What do ostriches eat at home and in natural conditions. In natural habitat

Breeding and rearing ostriches - profitable business which is gaining popularity in last years. But for breeders who are just starting to breed these birds, the question of feeding the bird often arises. It seems to many that this exotic bird eats something special and expensive. In fact, caring for ostriches, keeping them and feeding them is not much different from keeping any other birds: ducks, geese, turkeys, chickens.

The diet of ostriches

Ostriches are omnivorous birds, not herbivores, as many people think. They eat equally well vegetable food and food of animal origin.

The basis of nutrition consists of grass and leaves, various seeds and roots. However favorite treat adult birds - insects and reptiles. There is little difference between what ostriches eat in natural environment habitat and at home.

Under natural conditions

Ostriches are inhabitants of the spacious savannas. In open spacious areas, they eat greens and young shoots. Grass is the basis of the diet. The bird can go without water for a long time, therefore, for nesting, it chooses an arid semi-desert, where there is a lower chance of meeting predators. In desert areas, they feed on seeds, roots and branches of shrubs. The lack of fresh grass is compensated by insects, small reptiles and even mice. An adult bird needs about 4 kg of feed per day. This amount of food is necessary for fast and long running and active energy exchange.

In a home environment

At home, feed this large and strong bird is not difficult, but proper nutrition is essential for the health and well-being of the bird. With sufficient and balanced food, young animals grow well and quickly, and females become more productive. The taste of meat and eggs also depends on what the ostriches eat. There are several bird feeding systems:

1. intensive,
2. semi-intensive,
3. Extensive.

Feeding with an intensive system

The intensive system consists in the lack of pasture and the maintenance of birds in small enclosures. With this system of housing and feeding, it is extremely important to provide the birds with the right amount of hay and green fodder. A daily adult requires about three kilograms of compound feed mixed with finely chopped green fodder. If the bird has not eaten food, the amount is reduced. Green fodder should consist of herbs, spinach leaves, rapeseed and alfalfa. Outside of the breeding season, it is recommended to give corn-based feed mixtures.

With an intensive feeding system, the composition and amount of feed depends on the age of the bird:

Semi-intensive feeding system

The semi-intensive rearing and feeding system involves free grazing in the warm season and feeding with concentrated feeds and mixtures.

An important role is played by the creation of conditions close to natural and the ability to find food on their own. Breeding stock in December and January receives an additional kilogram of concentrates, and by March the amount of concentrated feed increases to three kilograms. All concentrates are given only together with chopped green fodder.

Extensive feeding system

An extensive feeding system involves minimal feed costs - in summer months Birds find their own food.

An exception can only be arid or excessive rainy summer. Concentrated feeds are given to birds only in winter time and in small quantities.

Regardless of the chosen feeding system, it is worth remembering that at home, the energy consumption of birds is much lower than in nature, which means they also need less food. On average, an ostrich needs about three kilograms of food per day. The protein balance throughout the year is well replenished with lupins, legumes or cake. Feeding of adult birds occurs once a day - more often in the morning.

in winter important role vitamin supplements play - grass flour, silage, vegetables, fruits and root crops. Vegetables and root crops must be thoroughly washed and finely chopped. Ostriches are very fond of cabbage, as well as carrots, apples, pears, fodder beets. Some birds feast on zucchini, lettuce, watermelons and melons. They can also be given crackers and fresh bread. Do not feed ostriches with potatoes and parsley. Substances contained in them lead to problems with digestion and death of young animals.

A separate feeder should always have shell rock, fine gravel or pebbles.

Drinkers should be installed in enclosures and pastures. Ostriches can go without water for a long time, but it is better to organize a good watering place for the birds.

Many breeders prefer to install automatic drinkers - they keep the water fresh and clean.

The diet of ostriches during breeding

During the breeding season, males and females require different diets. Females need more calcium, which is actively involved in the formation of eggs. It is better not to give calcium to males during this period - it reduces reproductive functions. Increase nutrients in the diet of males threatens with obesity and the inability to fertilize the female. Breeders prefer to feed males and females separately during the period - this reduces the risk of problems with malnutrition birds. Males are recommended to be kept in an adjacent enclosure, releasing to the female for several hours for mating. However, you should first make sure that the female is full and remove the remnants of food from the feeder.

Feeding ostriches

Separately, it is worth considering the issue of feeding ostriches. Proper organization nutrition and living conditions not only affect their growth and development, but also survival in general.

