The ostrich is a highly cursorial bipedal land animal with a permanently elevated metatarsophalangeal joint supported by only two toes. Although locomotor kinematics in walking and running ostriches have been examined, these studies have been largely limited to above the metatarsophalangeal joint. In this study, kinematic data of all major toe joints were collected from gaits with double suppor...

Environmental conditions influence hatchability of ostrich eggs as these include the length of the storage period, temperature, humidity, gaseous environment, and orientation of the eggs (MELLET, 1993). There is a decrease in hatchability of the egg during storage (MEIJERHOF, 1992). A study in poultry (BUTLER, 1991) suggests that longer storage delays hatch time and reduces chick quality and gr...

In ostriches, the toes are the only body parts that contact loose sand surfaces. Thus, toe interphalangeal joint motions may play vital biomechanical roles. However, there is little research on ostrich phalangeal joint movements while walking or running on sand. The results from the three-dimensional motion track analysis system Simi Motion show that gait pattern has no significant effect on th...

Reference biochemical values for serum analytes of 126 clinically normal farmed ostriches on one farm in Botswana were established. These included sodium, potassium, chloride, total protein, albumin, urea, creatinine, uric acid, cholesterol, total bilirubin, conjugated bilirubin, glucose, triglyceride, calcium, phosphorus, manganese, copper, zinc, alkaline phosphatase, gamma glutamyl transferas...