Incubation of ostrich eggs

The incubation period for ostrich eggs is 42-43 days. Natural incubation is practically not practiced, while artificial incubation is a common practice. The reproductive success of a flock of ostriches depends on successful incubation, so it is necessary to pay great attention to the process of incubating eggs. Modern ostrich incubators are equipped with a complex of electronic devices that allow automatic adjustment of all necessary parameters with great accuracy, thereby ensuring high efficiency of artificial incubation of eggs. When artificially incubating ostrich eggs, incubators are used that maintain the optimal mode for incubating ostrich eggs, which is a temperature of 36.0-36.4 C.

Incubators and other equipment used for raising ostrich chicks are practically no different from that used for raising any other bird. Artificial incubation of eggs is the only way to obtain high results in the reproductive cycle for breeding. Modern ostrich incubators are equipped with automatic turning mechanisms, which make it possible to regulate such important parameters incubation of eggs such as: air humidity, its temperature, air exchange in the incubator, which in total ensures very effective incubation of ostrich eggs. Despite this, the presence of eggs in the incubator must be constantly monitored. And since the incubation period is 42 - 43 days, on the 40th - 41st day it is advisable to transfer the eggs from the main incubator to a hatcher, or in its absence, you can use a specially equipped room where the required temperature and air humidity must be clearly maintained.

At the end of the incubation period, it is necessary to carefully monitor the eggs so as not to miss the moment when the baby ostrich, having entered the air chamber, begins to peck at the shell. Care during the final period of incubation consists of daily candling of the eggs to detect the penetration of the baby ostrich into the air envelope. The final period of the baby ostrich's stay in the egg includes two important procedures. The first is the penetration of the chicken into the air shell of the egg, and the second is the breaking of the egg shell and exit from it. By candling the egg, you can see whether the chick has penetrated the air envelope or not. If the chick can't break through the air envelope, it will soon suffocate, so candling allows you to see where the chick is at the moment. And since if the chicken is positioned incorrectly, it can also suffocate, in this case human intervention is necessary. If the chicken cannot break the shell on its own within 24-36 hours after penetrating the air envelope, it should also be helped.

At the same time, he may need outside help only in some cases when the chick may die without outside help. At the same time, you should not remove the chick from the shell prematurely, since an infection of the yolk sac may develop in the umbilical area. As a last resort, in such a scenario, the umbilical area of ​​the chick must be generously treated with 7% iodine to disinfect and prevent bleeding, this will reduce the risk of infection to a minimum.

It also happens that a baby ostrich, having entered the air chamber, does not begin to squeak and peck. Then such an egg should be left alone for another day, and only after this, if there is no progress with hatching, you need to use a small hammer to make a small neat hole, the size of a pea, in the shell in the area of ​​the air chamber. Then look in and find out what position the baby ostrich is in there. If its beak is located above its toes, then this position of the body is considered correct, and the baby himself will be able to free himself from the shell and does not need help. If the position of the chick is different, then the hole is slightly enlarged and the position of the baby ostrich is carefully changed, placing the head above the limbs. Hatched ostrich chicks have a supply of food in the yolk sac, which is drawn into the abdominal cavity before they emerge from the egg. It is advisable to place the hatched chicks in a cage with heating lamps (the so-called brooder) for a couple of hours, where they should dry completely.

The young in incubators are hatched together, and the average weight of ostrich chicks is from 900 to 1200 g with a baby height of 20-25 cm. During the first 3-5 days after hatching, ostrich chicks do not need either food or water, since during this period, their body is fed with residual yolk. Chicks tolerate this period quite easily and at this time it is convenient to transport young animals over long distances.

In addition to the freshness and fertilization of eggs, the necessary conditions for incubation are proper transportation, storage, protection from infections, as well as timely turning, temperature conditions, relative humidity and ventilation in the incubator. An important and necessary aspect of incubating ostrich eggs is strict control of the weekly weight loss of eggs throughout the incubation period.

