Mushi E Z, Isa J F, Chabo R G, Segaise T T
Botswana College of Agriculture, Gaborone, Botswana.
Trop Anim Health Prod. 1998 Jun;30(3):197-203. doi: 10.1023/a:1005067821642.
Thirty-seven ostrich chicks raised artificially had their weights, lengths of metatarsus and heights measured weekly from hatching to the 16th week. Despite weight loss during the first week due to utilization of egg yolk by the chicks, the chicks showed and exponential growth up to the twelfth week with an overall mean weekly weight gain of 1.3 kg. Female chicks showed a superior mean weekly gain of 1.6 kg compared to 1.2 kg for males. The metatarsal length grew rapidly at a weekly rate of 2.5 cm, but began to decline in the 11th week even though the weights and heights of the chicks were still increasing. The correlation coefficient between body weight and metatarsal length was 0.97. Individual chicks also maintained their respective heavy or light weight hierarchies throughout the study period. Thus isolation of chicks into groups by weight and raising them separately could have a role in the artificial rearing of ostrich chicks. Furthermore, ostrich chick rearing may be improved by regularly weighing chicks as a means of detecting changes in the growth patterns.
对37只人工饲养的鸵鸟雏鸟从孵化到第16周每周测量其体重、跖骨长度和身高。尽管雏鸟在第一周因利用蛋黄而体重减轻，但直到第12周雏鸟都呈指数生长，总体平均每周体重增加1.3千克。雌性雏鸟平均每周增重1.6千克，高于雄性的1.2千克。跖骨长度每周快速增长2.5厘米，但在第11周开始下降，即便雏鸟的体重和身高仍在增加。体重与跖骨长度的相关系数为0.97。在整个研究期间，个体雏鸟也保持着各自的重或轻的体重等级。因此，按体重将雏鸟分组并分开饲养可能对鸵鸟雏鸟的人工饲养有作用。此外，通过定期称量雏鸟体重以检测生长模式的变化，鸵鸟雏鸟的饲养可能会得到改善。
