• The Ostrich is the largest living bird in the world.
• It is of the Ratite family, which means flightless bird.
• The Ostrich is native to Africa, yet thrives in countries all over the world.
• Adult males are eight to ten feet in height and weigh 350-400 pounds.
• A male Ostrich is called a rooster and a female Ostrich is called a hen.
• The male is black with white wing tips and tail plumes.
• The female has light brown and grey plumage and is slightly smaller than the male.
• This great bird has two toes, all other birds have three or four toes.
• The Ostrich can run at speeds of up to 40 MPH for sustained times.
• An Ostrich will live to be 50 - 75 years old.
• Although an ostrich egg is the largest of all eggs, it is the smallest egg in relation to the size of the bird.
• The Ostrich egg will weigh 1600 gm and is equivalent to 2 dozen chicken eggs.
• An Ostrich Hen can lay 40 -100 eggs per year, averaging about 60 eggs per year.
• Ostrich eggs hatch in 42 days.
• An Ostrich chick grows one foot taller each month until it is 7-8 months old.
• Females sit on eggs by day; males sit on eggs by night.
• To soft boil a fresh egg would take one hour. To hard boil would take 1 1/2 hours.
• Ostrich farming is a viable alternative agriculture industry, with fine quality leather, feathers and gourmet meat as the principal products.

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