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Science

Lets Hatch an Ostrich Egg

by Elizabeth Fay James

For an ostrich farmer, gathering eggs is a dangerous job.

"The new ostrich parents are very protective," says Evelyn Hoyt. "You have to fool them." Evelyn has been raising ostriches since 1989. She has an ostrich ranch in California called Mt. Shasta Ostrich Ranch.

Can you imagine gathering ostrich eggs? First, it takes two people to gather the eggs. One person has to distract the ostrich pair, while the other sneaks in and snatches the eggs. Your partner waves food, like grape leaves, over a 6-foot fence. Then, with sweat running down your back, you slip through the gate at the other end. About ten feet away are three eggs that the hen had laid last night. The big black and white rooster and the gray hen are nibbling your partner's offering. But the male is suddenly suspicious, as he looks around towards the sandy pit where the eggs were left.

You pick up an egg and start back towards the gate. The seven-foot male wheels
around and runs straight at you! The gate slams behind you as the rooster stops suddenly, sending dust flying. Close call! Flapping his wings and hissing, he paces back and forth.

Evelyn is an expert egg-gatherer. After she collects her ostrich eggs, she weighs, washes, and disinfects them. The word "disinfects" means to clean with a germ killer. The eggshells are porous (tiny openings, or pores). They can become infected when people handle them. Evelyn does everything she can to keep the eggs healthy.

The eggs can be kept for up to a week in an ice chest or cooler. This lowers the temperature and keeps the embryos, or undeveloped ostrich chicks, from growing too fast. It puts them "on hold." After enough eggs are gathered, they are put in an incubator. This machine keeps the eggs warm and cozy.

The incubator does three important things. It makes sure the temperature is 97.5°F
(36.4° C), measures the moisture in the air (called humidity), and turns the ostrich eggs. Why are ostrich eggs turned? It prevents the yellow yolk inside from sticking to the shell while the chick is growing. This is what the ostrich parents would do if they were sitting on them.

When the eggs are about 39 days old, they are put in a hatcher for three days. This machine doesn't turn the eggs like the incubator. Instead, it keeps them lying on their sides, creating an air space inside the egg. This way the chick can work its head to the pocket of air and start to breathe when it is ready to hatch.

The chick will soon use up this small bit of air. It needs more air soon! With the back of its neck and legs, it pushes the eggshell apart. This is hard work. In time, the chick hatches, looking like a little brown-striped watermelon with short legs. This is the moment ostrich farmers look forward to. For them, hatching a newborn chick is worth the risk of ostrich egg gathering!

Photos are of Ms Hoyt & her granddaughters and written permission has been given by the girls' parents to use photos.

The End

References:

Beard, J. (1994) “Ostrich 101”, Exclusively Ostrich, Vol. 2, Issue 5 (pp. 4-8).

Jones, M. (1998) “Ostrich-Gentle Giants or Mean Machines”, Ratite Marketplace, Vol.9, Issue 5, (p.23).

Martin, G., Fanguy, R., Jeffrey, J. (1998) “Ratite Egg Incubation”, Ratite Marketplace, Vol.9, Issue 5, (p. 12).

Oliver, D. (1993) Ostrich Ranching in America, LA: The Everett Companies.

Pelloni, D., Pelloni, A. (1997) “Pelloni Farm”, The Ostrich News, Vol.10, Issue 106, (pp.54-56).

Interview with Evelyn Hoyt, owner of Mt. Shasta Ostrich Ranch in Mt. Shasta, CA

Elizabeth Fay James has been an elementary and science teacher and now writes for children and youth. She lives with her husband near Mt. Shasta in California. Elizabeth's husband, Kent, has worked on two ostrich farms/ranches and they were ostrich meat brokers for two years in
1996-1997.

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