The ancestor of Zhang Youxian ostrich is also a flying bird, and its appearance today is closely related to its living environment. Ostrich is a primitive remnant bird, which represents an evolutionary direction in which animals gradually develop to be tall and good at running in the open grassland and desert environment. At the same time, the flight ability gradually weakened until it was lost. The running ability of African ostrich is amazing. Its toes tend to decrease because it is suitable for running. It is the only bird with two toes in the world, and its outer toes are small and its inner toes are particularly developed. It can jump 2.5m in the air, leap 8m in one step, and sprint at a speed of over 70km per hour. At the same time, the stout legs are also the main defensive weapons of African ostriches, and the main natural enemies are cheetahs.
Derivative value
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egg
Management atlas
Atlas of ostrich eggs (8 sheets)
The ostrich egg is generally 15cm long, 8cm wide and weighs up to 1.5kg, which is equivalent to 30 eggs. It is the largest egg in the world at present. One ostrich egg for 24 people. The eggshell is thick and hard, and the intact ostrich egg can bear the weight of 90kg without breaking. The nutrition in ostrich eggs is extremely high, containing 22.54g tnt, 80mg gold and 4.03mg silver per 100 grams. After cooking, the protein is crystal clear, the taste is smooth and elastic, and the ice cream made of ostrich eggs is also very delicious. Eggshell is a rare natural material of handicrafts, which can be carved or painted into various exquisite and noble decorative handicrafts. Natural calcium carbonate rich in ostrich eggshells is easy to be absorbed by human body.
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feather
The feathers of ostrich adult birds, especially the white feather at the end of wings, are elegant and gorgeous, and can be made into gorgeous feather ornaments. In the upper class of Europe, ostrich feathers have long been used as headdresses, or sewn on dresses as decorative items, and the feather decoration of musical girls in Las Vegas, USA also uses ostrich feathers. Ostrich feathers have no static electricity, and their anti-static characteristics have been applied in the factories of computers and electronic products. In addition, when the chicks reach the age of 12 months, the young feathers can be processed into warm-keeping products, such as feather clothes and sleeping bags.
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skin
Ostrich skin is soft, but its toughness is five times stronger than that of cowhide, and it has the advantages of rubbing resistance and no crack. Moreover, ostrich skin is edible because it is rich in collagen, but the unit price is too high. Because it is rich in high-quality collagen, it can replace pig skin as the raw material of collagen cosmetics. Ostrich leather products are light, soft, breathable, flexible, beautiful, durable and rich in feel, and can be used as manufacturing materials for boots, shoes, belts, coats, handbags, briefcases, decorations and valuable furniture.
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meat
Atlas ostrich artistic image (5) ostrich meat is rich in nutrition, has a very high nutritional value, and its quality is better than beef. Outstanding features are five highs and three lows: low fat, low cholesterol, low calorie, high iron, high calcium, high selenium, high zinc and high protein; Can reduce the occurrence of cardiovascular diseases and cancer. In addition, ostriches have no epidemic situation, and ostrich meat has become an internationally recognized green health food. The cholesterol content per 100 grams of ostrich meat is 6 1 of beef and 8 1 of chicken. The fat content is 3 1 of beef and 6 1 of chicken. The calcium content is three times that of beef and seven times that of chicken. The iron content is five times that of beef and seven times that of chicken. The zinc content is three times that of beef and six times that of chicken. Ostrich meat can be eaten not only by Han people, but also by people who believe in Islam.
Introduction to aquaculture
livestock breeding
In fact, in terms of wild ostriches, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Sudan are much more than South Africa, but in terms of the history of raising ostriches and the ability to make money with ostriches, South Africans are the only ones. South Africans began to raise ostriches in 1826. At first, the number of ostriches was very small. Later, due to the popularity of western royal aristocrats wearing clothes made of ostrich feathers, ostriches were worth a hundred times. An adult ostrich can only produce 1 kg of feathers a year, and the simplest ostrich shawl needs at least 15kg of feathers, so South African farmers have raised ostriches one after another. By 19 13 years, the number of ostriches actually exceeded1000000. However, after World War I, the European royal family gradually declined, the demand for ostrich hair decreased greatly, and ostrich operators changed careers one after another. Some clever farmers left the best varieties of ostriches, waiting for new opportunities.
After World War II, the ostrich market began to pick up. South Africans learned their lesson and began to operate ostrich business in many ways. They made ostrich eggshell crafts, and also opened ostrich farms to attract tourists. Many ostrich farmers have also joined forces to form an agricultural consortium, which is responsible for the marketing of ostrich products. In the city of Ozhorn, known as the "ostrich capital", visitors can not only taste ostrich meat and ostrich eggs, but also get addicted to riding ostriches and even participate in the "ostrich riding competition".
Breeding technology
The breeding season of ostriches is from March to September. A few months before the arrival of the breeding season, ostriches should be grouped, such as 1 male 2 females or 1 male L females, to prepare for mating. It is required that birds should not be too fat, otherwise their reproductive ability will be poor.
Ostrich egg
The pen house should be located in a secluded place, and the site should be as large and flat as possible, and edible deciduous trees, shrubs, alfalfa or grass should be planted appropriately. The fence should be strong and 2 meters high. The building area should also be large, with the land surface covered with sand (cement bottom can also be used to prevent rodent damage), and grass should be padded in winter and during breeding. There should be an operation corridor and thermal insulation facilities in the house, and attention should be paid to lighting.
