Ostriches are considered exotic birds for our country, and they can only be found in zoos or on specialized farms. At the same time, breeding ostriches at home is a profitable business in terms of producing meat and eggs. In addition, it requires less expense than raising other domestic animals and poultry.

Although ostriches come from hot countries, they adapt well to the harsher conditions of Russia. So where to start? What conditions are required for breeding and keeping these birds? The following article will answer these and other questions.

How to breed ostriches at home

To start breeding ostriches, you need to equip them with a comfortable room and paddock for keeping them, prepare food in advance and select the right breed.

The main features and rules for breeding these birds at home for beginners will be described below.

Breeding ostriches: where to start

If you decide to breed ostriches at home, you should first of all take care of a suitable room for them. The ideal option would be when a part of the farm adjacent to the pen is allocated for keeping birds (Figure 1).

Note: It is advisable that the room have high ceilings, otherwise the African ostrich may be injured due to its height. These birds are quite unpretentious, so they do not require any special conditions other than a warm, dry floor and high air humidity (not lower than 70%).

Figure 1. Housing and walking area for maintenance

Having decided on the premises, prepare all the necessary documents and obtain permits. You will also need helpers: handymen, watchmen, veterinarian or livestock specialist. Take care to stock up on the necessary feed and equipment. After completing all the preparatory activities, purchase ostriches.

Peculiarities

Ostriches are exotic birds for our country, although recently this business has been considered one of the most promising.

Among the features of ostrich breeding in Russia, the following can be highlighted::

• Smooth floor covered with dry bedding. During the egg-laying period, it is necessary to sprinkle it with sand so that the female ostrich can build a nest in it.
• For young animals you will need a separate room, in which it is possible to maintain the air temperature at +24-25 degrees. In this case, the area of ​​the premises must meet the requirement of 1 sq.m per chick, and after two months these figures increase by 2 times.
• Hatched ostriches after 6 hours they are moved to the pen allocated for them. If they hatch in the warm season, then after 3 days it is recommended to take them outside to a pen. Then you can start feeding the ostrich chicks.

Conditions

The hatched chicks are either kept in a specially designated room or moved to an outdoor pen (Figure 2). It all depends on the time of year and ambient temperature. However, you should know that ostrich chicks are very susceptible to the influence of the outside world. Therefore, wherever they are kept, chicks should be kept separate from adults for 6 months after birth (Figure 3).

Since ostriches grow very quickly, a significant area should be provided for the growing young animals.

Note: If immediately after birth each baby ostrich needs 1 sq.m. area, at two months of age - 2 sq.m., then a pair of six-month-old chicks already need a room (pen) of 12-16 sq.m. It is important to know that the pen for young animals must be adjacent to the premises so that the chicks have the opportunity to quickly hide from danger or bad weather.

For normal development, ostriches also need fresh air. Therefore, walks should be carried out even in frosty weather. It is important to ensure that the walking area is not icy to avoid injury to the birds. Pastures should be fenced, and paths for staff should be laid between individual paddocks.

Figure 2. Features of keeping chicks

Pens for keeping adult birds must be equipped with special canopies so that the birds have the opportunity to shelter under them from bad weather. It is important to maintain the height of the fence of the pen: it must be at least 2 meters. At the same time, the pen itself must be made of reliable material, especially in the upper part. And the corners of the pen should be rounded to prevent possible injury to the birds. Make sure that small animals cannot enter the pen through the fence.

Rules

To get a healthy bird capable of a full life, it is very important to follow the rules when caring for young animals.

Figure 3. Keeping chicks and adults together

The basic requirements for caring for ostrich chicks are:(Figure 4):

1. On the day of the first walk for the ostrich chicks access to food and water is provided. The feed contains finely ground alfalfa with the addition of mixed feed containing 19%-24% protein. Walking is carried out 2 times a day, and its duration is 30 minutes.
2. In addition to the main food for chicks feed boiled eggs and cottage cheese as sources of protein.
3. Chicks aged from 1 to 4 months you need food containing 12% fiber and 18% protein.
4. Babies, just like adults, need access to small stones, which are poured into a separate feeder. The bird uses them to grind food better, since it does not have teeth.
5. If you practice grazing chicks on pasture, remember that the chicks should not go out there hungry, otherwise they may overeat on alfalfa stems, and, accordingly, the death of the young.

