Basic Rhea info from two Alternative livestock farms and their websites

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Breakdown on Rhea reproductivity. Rhea's have a higher clutch size due to their communal clutches. Lifespan, clutch sizes, hatching rates, chick survival rates are all higher in captivity and semi-captivity. Rhea egg laying is on par with emu at a median of 30, a highest hatching rate of ratites in captivity, but the lowest rearing success rates amongst ratites with averages being per female: 14 for Ostrich, 11 for Emu, 9 for Cassowary, 8 for Greater Rhea

Reproductivity and raising of Greater Rhea Rhea americana and Lesser Rhea
 
Breakdown on low breeding success in the wild. Male Rheas that successfully breed, hatch, and care for chicks lose between 24-33% of their weight, putting their weight on par with a yearling. Females were shown to be able to breed every year while males were every other year. It is speculated that males will be able to breed every year with plenty of food, like that seen in captivity

Understanding the low breeding success in Greater Rheas populations through an energy budget model
 
Breakdown of methods for capturing and tagging Rheas in the wild. The tagging techniques can potentially be used as methods for tagging your rheas in case you have a population that is tough to keep track of names. The capture systems, while interesting, are most likely not viable for hobby farms, ratite farms, ect and are probably best used for catching and tagging of wild rhea to reduce stress compared to other catching methods

I was not able to find my original source so below us a source I found by searching. This was a study primarily by Martell and Navarro

CAPTURING AND MARKING GREATER RHEAS MONICA B. MARTELLA AND JOAQUIN L. NAVARR
 
Breakdown on adoption in Rheas. Most of the benefits of hatched chicks being given to males to adopt were seen early in the breeding season when it comes to weight gains, a rough estimation of 25% heavier chicks by the 90 day mark. Survival rates in chicks up to the 90 day mark did not see any difference in survival rates. This increase in weight gain could be tied to higher winter survival rates, this is only speculation on my end based on experiences with larger birds doing better through their first winter

I will most likely pursue methods for an early breeding season and favor birds that favor an early breeding season and early maturity as long as health, size, and docility remain intact in light of this study. Due to the loss of a recent loss of a breeding age male for this coming breeding season, I will be pursuing a plan of adoption and utilizing an incubator to try and make up for the absence of chicks he would have hatched

Rearing Greater Rhea (Rhea americana) chicks: is adoption more effectivethan the artificial intensive system?
 

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