Around 1900, ostrich farming peaked in

Southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the African continent, south of the Congo and Tanzania. The physical location is the large part of Africa to the south of the extensive Congo River basin. Southern Africa is home to a number ...

. The birds were farmed for their feathers and

hides __NOTOC__ Hide or hides may refer to: Common uses * Hide (skin), the cured skin of an animal * Bird hide, a structure for observing birds and other wildlife without causing disturbance * Gamekeeper's hide or hunting hide or hunting blind, a stru ...

. Today that has changed for people have realised that ostrich meat is lean and healthy to eat. In

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and e ...

, farmers catch the wild birds under license or buy

eggs Humans and human ancestors have scavenged and eaten animal eggs for millions of years. Humans in Southeast Asia had domesticated chickens and harvested their eggs for food by 1,500 BCE. The most widely consumed eggs are those of fowl, especial ...

or young birds. Ostriches are becoming more and valuable because each and every part can be used. It is however expensive to rear ostriches on a large scale.

Ostrich Ostriches are large flightless birds of the genus ''Struthio'' in the order Struthioniformes, part of the infra-class Palaeognathae, a diverse group of flightless birds also known as ratites that includes the emus, rheas, and kiwis. There a ...

es are wild birds that occur naturally in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. There are well adapted to the dry conditions of Namibia and can go for long periods without water. Domesticated ostriches are normally smaller than the wild ones.

Reproduction in ostriches

Ostriches are ready to breed when they are two to three years. Females always mature faster than males. The

breeding Breeding is sexual reproduction that produces offspring, usually animals or plants. It can only occur between a male and a female animal or plant. Breeding may refer to: * Animal husbandry, through selected specimens such as dogs, horses, and rab ...

season lasts from winter to mid summer. During this period both male and females display mating dances and behaviours. The females bore and ruffle their wings and the males do complicated dances and make loud booming noises. During mating the male mounts the female and inserts his penis into her cloaca facilitating the passage of sperm into the female. A few days after mating the male digs a hole in the ground for the female to lay her eggs in. The male and female alternate to sit on the eggs with the female doing duty in the day and the male in the night. Some birds can lay up to 100 eggs during the breeding season with an egg being laid every one or two days. During this period the male ostriches become very aggressive protecting both the female and the eggs.

References

* Morrison, K.A. (et al.) (1999). ''Agriculture in Context''. p. 150.

External links

* Animal husbandry Agriculture in Namibia

{{namibia-stub

Reproduction in ostriches

See also

References

External links