An ostrich cannot always fully hatch her eggs. In such cases, they resort to incubating ostrich eggs, but this must be done according to special scheme. The process itself is complex, since it is necessary to choose the right incubator, maintain optimal temperature, spray it in a timely manner, and arrange lighting in order to obtain well-developed ostrich chicks.

Selecting an incubator

The choice of incubator should be taken very seriously, because the health and survival of the young depends on it. What you should pay attention to when choosing an incubator:

• Manufacturer country. Many models are produced by China, but domestic models will be of higher quality.
• Guarantee. Even the best and most expensive models can break down. If the warranty period has not yet expired and the incubator is broken, it will be repaired free of charge.
• Heating elements. The most durable element is thermal film; it heats the eggs evenly, while spending little energy.
• Egg sizes and turnover. Incubators for ostrich eggs are larger than those for chicken or goose eggs, so it is important to pay attention to the internal dimensions. The size of the incubator for ostrich eggs should be at least 100x70x70 cm. It is better to buy an incubator where turning occurs automatically.
• Thermostat. In order for the chicks to grow up viable and healthy, it is important to maintain the correct temperature regime. Sensors must be selected without error, since it can play a disastrous role in incubation. There are 2 sensor options: manual and automatic, the first option is inexpensive, but the second option is more accurate.
• Humidity regulator. It is better to purchase a model with a psychrometer and an automatic humidity regulator. To save your budget, you can opt for mechanical adjustment.
• Case material. The best material is considered high strength steel or plastic with additional foam insulation. In this case, the heat will be evenly distributed in the incubator, and less energy will be consumed.

An approximate model of an ostrich egg incubator can be seen in the following video:

Selection of eggs for further incubation

For incubation, it is necessary to select fertilized eggs; for this, it is necessary that there be both a female and a male in the flock. But even in such flocks, 25% of all eggs are spoiled, that is, unfertilized.

Oviposition in ostriches begins in April and ends in October; in one cycle, the female is capable of laying 20 eggs. Eggs should be picked up immediately after laying so that incubation qualities do not deteriorate.

They are also divided into two classes: first and second, depending on size. The first class includes large eggs, and the second class includes small ones. The weight of the egg of an African animal should be 1126-1800 grams, and that of an emu 350-750, the shell of the first is white, and the second is dark green.

Below is a table of the hatching egg class:

It is necessary to load eggs with approximately the same mass into the incubator. The best conclusion will be if the bookmark is incomplete.

Features of bookmarking and storage

Before placing eggs in the incubator, you need to make sure that the trays are large enough to accommodate the eggs, either lying down or standing up. The egg is laid either with the blunt end up or lying down. Best time egg laying time is 6 pm.

In an ostrich egg it is almost impossible to distinguish where the blunt end is and where the sharp end is. In this case, an electron lamp or an ovoscope will come to the rescue.

The eggs of these animals are delicate and sensitive, because they do not have a protective film. For this reason, they can quickly and easily acquire pathogenic microorganisms. The pores are open, so before carrying out any manipulations, you need to wash your hands with soap, or even better, wear gloves.

Initially, eggs of the first class are laid in the incubator, and then only of the second.

They should be stored with the blunt end facing up, but if it is difficult to make out where the blunt end is, it is preferable to keep them in a lying position. Can be stored for up to a week before incubation. To avoid spoilage of the product, it should be stored at low temperatures of about 15 degrees Celsius and humidity within 75%. While eggs are stored outside the incubator, they should be turned up to 3 times a day.

Disinfection of eggs and incubator

Before placing it in the incubator, the egg must be disinfected and also washed to remove any dirt. Scrubbing the shell with a hard brush is unacceptable, since this is a direct path to the death of the embryo, because the pores become clogged during the process and the embryo stops receiving air.

You need to wash the egg with a special solution. To prepare it, you should purchase Virkon powder in the store and dissolve 3 grams of the substance in a liter of warm water. Cold water will not work because the air supply to the embryo will decrease and pathogenic microorganisms will get inside the egg.