The first four days of life, the chicks do not need food - nutrition occurs due to the resorption of the yolk sac, which is almost half the weight of the newborn.

Subsequently, it is important to ensure that the feeders of the young animals are constantly filled with food. All food for chicks should be of high quality and fresh, especially wet mash. The mixer is made from concentrated feed with the addition of alfalfa leaves. Alfalfa stalks are best removed - they lead to digestive problems. In addition to the mash, young animals are given a chopped boiled chicken egg.

Ostriches can be put in a separate feeder sand with small pebbles, crushed shells, pieces of lime, as well as finely chopped carrots and apples. In the enclosure where the chicks are kept, you can organize a sand embankment. Young growth not only willingly takes sand baths, but also digs in the sand in search of pebbles, shell rock, pebbles and even insects. Shell rock, limestone and shells not only ensure good digestion, but also play an important role in the process of skeletal formation. Monthly, the ostrich grows by 30-35 cm, so the strength of the skeletal system is extremely important.

If necessary, vitamins can be added to the water. In the first months of life, it is recommended to give B vitamins to young animals at the rate of five grams per chick. Under natural conditions, the chicks peck at the dung of their parents, getting from it the nutrients necessary for digestion and development. immune system microorganisms. At home, the breeder decides for himself whether or not to give manure to the chicks. Minus - the possibility of infection of young animals with worms. Plus - less digestive problems in the future.

The first walks in good weather can be organized as early as three weeks of age.

And chicks should be transferred to enclosures no earlier than when they reach three months of age. The aviary for young birds should be separated from the pens for adult birds and have shelter from wind, rain and sun. Be sure to have drinkers. In rainy weather, ostriches need additional heating - heaters are installed in poultry houses for this purpose. Wet feathers threaten hypothermia and disease.

With the advent of winter, the number of walking is reduced. In frosty weather, as well as during icy conditions, it is better not to release the chicks. In the cold season, the chicks are fed with forb meadow hay, alfalfa, and concentrates. It is better to separate young animals intended for fattening and slaughter, and breeding young animals. During fattening, birds are advised to give more concentrates and feed, as well as vegetables and root crops.

At ostriches reach fighting weight at the age of 9-11 months with a weight of about 120 kilograms.

Further fattening is unprofitable - although ostriches continue to gain weight, the taste of meat is significantly deteriorating.

The African ostrich is the largest living bird, reaching 2.7 meters in height and weighing 160 kg. Ostriches are herbivores and feed on grass in pastures, shrubs, and tree shoots. Often eat insects and small vertebrates. Ostriches have very sharp eyesight and good hearing. Ostriches are excellent runners, in case of danger they can run at speeds up to 70 km/h. In battle, they are quite brave and as rivals are dangerous. The two-toed ostrich paws are a reliable weapon. One centimeter human body when you kick an ostrich, you have a force of 50 kg. African ostriches live on average up to 60-70 years. Females are productive for 25-30 years, males up to 40 years. In nature, ostriches live in groups - one male with several females.

Breeding

For breeding in households, the largest among other types of ostriches, the African black ostrich, is most suitable.

The African black ostrich is a cross between a South African and a North African. The growth of an adult male can reach 2.7 m, body weight - up to 150 kg, females - 2 m and 120 kg, respectively.

Ostriches are considered long-lived, as they can live up to 80 years. However, the reproductive function of these birds persists only up to 40 years.

While African black ostriches begin egg-laying at the age of four in their natural habitat, at home it starts much earlier - from 2 years. If under natural conditions the female usually lays 12-18 eggs, then in the household she can bring from 40 to 110 eggs. The average weight of one egg is 1400-1900 g. Depending on the weight of the egg, the incubation period ranges from 42 to 45 days.

A feature of breeding ostriches is that the female and male take turns incubating eggs: the female - during the day, and the male - at night. It turns out that if one female brings 60 eggs, then up to 40 chicks can be hatched, the live weight of which can exceed 100 kg per year of cultivation. Thus, the total amount of meat in live weight will exceed 4 tons, which is not capable of any farm animal.

cultivation

It is recommended not to feed or drink during the first 6-8 days, so that the body absorbs the residual yolk and excess moisture from the muscles. Ostrich chicks endure this very easily. During this period (the first week), the chicks should be kept in a room with heating lamps, protected from drafts.