Ostriches begin to lay eggs about 1 week after mating, and generally lay 1 egg every1~ 2 days, mostly at 3: 00 ~ 7: 00 pm. Those who lay high eggs lay 1 egg every 1 day, rest for about l weeks after laying12 ~ 20 eggs, and then start the next egg laying cycle. Some of them lay 40 eggs in succession, which is related to feeding management. The fertilization rate of eggs is 60% ~ 90%.
The daily activities of artificially raised ostriches are more regular. Therefore, it should be fed regularly and quantitatively according to its life law. Every morning at dawn, ostriches run around the side net on the playground, and after running15 ~ 20 minutes, they mate and feed. Therefore, the first feeding time is from 6: 30 am to 7: 30 am. 1 day for 4 times, and the interval of each feeding is as equal as possible. The feeding order can be coarse before fine, or the fine feed can be mixed with green feed to feed together. The feed amount of concentrated feed is generally controlled at about 1.5kg each, so as to prevent the egg production from decreasing or stopping production due to over-fertilization.
The suitable content of crude protein in ostrich compound feed during laying period is 18%, and the metabolic energy is 10.5 mj/kg. Green feed is mainly free to eat. Special attention should be paid to the calcium intake of breeding birds. In addition to giving enough calcium and phosphorus in the feed, a trough for feeding bone meal can be set in the barn, and any ostrich can eat freely.
The eggs laid by ostriches should be collected in time to prevent long exposure in summer and freezing in winter. Handle eggs with care. Recovered eggs should be cleaned immediately to prevent microbial contamination. It is best to use flowing warm water when cleaning. If you wash in a basin, you should change the water after washing 1 egg, and the cleaning time should not exceed 2 ~ 3 minutes, and then naturally dry it without wiping it with a wet cloth. You can use 1% to disinfect Sur. The storage time of eggs should not be too long, not more than 2 weeks at most, and L weeks is the best. When stored for a long time, the temperature should be controlled at13 ~18℃ and the humidity should be 30% ~ 40%. Generally, it is placed on the side, so it is not necessary to turn over the eggs during storage, and the damaged eggs should be removed to prevent cross-contamination.
Protection methods of ostrich laying eggs;
Under natural breeding conditions, ostrich eggs are often contaminated by soil and feces after landing, and the contaminated eggs are inevitably infected by bacteria after multiple procedures such as cleaning and disinfection. During the incubation process, chicks in the eggs often die in the middle and late stages, and even "fried eggs" appear, resulting in the whole box of eggs being infected and scrapped, which brings unnecessary economic losses to the farm. We have made many observations on the hatching eggs, and found that there are many bacterial spots in the contaminated eggs in the middle of hatching, and the temperature of the eggs in the late hatching period is accelerated due to bacterial infection, which leads to the late death. Usually, during the incubation process, it is found that some birds' eggs suddenly lose weight in the later stage, and the chicks dry up and die after dissection, which is a typical bacterial infection. After long-term observation and experiment, the egg catching rate is over 85% in a year, and the hatchling rate is 20% higher than in the past. Now this method is introduced as follows for reference. ?
First, the technician in charge of mastering the ostrich's delivery period should first prepare fumigated plastic bags or clean towels.
2. Inform the breeder to observe the birds in the parturition period. Generally, the male bird helps the female bird to "dig the nest" in the circle about 10 days before the parturition. The female bird often turns around the pit, and her nostrils are red. When the parturition begins, the food intake decreases, especially when the female bird walks back and forth in the circle before delivery. At this time, the breeder should wash her hands with disinfectant, prepare plastic bags or towels, and wait for observation in places where ostriches are not easy to find. (Ostrich usually lays eggs around 2 pm to 7 pm).
3. About 2 minutes before laying eggs, the mother bird will squat down, her mouth will flow with mucus, her wings will flap, and she will make a trembling voice and start laying eggs. At this time, the egg catcher should immediately run lightly, take a towel to pick up the eggs in one hand and lift the bird's tail feather with one hand to prevent the tail feather from being contaminated by the eggs. When catching eggs, people should squat down to prevent the male bird from hitting you.
Four, the eggs are clean and wet, the breeder should send them to the hatching room in time, and the incubator will take over the disinfection and storage. Disinfection can only be carried out after the water on the egg surface is dried. Use plastic bags to pick up eggs in rainy days to prevent rain pollution.
Five, fumigation or storage of birds' eggs should put the end with air chamber up. When a bird lays eggs, the end with an air chamber comes out first. Just pay attention and inform the hatcher when picking eggs. Picking eggs can solve a difficult problem in determining the direction of the air chamber.
Symptoms of fowlpox
At first, a small gray-white nodule occurred in the featherless parts of the head, such as eyelids, corners of the mouth and around the ear holes, which quickly increased to the size of gray-yellow sesame and mung bean. Some nodules were more in number and merged with each other to form a large acne scab. The scab was brown-black and dry, and the surface was rough and uneven. The acne scab was peeled off to reveal a bleeding depression. After the scab skin falls off, it forms a smooth gray-white scar and heals. If the eyelid has acne rash, the eye seam can be completely closed due to the thickening of the skin. If there is bacterial infection, it will appear catarrhal conjunctivitis in the early stage and then a large number of concentrated or fibrin exudates will appear. Acne scabs can also appear in featherless parts such as legs, inner wings and anus, but the lesions are not obvious. Simple skin-type avian pox has mild systemic symptoms, such as depression, poor appetite, elevated body temperature and a course of15 ~ 40 days.