BACKGROUND: The Ostrich is an interesting subject concerninganimal evolution and morphology studies. It has been speculatedthat ostrich eyes would have distinct tissue structures and this hasnot been previously studied in detail. OBJECTIVES: The aim of thepresent study was to investigate the histology of the outer layer ofthe ostrich. METHODS: Ten mature ostriches were chosen from anostrich bre...

Scientific knowledge of ostrich diseases is incomplete and very fragmented, with specific details on technical aspects of diagnostic and/or screening tests completely absent in most cases. Salmonella Typhimurium is common in multispecies collections and causes mortality in chicks younger than three months on commercial farms, but is rarely found in chicks older than six months, or slaughter bir...

A virulent Newcastle disease virus (NDV) isolate from an outbreak in commercial poultry, with virulence indices of MDT = 47-48 h; IVPI = 2,17 and ICPI = 1,8; was used to inoculate 10x vaccinated (standard poultry vaccines) as well as 10x unvaccinated slaughter ostriches via intratracheal, ocular and nasal routes, in a controlled environment. All unvaccinated ostriches developed clinical signs (...

_______________________________________________________________________________________ Abstract Live, carcass, leg and muscle weight (kg) as well as dressing percentage were compared between South African Black (Struthio camelus var. domesticus) ostriches, purebred Zimbabwean Blue Neck (Struthio camelus australis) ostriches and the progeny of Zimbabwean Blue Neck males crossed with South Afric...

Despite numerous studies, the effect of artificial incubation on the hatchability and survival of nearterm ostrich chicks is still not well understood. Records from 13 975 eggs with embryos of 35 days and older, artificially incubated between 2006 and 2008, were analysed to determine the potential effect of pipping position upon the hatchability, and the subsequent survival of ostrich chicks. A...

The influence of sex on bone mineral density (BMD) and the bone mineral content (BMC) have been analysed in selected bones of the thoracic and pelvic limbs of African ostriches. The examination was conducted with the use of a densitometer, using the technology of affinited beam of X-ray and the programme for animal research. It was shown that the analysed bones of ostrich skeleton differed sign...

Ostrich skins (n = 214) were assessed by 28 participants involved in the ostrich leather production and marketing chain. The participants were from various sectors in the ostrich industry, including producers, skin graders, leather marketers, agents and process managers. Skins were evaluated during two occasions, firstly without any knowledge of slaughter age and thereafter with prior knowledge...