In nature, ostriches first peck at the manure of their parents, as a result of which they receive microorganisms that help the digestion of plant fiber in the intestines and contribute to the development of the immune system of a growing bird organism. They begin to feed the ostrich cubs with chopped alfalfa, which contains a lot of protein. Stimulation of feeding, especially when previously unknown food appears, is carried out with the help of older chicks, which eat food on their own.

Chicks, imitating the elders, are accustomed to food. Granular feed can first be poured onto the floor, and when the chicks are accustomed to eating from the floor, the feed is poured into the feeders. You can also use hard-boiled eggs to train them to eat.

You can not keep chicks on a sandy surface. Ostriches that have reached the age of three months can be kept in pens with canopies over feeders and heaters. They are included in rainy weather to dry the young. Ostriches grown without adult birds can be grazed in meadows and fields sown with perennial grasses throughout the warm period of the year. In this case, the ostriches quickly get used to the attendants and follow him in unison. Of herbs, they prefer clover and alfalfa. In winter, they are fed, like adult birds, with hay from grass mixtures.

At present, three varieties of the African ostrich, differing in the color of the neck, have become widespread in practical breeding. The first variety has a black neck (the so-called black African ostrich), ostriches of the second variety have a pink neck, and the third one has a blue one. African ostrich at home contain a fairly long period of time. Experience shows that these birds are quite smart, obedient and adapt surprisingly easily to new living conditions. Black African ostriches are the largest of the running birds and they make up the bulk of the world's farmed ostrich population.

Young black African ostrich are hatched in an incubator on the 42-45th day, usually without outside help. The chick has a mass of about 1 kg. Approximately 5 hours after leaving the egg, the body temperature of the ostrich cubs stabilizes at 38.6 C and they can be transferred to a heated room. It is desirable to equip the latter with electric or gas brooders, under which the temperature is maintained at 32-33 C, while in the room it can be 24-25 C. In the first weeks, ostriches are kept on a wooden or concrete floor with a planting density of 0.25-1, 0 sq. m floor area per head. At the same time, there should be no more than 40 ostriches in the group. From the age of three days, if the air temperature is not lower than 18 degrees, the ostriches are taken out for some time to the yard, to an area fenced with a solid fence measuring at least 4x10 m. This is necessary so that the ostriches can move freely and develop the joints and muscles of the legs. For this purpose, water and food are placed at opposite ends of the site.

After three weeks and up to 6 months, the area in the room for each ostrich gradually increases from 2 to 10 square meters. m. From the age of 6 months, a grown bird needs at least 10 square meters indoors or under a canopy. m area per head. In addition, ostriches must use outdoor pens, which increase in size with age. The height of the fences (board or metal mesh) is 1.5-2.0 m, the optimal area of ​​the pens is at least 5 m2 for each ostrich aged up to 2 months, at the age of 3 to 6 months it increases from 10 to 30 m square, older individuals require 50 square meters. It is desirable that corrals be arranged on grass crops with their subsequent rotation. Shrubs and trees can be planted along the plots designated for paddocks.

What to feed

When breeding ostriches at home, much attention is paid to their nutrition. So, for example, with normal food, young animals grow and develop well, females increase productivity. Today, the best food for African birds throughout the year is alfalfa. In winter, it is given in the form of hay, in summer - fresh with the addition of compound feed. They give at the rate of 1.5 kilograms per adult.

Allocate intensive, semi-intensive, normalized and extensive feeding system. Alfalfa, grass and compound feed form the basis of the latter type of feeding. With intensive or semi-intensive, grains, legumes, mineral and vitamin feeds are added to the greens. Their number depends on the productivity of the bird.

It is worth noting that these ostrich feeding programs are still very conditional and developed on the principle of analogy with other poultry. But, as practice shows, there is a place of its existence. However, you should definitely take into account the place of residence of the African bird, its living conditions, use, age and weight.

AT summer time Most of the time, ostriches should spend on pasture, on pasture. Once a day, they add 1.5 kilograms of compound feed to special feeders. If the bird needs proteins, it is given lupins, soybeans, meal and cake. Amino acids are added for their better assimilation. For growing young animals, it is necessary to add additionally to the feed minerals. These are, for example, chalk, bone meal, eggshell, crushed shell. You can also give bran.

