The location of new ostrich farm is very important. Choose a place with high terrain, convenient drainage, sufficient light and good ventilation. Sandy soil or sandy loam is the best soil. Because sandy soil or sandy loam has more pores, good air permeability and water permeability, and small water holding capacity, it will not be too muddy after rain and is easy to keep dry. The site should be able to provide sufficient and clean drinking water. The surrounding environment is also an important factor to be considered in site selection. Ostriches are particularly sensitive to the stimulation of the surrounding environment, and are easily frightened and produce stress reactions. So the surrounding environment of ostrich farms should be quiet. It is best to afforest around the site, so that ostriches can live in an environment close to nature, thus giving full play to their production potential.
Second, the choice of ostrich
The selection of ostrich breeds is the key to farm construction and the most important factor to determine future economic benefits. African ostrich was introduced into China for a short time, and now it is in the stage of population expansion. Due to the complicated introduction sources of domestic enterprises, the introduced ostrich germplasm is very different. Therefore, farmers must be cautious when buying ostriches. We should choose ostriches with pure germplasm and good production performance to lay a good foundation for future development.
Ostriches are generally divided into three types: red-necked ostriches, blue-necked ostriches and domesticated ostriches (domesticated ostriches are often called African black ostriches). African black ostrich has the characteristics of small size, mild temperament, excellent feathers, early sexual maturity and many eggs, and is the main breed raised at present.
Pay attention to pedigree files and blood relationship matching when buying ostriches. The pedigree file records the origin, variety, sex, age, parents and main production performance of ostriches in detail. According to this, we can understand the production performance and consanguinity of ostriches and make reasonable consanguinity matching.
In addition, you should observe the health status of ostriches when buying them. The general observation methods are: 1, behavior observation: ostriches in good health are full of energy, have complex responses to external stimuli and like to live in groups;
2. Observation of body surface health: Healthy ostriches have plump muscles, no bare bones, no disability, and stable and normal gait;
3. Feeding observation: Healthy ostriches have a great appetite. When the breeder walks into the barn, he will take the initiative to meet him and wait for feeding;
4. Observation of feces: Healthy ostriches are dark green, tender, well digested, with large urine output, transparent urine and a small amount of white urate.
Third, ostrich feed supply.
African ostrich is a monogastric herbivorous bird, and its digestive tract is completely different from that of anti-incubating animals and non-incubating animals or poultry. Ostriches have no teeth or crops; Saliva does not contain digestive enzymes. The esophagus leads directly to the glandular stomach, which is very large and can store a lot of food. The digestion of the stomach starts from the glandular stomach. Followed by a muscular stomach, spherical. There are digestive stones in the muscle stomach. In addition, the biggest feature of ostrich digestive tract is that it contains two large caecum and a long colon, which is the condition for ostrich fermentation and digestion. Therefore, the feed absorption and conversion rate of ostrich is the highest species among domestic animals at present.
The concentrate supply in ostrich breeding can be divided into seven stages, namely, young ostrich (0-February), young ostrich (2-April), growing ostrich (4-June), fattening ostrich (6-September), reserve ostrich (9-65438+April) and maintenance period (14-). Different levels of nutrition are needed at different stages, and the feed ratio is also different. But they are mainly herbivores. Ostrich has a wide range of food habits, and can feed on various grasses, tubers and vegetables.
Four, ostrich common diseases and prevention and control
Because ostriches have not been domesticated for a long time and have strong disease resistance, attention should be paid to diseases caused by improper feeding during the feeding process. First of all, we should pay attention to the quality of feed to prevent ostriches from being infected with mold poisoning because of eating moldy food. The quality of ostrich feed is very high, and moldy food and moldy raw materials are harmful to ostriches. Secondly, we should pay attention to the lignification of green feed fiber, because the lignification of green feed is serious, which is easy to cause digestive system diseases of ostriches. Finally, attention should be paid to avoid the possibility of ostrich trauma in the feeding process.