In order to study the bacterial flora of dead-in-shell ostrich chicks, twelve unhatched eggs which did nothave external pipping during the hatching period were transferred to the laboratory of microbiology. The eggshells were accurately disinfected and the embryos were removed and placed in a sterile plate. The surface of each embryo was swabbed with a sterile swab which was also plunged throug...

DNA-based sex tests now exist for many avian species. However, none of these tests are widely applicable to ratites. We present DNA sequence data for a locus that is W chromosome-linked in the kiwi, ostrich, cassowary, rhea, and emu. At the amino acid level, this sequence has significant homology to X-linked genes in platyfish and Caenorhabditis elegans. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) primers ...

Specific behavioral tendencies cause investors to deviate from optimal investing. We investigate three such tendencies in a simplified stock market. Subjects rarely follow the fully profit-maximizing strategy, most commonly by ignoring information and continuing to hold on to a stock regardless of its performance. The results support the predictions of the status quo bias, but not the ostrich e...

In Canada, ostriches are now slaughtered for their meat and hides. The mortality rate in ostrich farming is highest in chick units. An increased chick survival rate impacts positively on production and profit. This paper will focus on common health disorders that affect chick production costs. These are discussed under the following categories: digestive, orthopedic, respiratory, and integument...

Identifying the onset of symbolic or non-utilitarian behavior remains one of the most important issues in the modern human origins debate, and as such, early evidence requires careful scrutiny. ‘Exotic minerals’ dating to >350 ka are one of several possible indications of hominin non-utilitarian behavior from Wonderwerk Cave, South Africa. Ecological data suggest an alternate hypothesis that th...

analysis of food surfaces is of interest because many processes depend on their complexity. food surfaces show several textural characteristics related to their nature, composition and processing. food surface images and their microscopic details need to be translated into numerical data before engineering analysis. fractal geometry is a novel concept to describe the complexity of natural shape...