How do ostriches eat

By , more than 1 million ostriches lived on commercial farms throughout the world. Then, overnight, the bottom dropped out of the feather market due, surprisingly, to the invention of the car. Early cars had no roof or windshield, and women passengers found their feathers stripped from hats and blown away.

Ostrich farming continues today on a smaller scale primarily to supply the feather duster industry. Farm-raised ostriches are also harvested for eggs, supple leather, and gourmet meat that is lower in cholesterol than beef.

Today, although not threatened, the ostrich requires strict protection and farming to conserve the remaining populations. The San Diego Zoo Safari Park has been working with the red-necked ostrich in Niger and providing technical expertise and funding to develop and manage a breeding program for the birds to establish secure and self-sustaining populations in that country. By supporting San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, you are our ally in saving and protecting wildlife worldwide. Weight: Female, to pounds 90 to kilograms ; male, to pounds to kilograms.

Weighing in at more than 3 pounds 1, grams , the ostrich egg is the largest egg—in fact, the largest single cell—found on our planet today. Only dinosaurs produced larger eggs. Main menu. Search form Search. Some Threatened. Struthio camelus. One ostrich egg is equivalent to the weight of about 24 chicken eggs. The ostrich is the only bird that has two toes: all other birds have three or four. Two-toed Sloth. While wild ostriches eat a variety of plants, bugs, and small animals, farm-raised ostriches are usually fed a balanced diet of commercially available feeds that mimic what they would naturally eat in the wild.

They do not digest the rocks; instead, they use them to help grind down the various foods they consume in order to make them more easily digested. Over time, the rocks will wear down until they eventually erode away completely.

When this happens, the bird will replace them with more rocks to keep their digestion on track. According to the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, wild ostriches are generally found in dry, warm savannas and various other arid and semi-arid locations throughout Africa. The same article goes on to explain that these birds used to live throughout Asia and the Arabian Peninsula, but since they have become hunted more and more, their populations have been reduced primarily to sub-Saharan Africa.

The location of where they reside has a direct impact on their diet. Ostriches have a diet made up primarily of plant matter. They are fairly selective in their choices, which include:. Although small animals, bugs, and scavenging generally make up the smallest portion of an ostrich diet, it is still an important part of a wild ostrich diet.

Although ostriches are not predators that typically seek out or go after small animals, they will scavenge and eat remains of animals that are left by carnivorous predators. Some examples of small animals and bugs that ostriches may consume include:. On every continent except Antarctica, ostriches are raised commercially for their meat , cosmetic-grade moisturizing oils , and various other byproducts such as pet foods , leather , and eggshells. Ostriches raised for commercial purposes are fed a variety of commercially available feeds, which vary significantly depending on what part of the world the farmed ostriches are raised.

Thanks to their flexible eating habits, as long as their ration contains all the vitamins and minerals their bodies need to thrive during different stages of life , many different types of commercial diets can be appropriate.

Because ostrich farming is not nearly as widespread and does not have anywhere near the historical experience as other farmed livestock, there is a dearth of information about what constitutes the most optimal commercial ration. Certain companies such as American Ostrich Farms , headquartered in Idaho, have invested heavily in developing the optimal balances in the complicated science of feeds for ratites — also known as flightless birds.

Ostriches are completely adapted to savanna, sub-Saharan deserts of Africa and naturally eat green grasses, succulent plants, rodents, insects, etc. In the wild, the major portion of their diet is plants, roots, and grasses. Due to their special ability of digestion, ostriches eat a wide range of food. Groups of ostriches are also sometimes seen grazing various type of grasses. Ostriches, in general, avoid high fibrous items as it can cause swelling in their intestine and further block it completely.

This helps them to catch rodents and snakes and then kill them with their sharp beak. Ostriches also consume sand and small pebbles in large quantities to help them grind their food in the stomach. They simply swallow the bits of meat or plants and the grinding process is done in the gizzard for proper digestion. The stomach acts as a ball mill which can grind up anything using pebbles and sand.

Ostrich is highly adapted to the hot climate of the desert and has a lot of similarities with African camels. Ostriches can go for days without water and generally fulfill their need for water by drinking it from water condensed on plants leaves. For example excess amounts of phosphorus, calcium or protein can cause severe problems.

To help your chicks develop healthy legs and feet, be sure that their pen space has a level floor. Floors that have uneven surfaces can cause problems with splayed legs and toes. Lay old carpet, turned upside down, on the floor of your chick enclosure.

The smooth surface helps develop strong legs and feet. You may need to seal off the edges of the carpet with heat to prevent your chicks from becoming entangled in stray threads.

Just as with all types of livestock, you must provide ostriches with water on a consistent basis. Look for specialized ostrich waterers that allow the birds to access the water as needed but that will not allow the water to splash out onto the soil. If the soil around the water is allowed to become wet, the ostriches will peck at it.

This results in too much intake of dirt and sand which will lead to impaction. Unlike chickens and other common poultry, ostriches do not need to have grit to aid digestion.

You can simply feed them commercially prepared pelleted food for ostriches.