Figure 4. Hatching chicks in an incubator

The grass on the pasture should be low and free of dew, since moisture can lead to the emergence of infectious diseases among chickens and their death.

How to breed ostriches at home: video

The easiest way for beginners to learn how to breed ostriches at home is with the help of videos. From it you will learn how to properly arrange a room for ostriches and what features the keeping and feeding of birds has.

Emu ostriches: breeding at home

Breeding ostriches at home has a number of advantages over other representatives of ostriches.

These birds have several key features:

• Easily adaptable;
• They can be kept even on unsuitable lands;
• Undemanding to care;
• They provide several types of products: lean meat, similar to beef; soft and durable skin; fat rich in oleic acid; feathers, used for various purposes, shells and claws, which are raw materials for the jewelry industry and pharmaceuticals.

Peculiarities

Emu breeding includes two directions. Firstly, birds can produce young from laid eggs. Subsequent sale of young individuals is possible for fattening, and adults for slaughter.

Secondly, young animals can be immediately fattened and sent to slaughter as adults.

Basic requirements for raising poultry(Figure 5):

• Large walking space covered with grass and flowers. The pasture must be surrounded by a fence at least 180 cm high. It is not recommended to use thick wire and twigs to protect the bird from injury.
• Correct formation of bird families: there should be at least two females per male. At the same time, ostrich eggs can ripen both in an incubator and in natural conditions, that is, in a nest under a hen.
• High-quality incubation of eggs is carried out alternately by a male and a female for a month and a half. If your goal is to sell eggs, then you should purchase an incubator.

Caring for emu eggs is no different from caring for other poultry eggs. A dozen eggs are enough to maintain the livestock. The rest are either sold or used for food.

Rules

If the goal of emu breeding is to obtain young animals, then for this it is necessary to adhere to certain rules.

Breeding emus to raise young animals is carried out as follows::

1. The room for keeping young animals should be dry and warm with a stable temperature within +30 degrees. In addition, it should be quite spacious, since the chicks grow very quickly and will soon need up to 5 square meters per individual.
2. Separate keeping of young animals and adults is mandatory.
3. In the warm season, the chicks are transferred to summer pens. They must be equipped with special canopies in case of bad weather.

Figure 5. Features of keeping emus

In winter, it is necessary to protect the emu from hypothermia by installing heating devices in the house and insulating the room from the outside.

African ostrich: breeding and care

Recently, ostrich farming has become an increasingly popular branch of agriculture, since keeping this bird does not require special conditions and costs. And yet, you need to know some features and rules for breeding and caring for black African ostriches.

Peculiarities

The components of successful breeding of African ostriches are the correct location of the nest, high-quality care of the young and balanced feeding.

The ostrich nest should be located on well-drained soil under a canopy. Since the female ostrich lays her eggs in sand, it is necessary to change it regularly and ensure that it does not contain large stones to avoid cracks in the eggshells.

Figure 6. Rules for keeping African ostriches depending on age

For the safety of the young, it is important to be able to correctly deliver a newborn, treat the umbilical cord and create optimal conditions for keeping and feeding. You should know that for better absorption of plant food, a special microflora must be present in the chick’s body. In the wild, ostrich chicks receive it from the droppings of their parents, but on farms, in order to avoid helminthic infestation, young animals are kept separately from adult birds. The use of antibiotics for the prevention of diseases is unacceptable, due to the risk of damage to the intestinal microflora, which leads to digestive disorders.

Note: In the first days, the chicks do not need to be fed, as they receive nutrients from the yolk sac. As soon as the chicks learn to stand on their feet and move independently, low, flat feeders should be equipped for them. The basis of the diet is alfalfa, and for chicks it must be thoroughly chopped.

In addition to fresh grass, chicks should also be given protein-rich feed, vitamins, and pieces of vegetables.

