VMS - Livestock

Ostriches

The Ratite is a class of flightless or running birds, of which the Ostrich is classified.. The Ostrich is a native of Africa and is the largest bird in the world. The birds are being raised today as the hottest investment of the nineties. There is a tremendous demand for the products derived from these birds all over the world. The birds are being raised all over the United States as well as Canada. A good size operation could be established on 10 acres of land, which is far less than most forms of livestock require. An Ostrich has an extended productive life at least 30-35 years with a life span of up to 70 years.

The Ostrich is a unique animal in that it can yield 100 pounds of fat free red meat in a 10 month period using 200 pounds of feed. The gestation period is 42 days. The birds reach their slaughter size in 10-12 months. They reach breeding age in about 2 years. A good breeder may produce 50-100 eggs in a season. Conservatively if only 30 chicks reach 10 months of age, then the production of one pair of breeding birds can yield about 2,800 pounds of lean tender healthy red meat. is there another animal with that production rate?

The Ostrich has been around for thousands of years. Africa has been in commercial production for about one hundred years. The United States Ostrich Industry began about 7-8 years ago.

A few years ago raising Ostrich was practically unheard of, and it was almost impossible to find anything about feeding, hatching, and raising them. We have come a long way, but there is a lot of work to be done to bring this bird full cycle to the point where the turkey is now. As you may recall, the turkey was getting going when we were kids, and we ate turkey twice a year.

We now have the American Ostrich Association which is made up of over 4,000 ranches across the United States and in foreign countries. It's purpose is to promote, service, inform and assist the Ostrich Rancher to fulfill our dream of an alternative livestock that will provide healthy red meat in great quantity for our future.

- Courtesy Elite Ostrich and Emu Ranch, Inc., Jacksonville, FL

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