As vitamin supplements, especially in winter, ostriches are recommended to give grass flour, alfalfa hay, and silage. Let's take a closer look at all the feeds:

green - grass, leaves, vegetables;
cereals - oats, barley, soybeans, corn;
protein feed - cake, meal, bone meal, baker's yeast;
hay - alfalfa, forbs, soybeans, silage;

It is important to feed the birds in the right way. For example, grain should be given in the form of turf, proteins in the form of flour, vegetables and root crops should be thoroughly chopped. In separate feeders, ostriches should be filled with small pebbles or gravel. For ostriches, there is a different diet, they do not even begin to feed them immediately, but only 6-8 days after hatching. But read about it in our next publications.

There are more and more farms that breed large African ostriches. Huge birds live, with exotic meat and large delicious eggs and in private farms. Before you get ostriches, you need to know what they eat: their usual diet, which directly depends on the structure of the body and the features that distinguish their digestive system.

The ostrich is an exotic bird and needs a special diet

How the structure of a bird affects its diet

Ostriches have a special digestive system - differently than any other poultry.

1. They do not have a goiter, so they are able to digest roughage quickly, which explains the appearance of the following differences.
2. Having a strong stomach.
3. The elongation of the back of the intestine, due to which birds receive a large number of fiber and remove a lot of coarse plant fibers from the microflora.

Many experts are convinced that the ostrich is a herbivore and only eats grass, but this is not true. They are omnivorous birds, equally consuming a variety of plant and animal feed. If the birds see that there is a lot of green food, then they feed mainly on herbs, leaves, seeds, roots.

Small insects become their delicacy, they also eat reptiles.

Ostriches pick up from the ground and eat whatever they like

Ostriches in their natural habitat

The habitat of large birds is African savannah with its long plains, which are full of fresh greenery and leaves of young shoots, which are excellent food for ostriches. Many different herbivores graze there. The diet of ostriches in the wild is pasture.

Due to the ability to do without drinking for a long time, birds often nest in semi-arid desert areas, where they feed on various seeds, roots and branches growing on shrubs.

The scarce greenery is replaced by small insects, reptiles and rodents. An adult ostrich needs to eat up to 4 kg of food per day in order to be able to run for a long time and expend a large amount of energy.

A wild ostrich eats 4 kg of food per day

The diet of ostriches living on a farm or in a private household

In winter, their diet consists of hay, to which various concentrated feeds and cereals are added. The owners give the birds cabbage leaves, beet tops, diversify the diet with root crops - beets and carrots, apples and zucchini. Picky birds eat table waste.

Beet tops are suitable for feeding ostriches

Tips for farmers and private traders involved in breeding ostriches

For breeding ostriches, you need to pay a lot of attention to feed. By providing young birds with a normal diet, you can be sure of their good growth and proper development, as well as the productivity of females. It is best to feed the African giants with alfalfa, which is served to them in the form of hay in the winter, and fresh, with compound feed in the summer months. One adult is given one and a half kilograms per day.

There are several feeding systems

1. Intensive, in which the greens are supplemented with cereals and legumes, mineral and vitamin feed in quantities that are associated with the productivity of birds.
2. Semi intense.
3. Normalized.
4. Extensive, the basis of which is the nutrition of alfalfa, grass and feed that the ostrich eats.

The methods described above are conditional. They were developed, taking into account the principle of analogy with other types of poultry. It also takes into account:

• Location of a farm or private household.
• Conditions for keeping birds.
• How they are used.
• What age have you reached.
• How much do they weigh.

The diet of an ostrich depends on climate zone in which the farm is located

Feeding ostriches at home

Summer

Birds spend most of their time on pastures, eating pasture. Every day they must eat from special feeders one and a half kilograms of compound feed. To replenish proteins in the body, birds are supplemented by adding lupine, soybeans, meal and cake to the feed, which are better absorbed along with amino acids consumed in the form of crushed chalk and shells, bone meal, egg shells, bran.

In the autumn-winter period

Vitamin supplements are needed, included in the winter diet of poultry, which are grass meal, alfalfa hay and silage.

Included in bird feed

• Green fodder, consisting of grass, leaves and vegetables.
• Cereals - oats, barley, soybeans, corn cobs.
• Protein feed contained in cake, meal, bone meal, baker's yeast.
• Seine - dried alfalfa, forbs, soybeans, silage.

Soy is an important part of the ostrich diet

What you need to know about feeding ostriches

The main condition rapid growth and good productivity of birds is rational feeding:

• Cereals are served in the form of derti.
• The bird eats squirrels in a carefully crushed state - flour with vegetables and root crops.
• Small pebbles and gravel are poured into a separate feeder.
• Drinking water must be clean and fresh.