In parallel with feeding, you should take care of clean and fresh water. As soon as the chicks learn to peck food, shallow drinking bowls are installed. At first, the chicks should have unlimited access to food and food. Starting from the 3rd week of life, young animals are transferred to a rationed four meals a day in order to control their development. In addition to food and water, there must be containers with fine gravel in the walking pen. Since ostriches do not have teeth, small pebbles contribute to better digestion of food in the bird's stomach.

Walking of young animals should be carried out daily. In warm weather, the chicks are released into an outdoor pen; when the temperature drops, a special aviary with windproof walls or a greenhouse with a removable roof is used (Figure 6).

Rules

To successfully breed African ostriches and produce young animals, it is important to follow some rules.

• Properly form a family of birds. One male needs 2-3 females.
• During the nesting period, it is necessary to ensure that the layer of sand on the floor is dry and clean.
• Since hatched chicks and adults are kept separately, in order to populate the digestive tract with the necessary microflora, it is necessary to pour 2 ml of yogurt or skim milk, diluted 5-10 times, into the mouth of each ostrich, and only after that give food.
• At the initial stage, the feed should be rich in protein, subsequently its content decreases, and the fiber content increases from 6% to 18%.

Feed should be crushed, this contributes to their better palatability and digestibility. For successful incubation it is necessary to dehumidify the air.

Everyone knows that breeding ostriches is a very profitable business. Tasty meat, lush feathers, strong skin and large eggs are an excellent option for making money, because buyers will not keep you waiting. But what needs to be done to become the owner of a profitable ostrich farm?

Before we understand how to make bird breeding a profitable business, let’s try to figure out why ostriches are attractive in general. These “Africans” are very obedient and calm, which makes their keeping on farms quite comfortable (you will learn more about this in the video).

Eggs

Early sexual maturity ensures the rapid production of eggs from females, which begin to lay eggs at the age of one and a half years. It is believed that eggs are very healthy, as they contain many useful substances. By the way, very often this product is offered to the holiday table as a special delicacy, so ostriches raised at home are a profitable business.

Sale of chicks and adults

If bird breeding definitely brings visible results, you can sell the chick or adult bird to an exotic lover. In particular, the price for a baby ostrich can reach up to 100-200 dollars, depending on age, and an adult will cost the farmer 1,000 greenbacks. Two-year-old males are the most expensive: their price reaches $1,200 apiece.

Fat

The buildings

Experts are convinced that division into age groups helps to improve the productivity of birds and their proper development. So, adult individuals should be placed in separate stalls. For a better quality of life, they need at least 10 square meters. m of free territory for one individual. You can see what it looks like in the video.

Young animals need additional insulation, so it is important that their “rooms” are light and warm. At least 6 sq. m per person should be allocated for the growing generation, which is kept at home.

Bird walking

Since ostriches are active creatures, they need to be provided with a free range. A poultry pen is the best option for purposes such as ostrich breeding. Please note that a pair of birds will need about 0.4 hectares with a plot length of at least 40 m.

Sample business plan

1. Usually, young animals are purchased, however, at sexually mature age for the purpose of further breeding birds at home. It is believed that at least 25 families of ostriches are needed for a quick start. One family consists of one male and two females.
2. You will definitely need an incubator where the eggs will be stored. Its capacity should be approximately 75 eggs.
3. Young animals will need a box, so you will also have to buy one.
4. Land and landscaping will be a separate item. You will definitely need to build pens and stalls, as well as spend money on heating and water supply.
5. Of course, the business plan for an ostrich farm will also include feeding. It will take about 400 kg of feed per year to fatten one individual.
6. You will also need to obtain documents that will allow you to engage in this activity.
7. The employees who will work on your farm are another important component that you cannot do without. At a minimum, you will need at least one zoologist and veterinarian - specialists ready to ensure the health of your birds.

Experts believe that in the first year you will have to spend a lot of money, however, after a while, breeding ostriches will certainly pay for itself, and your “wards” will definitely bring you profit.

As a result, your costs will be approximately $17,000. But in the first year you can earn an income of around 10 thousand dollars. For the second - 20 thousand dollars.

Video “Where to start breeding ostriches”

In this video you will learn how to start breeding ostriches.

