How to achieve ostrich product perfection

Ostrich farming is a well-established industry in South Africa which, aside from meat, produces feathers and leather that are in demand around the world. Dr Anel Engelbrecht, ostrich researcher at the Western Cape Department of Agriculture’s Oudtshoorn Research Farm, shared tips with Glenneis Kriel on how farmers can improve the quality of their ostrich feathers and leather.

- 

Rising input costs and tight market conditions are forcing ostrich farmers to pay more attention to the quality of the products they deliver.

“Ostrich feathers and leather compete in the fashion and luxury markets, so farmers must produce products of excellent quality,” says Dr Anel Engelbrecht, ostrich researcher at the Western Cape Department of Agriculture’s (the department) Oudtshoorn Research Farm. Her research focus is on improving ostrich leather quality.

However, achieving this goal is easier said than done, as it requires changes to ostrich breeding and management.

GENETIC SELECTION

In terms of genetics, a lot can be done to improve breeding stock through the selection of animals for specific qualities.

The challenge with this, according to Engelbrecht, is that farmers typically keep 100 to 200 ostriches in a breeding flock, making it impossible to track which males mated with which females.

The situation is further complicated because ostriches use communal nests, making it difficult to know which female laid which eggs and therefore to trace the parents of the chicks.

The Western Cape Department of Agriculture’s research farm in Oudtshoorn is overcoming this challenge by making use of breeding pairs instead of breeding flocks. This, however, is extremely costly, as each pair is kept in a separate camp.

Engelbrecht points out that they have 188 breeding camps at the research farm. The birds are rotated annually between paddocks and breeding mates to minimise camp and pair effects.

“People used to believe that ostriches mated for life, but this myth has since been dispelled,” she says.