PIP the Baby Ostrich

 

Born: 8:42am on August 18, 2013

 

Currently weighs 1.110 kilograms (2.447 pounds)

Height: 11 inches tall

 

Pip is very healthy and doing great. She (and by 'she' I mean I don't know the gender) is beginning to drink water. The spoon in the water is shiny and attracts her attention. Ostrich chicks need to be taught to drink water. At first we used a spoon (syringes are hazardous in a chick, too much water and she need to learn how to drink). She will begin eating chick starter in a day or two. She stays warm with the red glow from a heat lamp, the temperature is 90 degrees on the left and 93 degrees on the right with the teddy bear. She does have two toes. The smaller toe is pressed up against her main toe and does not separate much yet. She really responds when we walk in and runs to the side of the box to see us and get some attention. We will stop using gloves soon when she matures enough to eat regular food we will probably stop. She appreciates being held and talked to. Its hard for me to leave her.

 

Fun Facts About Ostrich Eggs

Ostrich eggs are the largest of all eggs, the yolk is the largest single cell that exists today on our planet. Ironically, ostrich eggs are actually the smallest egg relative to the size of the bird (1% of the weight of the ostrich hen). Eggs are incubated by the females by day and the males by night. This uses the coloration of the two sexes to escape detection of the nest, as the drab female blends in with the sand, while the black male is almost undetectable at night.

 

The incubation period is 35 - 45 days. 

 

How BIG is an ostrich egg? For comparison, the smallest bird egg is the hummingbird's, who could fit 4700 eggs into one ostrich egg.1 ostrich egg is equivalent to about 2 dozen chicken eggs. One ostrich egg contains about 2,000 calories. One ostrich egg would take you about 40 minutes to hard boil.

 

Ostrich eggs can weigh 3-5 pounds each. And yes, hens will lay as often as every other day until they lay a clutch. The female ostrich, aka the hen, can lay 40-100 eggs per year, which roughly amounts to one egg every second day from the mid-March till the mid-August. In favorable conditions, the female can remain productive for 25-35 years. Ostriches are known to lay their eggs in a communal pit, with the dominant female laying her eggs first and others following her. After laying her eggs, the dominant female rejects the eggs of some of the weaker members at the time of covering the pit. Even though 2-7 females lay their eggs in a single communal pit, each female can identify her own eggs.

 

Ostriches kick forward instead of backward - it's the direction their legs bend.

 

The life span of an ostrich is approx 40-45 years - considerably long for a bird.