Breeding ostriches as a business has many advantages, so many are interested in: how to open an ostrich farm? About all the nuances in this material.

Advantages of opening an ostrich farm

Breeding ostriches as a business has many advantages:

1. Very high profitability (if a business plan for breeding ostriches is properly implemented, you can get a lot of income).
2. High demand (poultry meat is a dietary product and has a high protein content, which makes it very popular; droppings, feathers and eggs can be sold separately).
3. Resistance of animals to climate change (ostriches are very unpretentious and are not afraid of temperature changes, they do not require any special nutrition or care, breeding can be done even in cold regions of the country).
4. The ostrich breeding business is accessible even to novice entrepreneurs.

Unfortunately, there are obvious shortcomings in this case:

• a small amount of specialized literature necessary for training;
• high cost of chickens for breeding;
• high cost of eggs for incubators;
• high risk of epidemic among birds;
• at least 3-4 months until the first profit;
• the need for a large plot of land for a farm;
• the need to hire additional staff, including a veterinarian;
• the need to pass a certification commission in the veterinary service.

In order to assess whether it is profitable or not to start a business, you should take into account all the mentioned nuances.

Useful products

An ostrich breeding farm can produce several types of products at once:

1. Feathers – each bird produces up to 0.5 kg of feathers, which are used in optics and applied arts. The cost of a kilogram can reach 10 thousand rubles.
2. Eggs - the special demand for this product is justified not only by its high nutritional value, but also by its large size. On average, one egg weighs about a kilogram, and scrambled eggs from it can feed up to 8 people. They are also used for making souvenirs. The retail price of an egg can reach 1 thousand rubles.
3. Meat - as already mentioned, this product is in demand as a dietary product. The price per kilogram of meat is 750 rubles.
4. Fat - each bird carcass contains up to 8 kg of fat used by cosmetologists.
5. Leather – used to make shoes. Price – from 7 thousand rubles per 1.5 square meters.

You can also earn a small income by conducting excursions to your farm. You practically won’t have to look for clients.

Peculiarities

The greatest benefit can be obtained by selling young ostriches, but in this case there is one global drawback associated with the difficulty of obtaining the necessary permits. In the future, many different checks will follow.

You can do the full breeding cycle - the amount of paperwork is much less. There is another disadvantage - it may take a year to make a profit, since you will have to wait until the ostriches grow to a sufficient mass.

The requirements for animal feed are much weaker than in the case of breeding. You won’t have to do daily cleaning of feathers and pay less attention to the appearance of the animals. The profit in this case is somewhat lower, but more stable, and it is easier to find buyers.

A more detailed business plan for an ostrich farm is available for free at.

Profitability

The cost of one month-old ostrich is 10 thousand rubles. To start a business raising ostriches, you will need about 2 males and 15 females, so it will cost about 170 thousand rubles to purchase the bird.

The costs of maintaining them are low: you will have to spend about 4 thousand rubles on one bird (in total, just under 70 thousand rubles).

During the year, the female brings up to 60 eggs, which is about 900 eggs from the entire farm. They can be sold for about a million rubles. The sale of eggs alone fully pays for the initial investment in purchase and maintenance. You can earn a good profit starting from the second year of operation.

At the same time, the formation of the main poultry population occurs. The total mass is divided into two parts, the first is sent for slaughter, for meat, and the second is the number of young animals. On average the ratio is 3 to 1.

If you do not sell all the eggs, but leave some for incubation, costs are significantly reduced. Let's consider an example when half is left for incubation. In just a year, the livestock on the farm will reach 450 units. Some are sent for breeding and sale, and some are prepared for meat. It makes sense to slaughter a bird when its weight reaches at least 100 kg, which takes about a year.

From 100 kg of weight, about 50 kg of meat is obtained; it can be sold at a price of 500 rubles per kilogram. Thus, up to 25 thousand rubles in profit are obtained from one bird. Thus, ostrich breeding as a business is very highly profitable, as evidenced by numerous reviews.

