Small stock farming flourishes in Kgalagadi Small stock farming ...

Ostriches have aArticle: Keamogetse BoitshepoPhoto: Aggripah WillieDibete Ostrich MultiplicationUnit (DOMU) is a home formore than 1000 ostrichescomprising of South African Blacksand Kgalagadi Blue breeds. The unitwas established by the Ministry ofAgriculture as a catalyst to revive theostrich industry in Botswana.During the Agrinews’ visit tothe farm, it became evident thatthese birds enjoy human company.When they saw our vehicle, they ranalong the paddock fence seeminglyto racing against it. Unfortunately,they lost the race at the fence thatdivides the paddock, where anotherbatch takes over in the next paddock.When the vehicle stopped the birdsgathered attempting to have physicalcontact.540 of the ostrich population inthe DOMU farm are the breederbirds comprising of 206 males and334 females. For breeding purposes,the birds are grouped in differentpaddocks.“A paddock for breeder birds has12 resident birds all together, madeup of eight females and four males.Ostriches commit to relationships,often one cock mate with two tothree hens. But in DOMU, we usea ration of 1:2,” said Mr ThebeyameEole, Scientific Officer.Eole said the ostriches naturallyform groups and are territorial hencecreate unmarked territories withinthe paddocks.Most of the breeding birds, Eolenoted, are more than 30 years of ageand are still on the prime of theirfertility. He said ostriches stay fertilefor the longest time of their life spansince they can breed until they arearound 80 years of age.“The female ostriches are readyto start breeding at 12 months whilemale ones start breeding at threeyears.”For business purposes, Eoleasserted that it is imperative to studyOstrich birdsAugust 2012 12