Our Ostriches get a new Enclosure!

As many of you know who have been following our blog and who has been to Ubizane, has seen and read about our Ostriches and their adventures in and around Safari Lodge and Tree Lodge, from swimming with some of the guests at Safari Lodge to enjoying a nice afternoon nap with the guests at Tree lodge.

We are proud to announce that our Ostriches have a new enclosure that is situated between the Safari Lodge and the Tree Lodge where our guests can go and visit them, touch them and even feed them during their stay, personally I’m still a bit hesitant to touch these big birds even though I have seen Martin (Our Kitchen Manager) do so when he went to feed them. Once a week one of our Kitchen Managers will go and feed these big birds with fresh produce such as beetroot, carrots, lettuce or any other fresh food we have to offer them.

Just some question and answers about these amazing birds we get asked by our guests here at Ubizane:

Q: How do Ostriches chew without teeth?

A: Ostriches don’t chew their food; they swallow their food whole as well as swallow small pebbles and stones which grind food. A male ostrich can have up to 1kg of stones and pebbles in its stomach.

Q; How big is a Ostrich egg and long does it take for an Ostrich egg to hatch?

A: An Ostrich egg is normally about 15cm long and weighs about the same as two dozen chicken eggs and even though it’s the world’s largest bird egg, they are actually the smallest egg relative to the size of an adult Ostrich size. They normally take between 35 and 45 days to hatch, after they have hatched, the male will look after them and defend them as well as teach them how to feed but both male and female will cooperate in rearing the chicks

Q: What is the wingspan of an Ostrich?

A: A full grown ostrich male’s wingspan is about 2m and is usually used for mating displays, cover their naked skin on their upper legs, to cover their chicks and to be used as “rudders” when they run.

Our ostriches have been with us for a long time and we know they will be happy with their new enclosure here at Ubizane.