Feeding

Ostriches are one of the most unpretentious birds in terms of diet. However, this does not mean that you can feed them everything that comes to hand. To achieve maximum effectiveness, you should carefully monitor your diet - it should not only be nutritious, but also balanced. Among the main products we should highlight: fruits and vegetables, hay, potatoes, mineral supplements, crepes and grains, herbs.

It is important not to forget that the birds will need water: drinking bowls must be placed throughout the territory, and the water in them must be changed periodically.

Staff

It will be impossible to manage a large farm alone. You will have to hire workers who will feed the birds, clean the enclosures and slaughter.

In addition, an accountant who takes care of the financial side of the enterprise is useful for maintaining records. In the future, it makes sense to hire your own veterinarian.

In the early stages of work, if you have the proper skills, one or more roles can be taken on by the farm owner himself.

Documentation and getting started

Where to start working in this area? One of the stages of how to open an ostrich farm is registering a business. Once this is over, you should find a plot of land of sufficient size on which to locate the enterprise. According to experts, about 5 hectares will have to be allocated for a population of 50 ostriches.

Breeding ostriches is also highly profitable because these birds are not afraid of Russian winters, so there is no need to build any special structures, which again affects the amount of investment. It will be enough to find an old farm stable or barn. It is only important to provide heating in the room, since the temperature should be from 15 degrees Celsius. A farm cannot function without water supply and sewerage systems.

Currently, in order to breed ostriches, three main methods of breeding ostriches are actively used. The key difference between them is the rate of growth of individuals:

• The intensive method involves the use of incubators to raise birds from eggs. This requires a relatively small area. Mandatory care procedures include: cleaning feathers, cleaning the area, disinfecting drinkers and feeders, vaccination and periodic checks by a veterinarian.
• The extensive method involves placing birds in conditions that are as close to natural as possible. At the same time, contact between ostriches and service personnel is reduced to an absolute minimum. A significantly larger area will be required for use.
• Hybrid or semi-intensive takes advantage of both methods mentioned above.

For breeding ostriches as a business at home, the latter option is most often used. To work, the farmer will need a poultry house. It can be built from any material, but the ceiling height must be at least 3.5 meters.

In this case, the area of ​​the poultry house should be such that there is at least 10 square meters for each adult; for chicks, 1 square meter will be enough. Separate places must be allocated for families.

It is recommended to use natural light in the poultry house itself. A separate room must be provided for quarantine for adults. A key feature of quarantine should be air exchange. It must be organized in such a way that one bird does not make all the others sick.

It remains to note the feeders and drinkers, which can also be made from ordinary old tires. It is forbidden to use metal options - birds can easily be injured by them.

The poultry house must have a grazing pen adjacent to it. The height of the fence is from 2.5 m, since a bird can jump over a fence of lower height. It is advisable to round all corners, as birds are easily injured. The total area of ​​the pen for walking should be very large - at least 1200 square meters per bird. It is best to use fodder grass as cover, which is trimmed periodically.

Meat and eggs from ostrich farms are most in demand in the restaurant business. Some can be sold in cafes or large chain stores. However, at the initial stage of work it is unlikely that it will be possible to conclude a profitable contract with large buyers.

Instead, some of the products can be sold to friends, and through them to other people. Some work products are also in demand among farmers. Of course, in this case the profit will be much lower, but over time the volumes will increase.

As for the birds and leather themselves, in the first case other breeders will become new clients, and in the second - manufacturers of expensive clothing and shoes.

Over time, when the brand gains popularity, the need for large-scale advertising campaigns will decrease; the main emphasis on them should be placed when opening a farm from scratch. Advertising costs should be taken into account when planning a business.

Business plan

It remains to note such an important stage as drawing up a business plan, which will show exactly how profitable an ostrich farm is as a business. It includes all expenses for starting a business, as well as planned income. Briefly, it can be presented in the form of a table (the amounts are approximate):

Video: ostrich breeding.

One of the options for running an effective business of your own is an ostrich farm. Breeding ostriches at home is exotic, in demand, and profitable!

Why ostrich farming?

Every year this type of farming is becoming increasingly popular, because it quickly pays for itself and begins to make a profit after one or two years.