• When cleaning dirt, you will need a soft brush;
• the resulting solution should have a temperature such that it is 5 degrees warmer than the egg itself (the temperature of the egg can be checked with a tonometer, and if you don’t have one, then simply heat the water until warm);
• after all the dirt has been removed, the egg is well dried on all sides, that is, first it should lie on one side until completely dry, then turn it over to the other side and wait until the egg is completely dry.

It is also important to disinfect the device itself before laying eggs for incubation, because after the previous hatching of the chicks, traces of blood and other dirt may remain. There are many methods of disinfection, let’s look at the most common ones:

• Chloramine solution. This drug can be purchased at any pharmacy and is freely available. 10 tablets are dissolved in a liter of water and shaken. The solution is poured into a spray bottle and sprayed throughout the machine. After a few hours, it is washed off with plain water and ventilated for 24 hours in an open state.
• Formaldehyde fumes. This method uses combustion inside an incubator, resulting in disinfection with smoke.
• Formaldehyde fumes. First, the room is washed with plain warm water, then a solution is prepared from 50 ml of 40% formaldehyde and 35 mg of potassium permanganate. The incubator should be heated to 38 degrees and the prepared solution in a bowl should be placed there for 40 minutes. At the end of the procedure, the incubator is ventilated.
• Ultraviolet radiation. This procedure is also carried out after preliminary cleaning of the device, after which one or more ultraviolet lamps are placed inside and left for 40 minutes to destroy pathogenic microorganisms.

Turning and spraying

During the entire incubation period, you should turn the egg over to the other side 7 times a day with your hands or with a special device purchased in the store. On day 39, the eggs stop turning, but they are transferred to the hatching section and laid lying down.

If the required humidity decreases, then the eggs must be sprinkled with warm water. All objects around the eggs must also be sprayed with water.

Incubation tables

Incubation always occurs differently, it all depends on the materials that were laid, the period of the process, as well as the species (African ostrich or Emu). Modern incubators are equipped with many functions, so you can automatically control the entire process. After all, they can be set to the optimal temperature, air humidity, and even automatic egg turning. The table describes the necessary conditions during different periods of ostrich incubation:

The following table describes the criteria that can be used to produce a healthy baby emu:

When the eggs are in the incubator, they definitely need ventilation, because the embryo will need oxygen during development.

Stages of development and transillumination

When you scan an ostrich egg in an incubator, you can see several stages of its development:

1. A week later (from the day the material was placed in the incubator), a shadow of the allantois is visible in the egg, which lines 20 percent of the surface of the eggshell.
2. In the second week, the shadow can be easily distinguished, because it is larger than it was and already occupies half the surface of the shell. The longer the period, the larger the shadow becomes.
3. On the 24th day from the moment of the process, one sixth of the material is occupied by the air chamber, and one second part by the embryo itself.
4. After day 35, practically nothing is visible, because the embryo is located throughout the egg.

It is recommended that you weigh your eggs daily to monitor whether the egg is losing weight properly. In one day it can lose 0.3% of its total mass, that is, in 7 days it will lose only 2%. If the material loses more weight than expected, then the humidity needs to be increased, but if, on the contrary, the losses are small, then the humidity decreases.

Hatching time

African ostrich chicks are born 40 days after laying the egg in the incubator, and emu chicks are born on the 56th day. The height of a newborn African ostrich is 20 cm, while the weight is from 500 to 900 grams, and the weight of emu ostriches is from 200 to 400 grams. If you follow all the rules, you can get many healthy and strong chicks.

What to do after the chicks are born?

During the first hatchings in the incubator, the humidity should be increased to 30%; if there is little material, then the temperature rises by half a degree, and if there are a lot of eggs, then, on the contrary, it decreases. When the chicks are already breaking the shell, the humidity rises to 60%, this will help the chicks to be born more easily.

A person should not interfere unnecessarily natural process childbirth, especially when he is still in protective film. You can help him only if the chick is lying in the wrong position or cannot hatch on its own. In this case, the person must lengthen the puncture line.

