Adjacent to Auditorium 2 of the Faculty of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Habipur, a zoo of various species of animals, including the largest bird, the ostrich, has been set up. A mother ostrich laid eggs there for the first time. The eggs were laid at 3:30 pm last Friday.
Professor Dr. Chairman of the Department of Genetics and Animal Breeding. Abdul Gaffar Mia said an ostrich laid eggs for the first time on February 1. The weight of the egg is one kg 100 grams. Ostriches, known as 'desert ships', have no problem growing as their climate is favorable in Bangladesh. We are seeing new success through laying eggs. An ostrich lays 20 to 100 eggs a year.
There is a lot of potential for commercial ostrich rearing to meet the demand for meat in the country. A seven-day-old baby ostrich costs 15 to 20 thousand rupees. Camel meat is nutritious and delicious. Their food is readily available. They eat alpha and napier grass, epilipi and fig leaves, neem leaves, cabbage, cauliflower, red spinach, spinach, poultry feed and rock powder. For this reason, keeping ostriches will be more profitable than cattle. Ostriches have a production capacity of 30 to 40 years. They live for 80 to 100 years. And the physical growth and production of chicks (eggs) is comparatively higher than that of cows and goats. As a result, commercial ostrich farming will be profitable in Bangladesh. On the other hand, ostriches can be the main source of alternative animal meat.
Habiprabir Genetic and Animal Breeding Department PhD Fellow. Ahsan Habib said that in October 2016, a two-month-old ostrich cub was brought from South Africa. Now there are 19 ostriches with 15 small and four big ones. Of the big four, two are male and two are female.
Ahsan Habib said ostriches take about two and a half years to become adults and since then they have been laying eggs. Each ostrich lays 20-100 eggs a year.
When the news of the first egg laying spread around, the common people and students of different educational institutions are flocking to Habiprabi every day to see the egg along with the ostrich.
These are really big eggs and very expensive