A businessman who decides to breed ostriches at home, in addition to studying a large amount of information from various sources, is recommended to visit several farms that specialize in this type of farming. This is required to form the correct impression of the planned business and a clear idea of ​​its optimal management.

Valuable ostrich products

Why ostrich breeding? Because it:

• Meat is a tasty and healthy dietary product that is rapidly gaining popularity due to its rich composition of microelements, high protein content and minimal presence of fat. Reminiscent of veal in taste, ostrich meat lends itself to any type of heat treatment and perfectly absorbs marinades and spices. The meat yield when cutting a carcass is approximately 25-30 kilograms, which is 40% of the bird. One sold ostrich carcass can bring 500 dollars or more, despite the fact that the price per kilogram of such meat in European and American markets ranges from 15 to 25 dollars.

• A fat widely used in pharmacology and cosmetology, as a component in the production of soaps, balms, ointments, and creams. The most valuable is emu fat, which has bactericidal, hypoallergenic, and anti-inflammatory properties. On average, an adult bird is capable of producing from 7 to 15 kilograms of such a valuable product.

• The skin is moisture-resistant, elastic, with a long service life (more than 30 years), is in great demand among designers and is a material for the manufacture of elite models of bags, wallets, shoes, gloves, belts, purses and cowboy shoes, popular among Americans. Ostrich skin, which is comparable in quality to snake and crocodile skin, cannot be faked. The sale of one ostrich skin, the price of which varies from 200 to 300 dollars per piece, completely pays for all the costs of breeding the bird.

• Adult birds are also an important part of a farmer's income. As a rule, breeding chicks and individuals are sold, which can later be used to breed future offspring. A five-day-old chick in Russia costs about $100, a month-old baby ostrich can be bought for $200, and a pair of adult ostriches will cost 3.5 thousand or more.

African ostrich - a favorite of farmers

The African ostrich is the largest breed (weight 100 - 160 kg, height - about 3 meters), due to its unpretentiousness in maintenance, it is grown in more than 50 countries around the world. This bird is able to withstand high and low temperatures. The speed developed when running reaches 50 km/hour.

Emu ostriches, the farming of which is less developed than the keeping of African ostriches, do not require special care. It is important to know the behavior of this bird in natural conditions, so that later the artificially created environment can be optimized for the natural environment familiar to such exotic creatures.

Brief description of poultry keeping

In winter, birds can be kept in unheated rooms on deep litter; for 6-month-old young animals on cold days, the room should be heated to a temperature of 12-18 degrees. The productive season for the African ostrich is from March to October. The egg production of one female per season ranges from 50 to 80 eggs, the weight of which is 1.3-1.8 kg. The incubation period of the young, which hatch simultaneously, is 45 days. The emerging ostrich chicks weigh up to 1 kilogram and are 20-25 centimeters tall. Females reach sexual maturity at 18-24 months, males at 24-30 months.

Feeding ostriches

Ostriches, being an omnivorous bird, feed on what nature provides. Preference is given to vegetation (grass, leaves, fruits, roots). They also do not disdain various animals, birds, small insects and lizards. In general, the poultry diet should consist of 50% green feed, 30% from combined feed, 20% - at the discretion and capabilities of the farmer. Adult birds and young birds over a year old need to be fed 2 times a day, young birds up to a year old - at least 3-4 times.

On farms, poultry whose average daily ration is 3 kg of feed receives:

• (clover, rapeseed, alfalfa, quinoa, white and fodder cabbage, spinach, corn and cereal silage, mustard, nettle, beet leaves, carrots, mulberries).
• Roughage (clover hay, alfalfa, meadow grass, soybean, seradella and cereal straw).
• Root vegetables, fruits and vegetables (pumpkin, radish, cucumbers, carrots, beets, apples, watermelon, bananas).
• Cereals (corn, barley, oats, wheat, rye, millet, sorghum, sunflower).
• Feed additives and
• Minerals (shells, gravel, limestone, egg shells), which ostriches very willingly find and eat with pleasure. This contributes to the normal functioning of the digestive system. By the way, the farm area must be thoroughly cleaned, since ostriches do not disdain any small debris (nails, pieces of plastic).