As soon as the baby ostrich hatches, it is placed in a brooder, which is a cage with a tray. The cage has metal rods (grids) and heating trays. They stay there for three hours to warm up and dry out. The baby ostrich must be weighed immediately so that future weight gain can be monitored. Next, the umbilical cord is disinfected - these manipulations should be carried out daily until 3 days are reached.

The first days of life of ostrich chicks

From the first days of birth, ostrich chicks grow by 1 cm per day, until they gain 150-180 cm in the first day, the chick may lose 20% of its total body weight, and this is normal. The fact is that they do not eat complementary foods for several days, but live off the accumulated yolk mass. Starting from day 7, ostrich chicks can already be fed.

The first weeks of life, chicks must be kept in a warm place, be it winter or summer. The barn must have light mode and lamp heating, and any drafts are also unacceptable. At the moment when the birds need to eat nutritious food, they initially feed on their mother’s manure to populate the intestines with beneficial microflora.

Starting from the age of one week, ostrich chicks are given crushed alfalfa leaves, a crushed boiled egg, which is sprinkled on the ground about 8 times a day and knocked on it with a pencil so that the kids can see where it is. Feeders and drinking bowls for babies should be constantly full so that they can come up and eat food and drink water at any time.

Common mistakes made by beginners

Breeding babies using the incubation method requires caution and skill, so beginners often make mistakes, the main ones being:

• Incorrect material because the strength of the shell was not tested before placing the egg. If the shell is not dense, the embryo may die in the first days. A loose and low-quality shell could have resulted from improper feeding of the ostrich; the diet did not contain a sufficient amount of minerals. Read more about proper feeding of ostriches in.
• Incorrect position of the air bag.
• If the egg was underheated or overheated even a little, the embryo may die. If the baby is underheated, the baby may be born, but it still won’t live long.
• If the humidity is below normal, the ostrich chicks will hatch prematurely and die almost immediately.
• Increased humidity is dangerous for the health of babies.
• If there is insufficient ventilation, babies may be born with abnormalities that are incompatible with life.

Possible problems of embryo death

Often, the death of future ostrich chicks occurs for the following reasons:

• Infections. When a fungal or bacterial infection of the egg occurs, the white becomes cloudy and a rotten smell appears. Nodules (raw) are formed, which are dead tissue.
• Genes. This category includes underdevelopment of the nose, organs, and fusion of embryos.
• Dystrophy. This pathology occurs if the parents did not eat properly. Embryos lag behind in development and growth, and they also have poor absorption of nutrients. The yolk is thick, and newborn ostriches are paralyzed.

Incubation of ostrich eggs is becoming popular all over the world, because in this case the bird can continue to lay eggs, and the number of living chicks increases due to proper maintenance in the incubator. It is important to follow all the rules, set the exact temperature, humidity and air exchange. You need to be prepared for the fact that not all chicks can hatch alive and healthy, because there are a number of problems that can cause the embryo to die.

Krasnodar city

One of profitable types activities in agriculture is the incubation of ostrich eggs - as in industrial scale, and at home. With a responsible approach, it is possible to obtain full-fledged and healthy offspring.

The main stages of embryo development during ostrich incubation

When candling ostrich eggs in an incubator, the following stages of their development can be distinguished:

• already closer to the first week, when translucent, a shadow of the allantois is visible in the fertilized egg, approximately 20% over the entire surface of the shell;
• by the second week of the incubation period, this shadow becomes easily distinguishable, it increases significantly and now occupies up to 50% of the surface, every day it becomes larger;
• after 23-24 days, the air chamber is occupied by 1/6 of the ostrich egg, and 50% by the embryo;
• on days 33-34, the embryo occupies almost 2/3 of the total volume of the egg;
• from the 35th day of the incubation period, almost nothing can be seen with X-ray examination, since the entire volume is occupied only by the embryo.

Features of incubators

If you plan to breed ostriches in artificial conditions, then you will need to purchase special incubator models designed for large eggs. Please note that the models offered today modern equipment can be equipped with various functional capabilities, which allows control over the incubation process in automatic mode.

