But in spite of this they make good farming sense.Acow produces only one calf a year whereas a femaleostrich can lay an egg every other day.And becausethe farmers can use incubators and hatched chicksare nourished well and protected from danger,thefailure rate on farms is very low indeed and almost allthe fertilised eggs will hatch out into chicks which willin turn reach maturity.This is very different from thesituation in the wild,where the vast majority ofchicks will die or be killed before they grow up intomature ostriches.So it's possible,once the initialoutlay has been made,for the farmer to be looking atvery good profit margins indeed.
Ostrich farming is still in its early days outside Africa but we hope that ostrich meat will befreely available soon and before long will be as cheap as beef.