Ostrich farming systems

Modern ostrich farming adheres to three main systems on which the breeding of these birds is based:

• Intensive. Breeding and keeping ostriches is similar to stall care of livestock on livestock farms. The birds are kept in a small area under conditions where their livelihoods are fully provided by the farm staff, which has a positive effect on the development of the livestock, and especially the young. Close contact and regular grooming make the bird tamed and easy to control. In an intensive system, eggs are removed from nests and incubated, resulting in high rates of reproduction, producing up to 80 eggs per hen per year.

  

  • Extensive. Ostrich breeding is as close as possible to natural conditions: the bird itself more or less worries about itself. Due to free movement, females can mate with various males, as a result of which the number of fertilized eggs increases markedly.
  • Semi-intensive- combines the positive qualities of the above systems and is recommended for beginning poultry farmers. Here there is one female for every adult male.

  Where to begin? Business plan

  Breeding ostriches in Ukraine and Russia is a promising business, because the unpretentiousness of this bird in care and the high cost of ostrich breeding products will pay for the new business quickly enough, starting to bring tangible profits in a fairly short time.

  The first step in starting your own farming business is to find a suitable area for keeping ostriches. Where to start breeding ostriches? The first steps are setting up a farm to support them and purchasing young animals or adults.

  

  Of course, ostrich breeding will require certain financial investments, but they are worth it, since they will pay off in the first year of ostrich farming. Although the ostrich is an unpretentious bird, the key to a successful start in the ostrich business will be creating the most comfortable conditions for it.

  Costly expense item - farm construction

  Construction of a farm will require significant costs. The cost of the investment will depend on local conditions, personal and rental arrangements, prices for building materials and the work of hired people.

  You will need to build:

  • closed, insulated room, bright and spacious, with an approximate area of ​​150 sq. meters to maintain an average herd of approximately 30 adult heads: per individual there should be at least 50 square meters. meters of land;
  • open enclosures with an area of ​​1500 sq. meters;
  • fencing;
  • communications ensuring the continuous functioning of the farm.

  It is imperative to pay attention to the remoteness of the farm from noisy highways and industries with hazardous emissions; wind protection and relief are also important. Good access roads and proper water supply are necessary conditions for the smooth operation of the farm.

  Finding less expensive ways

  Farmers who own land with buildings on it will be in an advantageous position.

  Another way with a minimal investment of funds would be to search somewhere in the outback for an abandoned pigsty or cowshed, surrounded by pastures and water. Of course, the premises will require repairs (heating, sewerage and ventilation) and the purchase of equipment, but this option will save a significant portion of money, which can be invested directly in the purchase of livestock.

  

  Buying 4 adult families and 6 - 8 females will cost 30 - 40 thousand dollars. You can purchase grown chicks, which will significantly reduce the investment, but will delay the time period for receiving the first profit.

  Breeding work is the right path to healthy livestock

  From the first days, special attention will need to be paid to selection work, periodically updating the flock with good productive birds and culling sick and unsuitable individuals. When forming families, it will be necessary to take into account the mutual sympathies of ostriches, because the mechanical connection of birds may turn out to be unproductive and will cause reduced egg production.

  You will definitely need to get an incubator, the cheapest of which, designed for 45 eggs, costs $1,500.

  To feed ostriches, you will need to buy domestic food that includes vitamin and mineral supplements. The bird will also happily consume oats, corn, barley, millet, bran, hay and straw. In summer and autumn, birds can be switched to green succulent food: alfalfa and clover.

  With a large bird population (500 individuals and above), it is advisable to establish your own feed production, which will only reduce the cost of keeping ostriches. Own feed can be sold to neighboring farms.

And to turn it into an effective business, you first need an original commercial idea. At the same time, given the economic instability that has characterized our country in recent years, a business idea must be assessed from the point of view of resistance to crisis conditions.