Particular attention should be paid to the temperature indicator, which should be within 36-37 degrees. It is recommended to take temperature readings in the incubator using 2-3 thermometers at the same time.

Thanks to numerous functions, modern incubator models are able to automatically control not only the temperature limit, but also the humidity level, and perform air exchange if necessary. In addition, the equipment may have a function for automatically turning eggs, which greatly facilitates the process of artificially raising ostriches at home. The incubation period lasts 42-43 days. A day before incubation, it is recommended to transfer the eggs to a special cabinet.

Incubation of ostrich eggs

Although ostrich eggs cannot be found on the shelves of regular supermarkets, more and more ostrich farms and private farms are now appearing. The pressing issue in this area is still the technology of incubating ostrich eggs and, in particular, at home.

Incubation of ostrich eggs at home

Hatching ostrich eggs

If it is not possible to build a separate specialized building for the hatchery, you can organize it at home. The main thing is that the room temperature is 13-18°C and the humidity is up to 40%.

The incubator itself can be purchased or made with your own hands. It’s easier to buy a ready-made one - now you can find many models that differ in capacity, degree of automation, body material, country of manufacture and other parameters. The most popular models of incubators for breeding ostriches are:

• REMIL 36-TSU. This model holds 36 eggs and is equipped with automatic climate control and ventilation. The body is made of metal-plastic. This device is considered to be of high quality, but due to its large size and weight, it is intended only for specially equipped rooms.
• INKA-10. This incubator is designed for 10 eggs, equipped with a temperature and humidity regulator. It weighs 54 kg. Excellent for poultry farming at home.

Also on large ostrich farms models BION-1200M, AI-1400 are used, designed for 1200 and 1400 eggs, respectively. They are, of course, not used in households.

You can make your own incubator from the refrigerator body, lamps, trays, thermometer, fan, power supply and thermostat. But if you are not confident in your abilities, it is better to purchase a ready-made device.

Selection of eggs for incubation and storage rules

Only fertilized eggs are taken for incubation. Normal weight is 1200-1800 for African ostriches and 350-700 grams for emus. Typically, more than 80% of specimens pass the selection. They must be picked up immediately after laying and stored very carefully - due to the lack of film, various bacteria and microorganisms can easily get inside. You also need to remember these rules:

• After collecting, the shells must be wiped with a dry cloth and placed in a clean box with the blunt side up.
• The top of the box is covered with film or cotton wool.
• If eggs will be transported outdoors for a long time, it is better to paint the boxes white so that the contents do not overheat.

The most important thing is to clean the shell well. There should be no contamination left.

Bookmark in the incubator

For African ostrich eggs, it does not matter what the location is - vertical or horizontal. It is important to use an ovoscope to find the air sac in order to place it on top. But emu eggs are laid only horizontally.

They need to be turned over 6-7 times a day - this can be done manually or set to automatic mode. It is necessary to spray only if it is not possible to provide the necessary humidity.

Temperature and humidity in the incubator

Temperature and humidity indicators depend on the incubation period. And if the temperature is approximately the same and should be 36-36.5 ° C for African ostriches and 35.5-36 ° C for emu ostriches, then the humidity at the end of the incubation period is much higher than at the beginning.

For African ostriches in the first 38 days it should be 19-23%, during 39-40 this figure sharply increases to 40-44%, and in 41-43 days - 55-65%. For emu, in the first 46 days the humidity should be 24-30%, and from 47 to 51 days - 58-61%.

Ostrich hatching eggs - when to expect ostrich chicks

And here comes our little ostrich

African ostrich chicks hatch on days 40-41 of incubation, emu chicks hatch on days 54-56. The height of an African ostrich should be about 20 cm, its weight should be 500-900 grams, emu ostriches 200-400 grams.