An ostrich should receive nutrition that can improve its health, increase fattening speed, and increase productivity.

Features of feeding chicks

With improper distribution of feeding, ostriches can grow up with disproportionate limbs, becoming crooked and unable to fully live. On the first walk, the chicks are allowed to drink water and food, which is a mixture of small, crushed up to 1 cm, pieces of alfalfa or clover leaves, and protein feed.

In order for the body to receive protein, chickens are added to the diet of cottage cheese with a boiled egg.

For chicks 1-3 months old, 12% fiber and 18% protein are added to the feed. In addition to these additives, the chick nibbles green grass in the warm season and eats flour with silage in autumn- winter period. For good digestion, small stones are needed to help grind food. Three-week-old babies should be given stones to eat so that they do not die by eating tough greens.

Ostriches are exotic birds, we don't know much about them yet. However, there are more and more ostrich farms, we are increasingly seeing these birds even in the vastness of our country. Who knows, maybe someday they will live in our every yard, like the usual chickens? Therefore, it would certainly be useful to learn more about ostriches. For example, about how their digestive system works and what do ostriches eat in nature and on the farm?

The ostrich is the largest flightless bird on the ground. Due to the fact that the giant has a flat sternum without a keel, it cannot fly, but thanks to its strong and large legs, the bird is an excellent runner. The feathered giant is considered a completely herbivorous creature, but it is known that he will not refuse animal food, for example, from bugs or small amphibians. However, his entire digestive system is adapted to successfully process coarse plant fiber. This speaks in favor of the fact that birds were still herbivores throughout their evolutionary development.

Home hallmark digestive system ostrich is the absence of a goiter and a significantly elongated intestine, especially their long caecum.

It is there that indigestible fiber is sufficiently decomposed and gives all its beneficial substances. In addition, ostriches also lack gallbladder. And the stomach of a bird is a very powerful and thick-walled muscular organ.

The role of goiter in an ostrich is performed by the so-called proventriculus, it is in it that food is pre-accumulated. In the stomach of a bird, you can find sand and small pebbles, due to which the grinding, grinding and chemical breakdown of food occurs. Next, the food moves to small intestine, which in a medium-sized bird is more than 5 m. And the rectum, which is the final organ of the digestive system, is more than 8 m and ends in a cloaca.

What do giant birds eat in nature?

Before thinking about the diet of an African guest at home, it’s good to know what ostriches eat in their usual environment, in nature. Ostriches live in not very fertile places on Earth - in the savannas and prairies. Not always greenery and shrubs grow there in abundance, which form the basis of the diet of feathered giants. Therefore, ostriches often need to work hard to get green food for themselves.

Helps them survive in arid zones unique ability- birds can long time go without water. If there is very little greenery, feathered giants feed on roots, twigs, seeds. They do not disdain small bugs, rodents and reptiles.

In addition to the main food, birds swallow small pebbles, they help them digest food. On a day like this big bird like an ostrich, and it takes a lot of food - about 4 kg. Therefore, they spend almost the whole day searching for and absorbing food.

How to feed an ostrich on the farm?

What do ostriches eat at home? This issue has not yet been fully studied, often the diet for them is made up, focusing on the needs of other poultry. The diet of ostriches, as a rule, contains a green type of food, grain and protein. In winter, greens are replaced by hay or grass meal.

It is best absorbed by the ostrich organism and carries maximum benefit alfalfa. Therefore, they try to feed birds with it all year round: in fresh summer, in winter in the form of hay.

In summer, feeding at home is much easier. Birds must spend much of their time grazing and most of their food is for themselves. Of course, everything is not limited to this, and ostriches are “finished fed” with grain or compound feed. Any grain suits them: wheat, corn, barley, oats - all this is eaten with pleasure.

If you are interested in intensive fattening, it is a good idea to add nutritious legumes to the diet, such as peas, soybeans, beans or meal. Ostriches eat almost all grass, clover, nettle, dandelions are especially useful. Vegetables are also suitable for feeding at home: cabbage, beets, carrots - you can give it in its pure form, or you can rub it and mix it into the feed. And the video below will clearly demonstrate the love of African birds for white cabbage!

Particular attention is paid to the fattening of young animals, in addition to everything that is present in the diet of "adults", babies are given mineral supplements and top dressing. Basically, chalk, bone or fish meal, fish fat, which are given to chickens, are also suitable for ostriches. However, all this begins to give no earlier than 3-4 days of life, because only at this age the ostriches begin to feed, before that they feed on the residual yolk.