Thus, ostrich farming as a business seems to be a very interesting and promising area of ​​entrepreneurship in the field of agriculture. Firstly, the demand for food products is stable, since it satisfies vital human needs. Secondly, ostrich meat and eggs obtained during the breeding process have high nutritional value and bright taste characteristics, which means they represent a high-quality competitive product. And thirdly, ostrich farming in Russia today is still at an “infancy” level, so a novice businessman has every chance to take a solid place in the market.

Planning an ostrich breeding business

To bring this exotic idea to life, you need an ostrich farm. This will allow you to determine the total amount of initial costs, calculate the profitability of the business applicable to specific conditions, and evaluate the possible efficiency of activities.

Raising ostriches as a business can be carried out in different formats:

• breeding, that is, the production of young animals for subsequent sale;
• raising young animals - birds are kept until they reach slaughter weight with the subsequent sale of meat;
• combination of both directions.

A business plan for breeding ostriches is drawn up taking into account the chosen form of poultry farming, since the features of keeping breeding stock and commercial stock differ to some extent from each other. In addition, breeding ostrich chicks (during breeding) requires the organization of special conditions, and therefore additional costs.

Features of ostrich breeding

Depending on the chosen direction of ostrich farming, further business development occurs. If you plan to raise poultry for meat, then the business plan for raising ostriches must also include the possibility of selling eggs, skin, fat and feathers. All these products are in good demand, which ensures high profitability of the business, despite the fact that these birds gain weight for about a year.

If you plan to breed young animals for sale, then it is necessary to ensure a cyclical change of livestock, including the main broodstock.

It should be taken into account that ostriches lay unstably. One year, a female can lay up to eighty eggs, and the next year, not a single one. It is worth considering that the average lifespan of an ostrich is about seventy years, and for forty of them they can bear healthy offspring.

To date, there is still no reliable data on the optimal duration of keeping these birds on domestic farms. But the experience of foreign ostrich breeders shows that in most cases the period of keeping is close to the maximum life expectancy of these birds.

Thus, the ostrich farm as a business is stable; it is only necessary to correctly form the livestock.

Business profitability

Taking into account the peculiarities of ostrich breeding and the variety of products obtained from them, this business idea turns out to be very attractive.

A month-old ostrich costs about 10 thousand rubles.

To open a small farm, it is enough to purchase fifteen females and two males. Thus, the cost of the initial livestock will be 170 thousand rubles.

The average cost of maintaining one bird is about 4 thousand rubles. per year, therefore, the entire livestock will cost 68 thousand rubles.

On average, a female ostrich produces about 60 eggs per year.

15 females * 60 eggs = 900 eggs.

Half of them (fertilized) should be used to replenish the livestock. The rest can be sold.

The average price of one ostrich egg is 1.5 thousand rubles. When selling 450 eggs, the revenue will be 675 thousand rubles.

The sale of eggs alone will recoup the costs of purchasing ostriches and the costs of the first year of keeping them.

An ostrich farm usually makes a good profit in the second year of its existence. During this period, the main livestock will already be formed, which should be divided into two parts. The first will be focused on replenishing the farm with young animals, and the second will be raised for slaughter. The ratio of these parts should be approximately 1:3.

Assuming that out of the 450 eggs left to replenish the herd, all are successfully incubated, then another 450 ostriches will appear on the farm. Of these, 150 individuals will remain for breeding or sale, the remaining 300 will be kept until they reach slaughter weight of 100 kg, which will take about one year.

From one ostrich you can get 55 kg of quality meat, the cost of which is about 500 rubles. for 1 kg. Thus, you can earn 27.5 thousand rubles from one bird. only for meat.

For fat, feathers and leather you can get about 3 thousand more rubles.

From the sale of 300 birds, revenue will be about 9 million rubles. Not every business can reach such figures in two years.

How to set up sales

The large volume of products we examined in our example is not easy to sell immediately. Therefore, it is important for an entrepreneur to carefully study the demand and market conditions even at the stage of business planning. In the process of raising ostriches, care should be taken to establish all possible ways of implementation.

Ostrich meat can be offered for purchase not only to private clients, but also to premium restaurants and cafes, since it is considered a delicacy.

Feathers obtained from ostrich breeding are popular among representatives of the fashion industry, as well as among manufacturers of blankets and pillows.

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