Points to be observed during the stages of Production and its relation to Nutrition and ANUPAM feeds:
There are many problems that face the breeder and might be confused as feed problems while there are other reasons like:
Preparing Male Ostriches and Females before the Production Season:
01.Males should be separated from the Females during the rest period that might reach up to 3 months (June- July- August) while offering a keeper feed O-0415 all through that period.
02. Mixing males and females 3-4 weeks before the mating season by letting the males come to the females and not the opposite ( at rate of 2 female per male) while offering layer feed O-0617
Egg Process:
01. Preparing Shallow Holes one meter diameter (egg nests) with coarse sand mat for females to get used to before laying the eggs.
02. Collecting the eggs promptly to avoid breakage and soil, and numbering the eggs to know its source.
03. Egg Collecting Containers should be plastic clean and disinfected. Under no circumstances the egg should be handled with dirty ungloved hands or be put close together. This is to avoid breakage and contamination.
04. Eggs are then transferred from the stalls to the cleaning rooms, while taking every precaution not to crash eggs together or shake the container. This is achieved by putting the eggs separated in vertical position in transfer boxes.
05. Disinfecting and Cleaning the eggs within two hours of laying. To minimize the number of germs that might penetrate the egg during storage or incubation, as it might reach the squabs and cause their illness or death.
06. The water and disinfectants ( phenol and ammonium composites) should be higher in temperature than the room temperature (43-52 degree centigrade). The egg should be swept with a dry soft cloth with concentration on dirty areas, then it should be soaked or sprayed with the disinfectant for half a minute, and then it should be left to air dry so that the pores would not be clogged and the fetus be able to breathe. This process should be applied on clean eggs first and then the less clean and so on. After that the eggs should be extruded with (35 gm of potassium permanganate + 50 cubic cm of formalin) for each cubic meter of air for 20 minutes.
07. The egg should be stored in incubation baskets inside clean disinfected rooms for no more than a week. So that the yolk would sink. The room temperature should be between 13-18 degree centigrade and the humidity should be between 70 to 75 %. The rooms for egg keeping should be high and adjacent to the incubators.
The Incubator and Hatchery:
01. There should be utmost care to keep the area and tools clean and disinfected. The hatching room should be cleaned and disinfected after each batch of eggs.
02. When the eggs are transferred to the incubation room, it should be left to get accustomed to the temperature for 12-18 hours in a room temperature between (22-25 degrees centigrade). The incubation room temperature should be between (36-36.5 degrees centigrade) and humidity around 20-28%. When the egg is big and its shell is hard, the water content increases, and therefore, needs less humidity (around 22%) and more heat (more than 36.5 degrees) in order to be able to extract more water during the first 40 days. For this reason, eggs of the same size should have the same incubation place. An average egg size is between (1400 gm- 1700 gm) less than that is light egg that needs higher humidity level, while the eggs weight more than the above is considered heavy and, therefore, needs low humidity level.
03. Turning the eggs every three hours (4 times/day for the same face) 45 degrees in both sides vertically.
04. Good air and less Carbon Dioxide inside the room is one of the major reasons for increasing hatching percentage.
05. Performing light examination to check the fertilized egg at 15-20 days age from the starting incubation date.
06. The egg is transferred from the incubator to the hatchery on the 39th or 40th day from day one of incubation. The egg should be handled carefully without bumping or shaking. It also should be place vertically the same way as in the incubator.
07. The temperature of the hatchery should be on degree less than the incubator (35-35.5 degrees centigrade). Humidity should be more than that at the incubator to help facilitate hatching and lessening the hardness of the shell. It should be between 30-40% and no more, as it might lead to smothering of the squabs.
08. The squabs, sometimes, should be helped to hatch. This should be done with extra care (without hurting the squabs or touching the umbilicus by hand) and after 42 days of incubation.
09. The squab should be kept at the hatchery for 24 hours until it dries completely and the umbilical cord falls off. The area of the umbilicus should be disinfected before and after transferring the squabs to outside the hatchery.
10. After the hatchery, squabs are transferred to the nursery and left 3-5 days without food or drink until the yolk bag is absorbed. The umbilicus should be disinfected 2-3 times daily to avoid infections and Salmonella.
Problems related to hatching and its relation to nutrition:
01. Premature Death: This happens as a result of delay in collecting the eggs, its storage for long periods under unsuitable circumstances, wrong position of the egg inside the incubator, the unbalanced feed of the mother ostrich or the vaporizing with formalin during the first three days of the incubation period.
02. Death of Squab in Mid Age: This happens as a result of improper nutrition of the mothers, improper airing of the incubator, the eggs being bumped inside the incubator or for illness reasons.
03. The Death of the Squab at a Late Age: This happens as a result of improper nutrition of the mothers too, improper airing of the incubator, the temperature variations inside the incubator or for illness reasons.
04. The Squab’s Inability to Hatch the Egg on its own: This is due to the squab’s feeble condition (his being ill because of incubator or hatchery problems) or it may be due to the hardness of the shell as a result of unbalanced feed of the mothers.
05. Premature Hatching of the Squabs (on or before the 40th day): This is due to high temperature or low humidity for long periods inside the incubators. This occurs usually in small size eggs.
06. Delayed Hatching of the Squabs (on the 43rd day): This is due to low temperature of high humidity for long periods inside the incubator. This occurs usually in big size eggs. Improper nutrition of the mothers has a role in this case.
07. Sick Squabs: This is due to high humidity for long periods inside the incubator, the big size of the egg, illnesses, the hardness of the shell, improper nutrition of the mothers and bad airing of the incubator.
08. Widely Separated and Slipping Legs: This is due to hereditary reasons, slippery floors of the hatchery or the nursery, and improper nutrition and imbalanced Calcium and phosphorus level in the feed.
2. HAF Specifications
| Pre-Starter | Starter | Growth | Finisher | Breeding | |
| Protein | 22.0 | 18.0 | 16.25 | 13.75 | 13.4 |
| Fat | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 3.0 |
| Calcium | 1.2-1.5 | 1.2-1.5 | 1.3-1.52 | 0.9-1.8 | 2.4-2.5 |
| Phosphor | 0.65 | 0.65 | 0.70 | 0.70 | 0.87 |
| Fibre | 10.0 | 13.5 | 13.0 | 18.0 | 17.3 |