Due to the fact that ostriches feed very well on inexpensive feed with a high fiber content, their feed conversion is 2 times higher than that of chickens. Therefore, growing them at home is quite profitable, although not yet quite typical for us.

Video "Guests from Africa on grazing"

Many farmers who keep and breed different kinds poultry, argue that keeping ostriches in the household is no more difficult than chickens or ducks. After all, each of the breeds has its own characteristics. breed this exotic look can be used for several purposes: to obtain delicious meat, beautiful feathers and eggs.

Most biologists classify birds as herbivores, however, in fact, they can easily be classified as omnivores. They perfectly eat both plant and animal food. With an abundance of greenery around, the basis of the diet of birds is grass, leaves of shrubs, seeds and roots of some savannah plants. African birds are also not averse to feasting on small insects and even reptiles. In drought, they can easily do without water.

What to feed at home

We suggest starting to consider the composition of the diet and nutritional characteristics of ostriches with.

Newly hatched ostrich chicks do not immediately need to be fed at all. This is due to the fact that they feed from the yolk sac, which is located in the umbilical cord for the first few days. AT wild nature they first peck at the manure of adults, thanks to which they receive a set of microorganisms in their intestines, which further help them in the breakdown and digestion of plant fiber in the intestines, and also contribute to the development of the baby's immune system. Feed ostriches begin with chopped alfalfa, which contains a lot of easily digestible protein.

Experts recommend making a slide of sand or shell rock in the form of a powder in an aviary with chicks. This will help improve the digestive processes in young animals. Also, the feed must be enriched with B vitamins and biotin. These elements are important for the proper formation of a healthy musculoskeletal system.

There are three ways to grow adult ostriches in three ways: intensive, semi-intensive and extensive. The first method is inherently very similar to the content of a large cattle in the stall. The extensive system is based on the placement of exotic birds in conditions very similar to their natural habitat. The semi-intensive method is a compromise between the two methods described above. In each of the cases, their own nutritional characteristics of ostriches are revealed.

Nutrition of an ostrich with an intensive keeping system

When the birds are constantly in the limited space of the aviary, they should be provided with a sufficient amount of hay and green fodder. They should be given mixed with a grain-based meal. One can eat up to 3 kg of this assortment per day.

The basis of the daily diet should be saturated, juicy feed on chopped grass. The ideal solution here would be rapeseed, alfalfa or herbs. Do not forget to leave coarse river sand or fine expanded clay for ostriches in the open.

When the female is preparing for, the intensity of feeding should be increased for the entire period of "motherhood". If you suddenly make adjustments to your existing diet or change the content in food necessary elements(fats, proteins, carbohydrates, and others), the ostrich may stop laying eggs.

What to feed in an extensive housing system

The cost of food with this method is the lowest: the bird itself is looking for food. To implement an extensive housing system, it is necessary to fence off a sufficient area of ​​unplowed field where ostriches will graze like other livestock. The disadvantage of this system is that success and efficiency depend on climate, terrain and weather variability. In the event of a drought or, conversely, the onset of prolonged rains, the pasture may be unsuitable for walking and feeding ostriches.

Feeding in semi-intensive housing

This is a combination of walking an ostrich in the field and subcorking it with specialized feed mixtures. The ideal option here is to design and try to create conditions for ostriches close to their natural habitat. However, it is very important that they are engaged in the extraction of their livelihood in sufficient quantities.

How to cook your own food

The basis of the diet of ostriches consists of approximately the same components as any other poultry: compound feed, alfalfa, vitamins, shell rock. Alfalfa can be used both in the form of hay and green mass.

Also, crushed corn, millet and wheat, soybeans, fishmeal, yeast can become ingredients for ostrich feed.

In winter, ostriches feed mainly on dried grass mixtures (hay). For example, the composition may be as follows: meadow fescue, meadow bluegrass, meadow clover (red) and creeping (white), fodder sainfoin and sowing seradella. In the table below, we consider the need for feed for ostriches during the year.

Contraindications

The diet of ostriches contained in should be made so that their body weight is close to ideal. Birds should not be fed to obesity - if ostriches are actively gaining weight, it is necessary to cut the number of cereal crops, replacing them with green succulent feed or hay. If the birds are exhausted, you need to increase the amount of cereal food, as well as animal feed. In addition, it is necessary to ensure that the birds move enough - this factor affects both their weight and taste qualities meat.