my first ostrich egg...

[johnskoi]

a few shots with the new fan ... attached a small piece of plastic mesh to the fan housing to protect the chicks, pulled the wires thru an existing small vent hole, poked thru two indentaions in the styrofoam that looked like that's what they meant for, poked two more on the other sides of the fan, secured the fan with zip ties thru the holes .... humming away.........

... the adapter that i bought has a switch that allows for lower voltage settings giving slower fan speeds ... any harm in this?? or is more better?

...and yup, that coil gets hot ...

if the embryo makes it to lockdown, i'll have to work out a cage or something for the coil ---- may be easier to cage the bird inside the inc, instead .... inking:

 

[Raptor65]

That's good work there, and yeah the fan doesn't have to turn the incubator into a wind tunnel, just hum along and move the air around in there, the relative density between CO2 and Oxygen is very close so it doesn't take much movement to push it around.

To cover the coil you might get some wire screen to cover the entire top of the incubator, the wire would get warm from being close but prevent the bird from directly touching the coil.

 

[johnskoi]

thanks! in hopes that it hatches (don't like counting my chicks before they hatch, buuuuttt.....), i want to have the best food on hand when and if it does ... i've got both medicated and non-medicated chick starter and have easy access to gamebird and turkey starters....would any of these be a no-no?? is there a raptor starter that i should be looking for? ...seems mortality is common enough with the young ones and if it hatches, i want to give it the best start i can..

and would it be happier with young silkies for company or better off by itself?..

.ALL input is greatly appreciated...

 

[ES Emus]

there is a ratite starter, it has a 20% protein content, a non-medicated chick starter in crumble form is usually very similar in content. Once you get the chick drinking water (and you may have to gently press the chick's beak into the water to introduce it),I have had my best luck with getting the chick started eating using very finely minced romaine lettuce and carrots, even putting some in the waterer where they will be readily seen. The contrasting bright green and orange colors seem to rapidly get their attention in the water and they instinctively peck at it. After they start feeding on their own, begin adding the chick feed into the veggie mix and start weaning them off the lettuce and carrots. Don't worry if they don't start eating for a couple of days after hatching because they have a three day supply of nutrition remaining to be absorbed from the yolk sac. A single chick tends to do better if it has a buddy or two for company and to observe and mimic the buddy's eating and drinking habits. Ratites and chicken hatch buddies get along well.

Everybody may do it a little different but that's what has worked for me. Good Luck!
ES

 

[Raptor65]

What I did for my Emu was get the nutrition info on the Mazuri feed (Which is priced in the silly range so don't bother buying it), then copied it by mixing cheaper more readily available feed from a local pet and livestock supply.
In this case I used non-medicated chick starter, chicken layer pellets and rabbit feed pellets all mixed together evenly to match the Mazuri feed, this mixture cost $30 for 150 pounds of feed every 3 months and now costs $20 for 100 pounds every 2 months since he's grown no longer needs the starter, if I were using the Mazuri feed it'd be more than twice that even without shipping.

However Ostriches have a slightly different diet from Emus, so it's just a matter of heading down to the feed store with a calculator and the Mazuri Ostrich feed and picking out the stuff that works out the best. Below is a table I set up for my Emu, Mazuri has their starter mix labeled for Ostriches as well so you can use the starter on this if you'd like.

Feed​

Crude Protein​

Crude Fat​

Crude Fiber​

Calcium​

Phosphorus​

Salt​

Lysine​

Methionine​

Chicken Layer​

16.00%​

2.70%​

4.00%​

2.50%​

0.40%​

0.25%​

0.70%​

0.20%​

Rabbit Pellets​

17.00%​

1.90%​

20.00%​

0.90%​

0.25%​

0.48%​

​

Chick Starter​

23.00%​

2.00%​

4.00%​

0.50%​

0.50%​

0.15%​

1.00%​

0.30%​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Feed​

Crude Protein​

Crude Fat​

Crude Fiber​

Calcium​

Phosphorus​

Salt​

Lysine​

Methionine​

Starter Mix​

18.67%​

2.20%​

9.33%​

1.30%​

0.38%​

0.29%​

0.85%​

0.25%​

Feed Mix​

16.50%​

2.30%​

12.00%​

1.70%​

0.33%​

0.36%​

0.70%​

0.20%​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Difference (Starter Mix)​

2.33%​

0.30%​

2.33%​

0.08%​

0.02%​

1.31%​

0.25%​

0.45%​

Difference (Feed Mix)​

0.50%​

0.30%​

1.00%​

0.55%​

0.33%​

0.29%​

0.14%​

0.16%​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Mazuri Ratite Starter​

21.00%​

2.50%​

7.00%​

1.22%​

0.40%​

1.60%​

1.10%​

0.70%​

Mazuri Emu Feed​

17.00%​

2.00%​

11.00%​

1.15%​

0.65%​

0.65%​

0.84%​

0.36%​

Here is a document with some nutritional guidelines as well:
http://www.extension.iastate.edu/Publications/PM1696.pdf

Not to go against against ES Emus' advice on teaching the Ostrich what to eat, but if you allow the Ostrich to imprint on you it will eagerly copy what you do, if you put some food down in a bowl and poke it with your finger in a sort of pecking motion it will become interested in copy you, this works with all sorts of birds. It may not start eating right away, but that's no reason to worry.

 

[johnskoi]

thank you both ...LOTS of info !!

spoke with them at the feed store yesterday ... they stock emu grower, but no ratite or ostrich starter .. not on their price list, but they're pretty sure they can get it -- .. i'll find out this week ... due to hatch around Christmas -- give or take a few days, so i'll make their next delivery ... i'd like to start with a blend that's intended for them to start with --if it hatches and does well, i'll definitely be mixing my own ... even tho mfg foods are supposed to be complete, i always like to offer my animals fresh foods to pick up any shortcomings...

on another note, i'm dealing with temps going a little low in the bator ..i've got 4 thermometers in there right now... was holding steady with NO changes in the rooms temp ..

... bringing em up slowly in an LG sucks..

 

[johnskoi]

my fault on the temp.. i lowered the speed on the fan after i had the temp **** near perfect .. upped the speed prior to my last post and it seems to be good again..

 

[johnskoi]

4 weeks into it, and i think it's still progressing ... looks different from the pic here Candling eggs at 4 weeks, but then again, it's looked different at the earlier shots as well ... instead of the dark area surrounding the air cell, i'm seeing what appear as some darker spots that seem to be forming on the inside of the shell between the 'mass' and the air cell ---- almost seems like it's an octopus with the arms extending towards the shell (i'd take a pic, but i know it won't show)....kinda funky -- just hope it's NOT funky....... the odor that the egg had isn't as strong as it was earlier... ....--just thinking out loud

 

[ES Emus]

4 weeks into it, and i think it's still progressing ... looks different from the pic here Candling eggs at 4 weeks, but then again, it's looked different at the earlier shots as well ... instead of the dark area surrounding the air cell, i'm seeing what appear as some darker spots that seem to be forming on the inside of the shell between the 'mass' and the air cell ---- almost seems like it's an octopus with the arms extending towards the shell (i'd take a pic, but i know it won't show)....kinda funky -- just hope it's NOT funky....... the odor that the egg had isn't as strong as it was earlier... ....--just thinking out loud

cool!

 

[Tame Emu Guy]

Yes, I'm still paying attention.

A good picture of an ostrich chick would be most interesting.

Supreme Emu