If everything is done correctly, then after the end of the incubation period you will receive healthy chicks. However, people who do not have sufficient experience in breeding ostriches often make the following mistakes: incorrect position of the embryo, incorrect temperature conditions, choosing eggs with a bad shell for incubation.

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Reproduction of ostriches on farms is based mainly on artificial incubation.

Artificial incubation of ostrich eggs has its own characteristics. According to Belgian ostrich breeders, egg weight varies between 1-2.1 kg with an average value of 1.3-1.7 kg. The duration of incubation of eggs weighing 1450-1500 g is on average 42 days with deviations for heavier and lighter ones by 1-2 days.

Also variable is the porosity of the shell, on which the hatchability of eggs significantly depends. This forces during the incubation process to periodically monitor the shrinkage of the eggs (based on their weight) in order to regulate the air humidity in the incubator. It is significant that in ostriches with pink, black or blue necks, the structure of the shell has significant differences, therefore, when incubating eggs, they maintain different levels relative air humidity.

Rice. 9. Comparative sizes of chicken and ostrich eggs

The absolute mass of an African ostrich egg is 1.5 kg, length is 15-19 cm and width is 13-15 cm (Fig. 9). However, relative to the body weight of the female, the weight of the egg is only 1%, which is significantly less than that of other bird species. For comparison: in chickens the relative egg weight is 3.5%, and in quails it is 8%.

The color of the shell of African ostrich eggs varies from white to yellowish-white, its surface is smooth, the pores are of different sizes and shapes. Australian emu eggs weigh on average 600 g, and the shell has a spongy surface; in freshly laid eggs it is light green in color, but darkens over time. The eggs of the South American rhea ostrich are approximately the same in size as those of the emu, with a smooth, bright yellow shell that quickly lightens and becomes white.

The shell parameters of ostrich eggs are impressive. In the African ostrich it weighs on average 222 g and has a thickness of 1.83 mm. The strength of the shell is high: the egg can withstand a load of 55 kg (chicken eggs - up to 3.5 kg).

The ostrich egg shell has branched pores, unlike the single-channel pores of chickens. There are up to 16 pores per 1 cm2 of shell, that is, several times less than that of a chicken egg (150 pores). The largest and smallest pores have dimensions of 0.0420x0.038 and 0.029x0.026 mm, respectively, that is, they are almost circular in shape. The pores in the shell of chicken eggs are usually oval and smaller (0.029x0.022; 0.011x0.009 mm). In ostriches they occupy 0.2% of the shell area, in chickens - 0.02%. In total, there are an average of 10,000 pores on an ostrich egg, with some females showing significant variations. The channel of each pore begins to branch before reaching the surface of the shell; several channels open in its individual recesses.

The shell shells in an ostrich egg are quite thick: the outer thickness is 0.12 mm, the inner one is 0.08 mm, while in a chicken it is 0.06 mm and

0.008 mm. They are tightly connected to the shell, providing it with even greater strength. There is no cuticle on the shell of ostrich eggs.

The permeability of ostrich egg shells to air is higher: at a pressure of 20 mm Hg it is 60 ml per minute per 1 cm2 versus 19.5 ml for chickens. This feature should be taken into account when storing and incubating ostrich eggs.

Currently, farmers use ostrich eggs primarily for reproduction, so most of them are used for incubation. A major problem that farmers face is low egg fertility. Thus, according to the Agricultural Research Center in South Africa, out of every million eggs produced per year, on average, 25% are unfertilized.

Large eggs require lower temperatures and humidity. This will prevent excessive weight loss. So, if two eggs of different size have the same number of pores, then with a 15% loss of mass, the one that previously weighed 1100 g will “lose weight” by 165 g during the incubation period, and the larger one (1800 g) will lose weight by 270 g. This indicates the impossibility of one thing

the incubator to provide appropriate conditions for them. Setting the humidity and temperature in the incubator with a reference to the average mass of eggs, in this case equal to 1450 g, will create an unfavorable regime for all others - very large and small. The former, due to low moisture loss and less heat transfer, will overheat, the latter will dry out more, although they are not in danger of overheating.

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