My eggs have hatched
Discussion
Pretty much as per the title, although technically not mine, as the parent birds have sat on these for absolutely ages and done all the hard work.
So in the coming days and weeks, I'll post loads of chick pics and chart their development. But mainly because they're unbelievably cute.
But for now, can anyone guess the bird they came from
First baby pictures will be uploaded tomorrow lunchtime along with pics of proud parents.
So in the coming days and weeks, I'll post loads of chick pics and chart their development. But mainly because they're unbelievably cute.
But for now, can anyone guess the bird they came from
First baby pictures will be uploaded tomorrow lunchtime along with pics of proud parents.Bigger. Much much bigger.
The hen in the foreground has a swollen distended neck after having swallowed half a housebrick.
On the left is Boris, the dad. He's doing a lot of the parental duties at the moment, normally the females just bugger off but the hens are doing their share of parental duties too.
Loads more pics to follow in the coming weeks and months, as they grow up and (hopefully) have chicks of their own.
The hen in the foreground has a swollen distended neck after having swallowed half a housebrick.
On the left is Boris, the dad. He's doing a lot of the parental duties at the moment, normally the females just bugger off but the hens are doing their share of parental duties too.
Loads more pics to follow in the coming weeks and months, as they grow up and (hopefully) have chicks of their own.
Not uncomfortable at all. However, I can't speak for the ostrich
The brick had passed by this morning, they do eat things that are a little too big for them but eventually they enter the digestive tract. I could hear the brick being pounded to oblivion inside her. Ostriches don't have a crop and gizzard, instead it's one giant muscular organ known as a proventriculus, and it grinds everything to absolute buggery. If your keys are swallowed by an ostrich, then unless you can retrieve them within 2-3 minutes, they'll be bent and twisted beyond all recognition. Following them around for a few days is, sadly, futile.
Anyway, it was lashing it down today. The chicks were, as usual, having none of it and decided to seek shelter.....
They sleep under the wings of the male at night. Early mornings, you can see heads poking out from the feathers.
The brick had passed by this morning, they do eat things that are a little too big for them but eventually they enter the digestive tract. I could hear the brick being pounded to oblivion inside her. Ostriches don't have a crop and gizzard, instead it's one giant muscular organ known as a proventriculus, and it grinds everything to absolute buggery. If your keys are swallowed by an ostrich, then unless you can retrieve them within 2-3 minutes, they'll be bent and twisted beyond all recognition. Following them around for a few days is, sadly, futile.
Anyway, it was lashing it down today. The chicks were, as usual, having none of it and decided to seek shelter.....
They sleep under the wings of the male at night. Early mornings, you can see heads poking out from the feathers.
Oh wow they are gorgeous! Please please post more pics as they grow.
I am also interested re: brick question above...and how chilled they are generally? I assume they can have mad moments like anything and i know ostriches can be pretty damn hardcore if they want.....basically tell us more about Ostrich keeping please!
I am also interested re: brick question above...and how chilled they are generally? I assume they can have mad moments like anything and i know ostriches can be pretty damn hardcore if they want.....basically tell us more about Ostrich keeping please!
The brick basically got ground up in to bits inside the bird, once something is swallowed, it doesn't last long. For example, if your car keys are swallowed by an ostrich, they're beyond salvation after a few minutes.
They're growing like little weeds now, doubled in size after 2 weeks.
Boris being a bit of a crazed loon there...
Cute as fluff. I need a reference point to chart their growth, they're already 3 custard tins high.
They're growing like little weeds now, doubled in size after 2 weeks.
Boris being a bit of a crazed loon there...
Cute as fluff. I need a reference point to chart their growth, they're already 3 custard tins high.
A few pics from earlier in the week. We're now at 3 weeks old.
Bumbling about in their field
The bucket is a standard, bog sized 3 gallon bucket. I'll put some size references in the pics if possible but they don't stay still for long.
Monday, I got a pic of them back in the nest. The two eggs there are duff ones, one was rotten the other failed to hatch. The chicks scavenge the nest site for bits of broken shell to eat, as it aids rapid growth and development of the leg bones. In the wild, only 1 in 10 eggs will ever hatch. Some bright spark thought that was a pitiful rate of return, and therefore artificial incubation was better. Chicks hatched in an incubator don't grow to be good breeders though, they're smaller, slower growing, and only good if you want to hatch ostriches for slaughter.
Each chick will eat the broken shells of about 10 eggs in the first 3 months of life. It explains the "pitiful" hatching success of birds in the wild. Frequently, you'll find entire "dead" nests, full of eggs that have just been abandoned. These are frequently raided by the adult birds, so the chicks can eat raw egg and extra shell for growth. They will also lay extra eggs for the chicks to eat. There's method in the madness.
This is the size of the chicks just 2 weeks after hatching. Roughly twice or thrice the size of the original egg.
Heads are up to the rim of the bucket now, which is about 1ft high.
I sexed them on tuesday. The big one is female, the little one is male and the medium sized one is a bloody frisky bugger and protested at having its tail lifted. So I've no idea if that one is male or female.
Wednesday, however, did not go according to plan.
Two very unhappy chicks.
Two parent birds. Woefully scanning the area for the third chick.
I spent an hour searching the two paddocks, but no sign of the 3rd chick. Occasionally they succumb to fox attacks, but seeing the way the adult birds go for the farm dogs, I doubt a fox would survive even a lightning raid. I have seen the remnants of a fox attack, and it isn't pretty. The fox doesn't come out of it - how can I put this delicately - "intact" as per se. But no sign of the chick, and no bits of shredded fox (some times the ostriches will kick off the head of the fox and simply tear the body to shreds with their toenail and stamp on the entrails, so you usually find a leg, or the tail) so it wasn't a fox that took the chick.
I felt pretty s
t to be honest. My gut instinct was everything was going so well, and my gut is never wrong. And once again, my gut instinct was 100% correct.
The fker had escaped and was half a mile away, legging it through a field of corn stubble next to the landing strip. Being a frisky sod, catching her on foot was out of the question so I belted it up the runway as she pegged it in to the woods. According to a few onlookers who were, to some extent, paralytic with laughter, as I entered the woods from the west, she exited from the south, ran back in to the corn stubble and did little pirouettes of victory, twirling and chirping with ecstasy having outwitted a clumsy oaf.
I can heartily recommend the BMW E39 estate for corralling escaped ostriches across fields of corn stubble. The ride is smooth, suspension copes well and is able to reach a speed of 40mph as it sweeps up a kansas tornado of debris in its wake. I'd love to say that's what happened, but in fact it was a sheddy 206 Dturbo sport. That too, is surprisingly agile at 40mph across a field of corn stubble.
Holy fk that bird could run. I swear she was grinning at me as I ushered her back to the bosom of her family.
I'll take a stack of pics tomorrow. I swear to god, though, I could have wrung her scrawny neck.
Bumbling about in their field
The bucket is a standard, bog sized 3 gallon bucket. I'll put some size references in the pics if possible but they don't stay still for long.
Monday, I got a pic of them back in the nest. The two eggs there are duff ones, one was rotten the other failed to hatch. The chicks scavenge the nest site for bits of broken shell to eat, as it aids rapid growth and development of the leg bones. In the wild, only 1 in 10 eggs will ever hatch. Some bright spark thought that was a pitiful rate of return, and therefore artificial incubation was better. Chicks hatched in an incubator don't grow to be good breeders though, they're smaller, slower growing, and only good if you want to hatch ostriches for slaughter.
Each chick will eat the broken shells of about 10 eggs in the first 3 months of life. It explains the "pitiful" hatching success of birds in the wild. Frequently, you'll find entire "dead" nests, full of eggs that have just been abandoned. These are frequently raided by the adult birds, so the chicks can eat raw egg and extra shell for growth. They will also lay extra eggs for the chicks to eat. There's method in the madness.
This is the size of the chicks just 2 weeks after hatching. Roughly twice or thrice the size of the original egg.
Heads are up to the rim of the bucket now, which is about 1ft high.
I sexed them on tuesday. The big one is female, the little one is male and the medium sized one is a bloody frisky bugger and protested at having its tail lifted. So I've no idea if that one is male or female.
Wednesday, however, did not go according to plan.
Two very unhappy chicks.
Two parent birds. Woefully scanning the area for the third chick.
I spent an hour searching the two paddocks, but no sign of the 3rd chick. Occasionally they succumb to fox attacks, but seeing the way the adult birds go for the farm dogs, I doubt a fox would survive even a lightning raid. I have seen the remnants of a fox attack, and it isn't pretty. The fox doesn't come out of it - how can I put this delicately - "intact" as per se. But no sign of the chick, and no bits of shredded fox (some times the ostriches will kick off the head of the fox and simply tear the body to shreds with their toenail and stamp on the entrails, so you usually find a leg, or the tail) so it wasn't a fox that took the chick.
I felt pretty s
t to be honest. My gut instinct was everything was going so well, and my gut is never wrong. And once again, my gut instinct was 100% correct.The f
ker had escaped and was half a mile away, legging it through a field of corn stubble next to the landing strip. Being a frisky sod, catching her on foot was out of the question so I belted it up the runway as she pegged it in to the woods. According to a few onlookers who were, to some extent, paralytic with laughter, as I entered the woods from the west, she exited from the south, ran back in to the corn stubble and did little pirouettes of victory, twirling and chirping with ecstasy having outwitted a clumsy oaf.I can heartily recommend the BMW E39 estate for corralling escaped ostriches across fields of corn stubble. The ride is smooth, suspension copes well and is able to reach a speed of 40mph as it sweeps up a kansas tornado of debris in its wake. I'd love to say that's what happened, but in fact it was a sheddy 206 Dturbo sport. That too, is surprisingly agile at 40mph across a field of corn stubble.
Holy f
k that bird could run. I swear she was grinning at me as I ushered her back to the bosom of her family.I'll take a stack of pics tomorrow. I swear to god, though, I could have wrung her scrawny neck.
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