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Ostrich Wranglin'

AshleyShadows

AshleyShadows

It piss me so bad.
Ok so as some of y'all know, I work at a the Texas A&M Wildlife Center. It's a place where various research projects are done, and where the animals no longer being used in research live out their lives. We have several ostriches there which were formerly used in a reproduction study. One of them, a female named Woody (I know..seems like a dude's name), has been having trouble lately.

On New Year's day, I went to feed everyone with the technician in the morning. Woody wouldn't stand up, and wasn't too interested in food. She was under shelter, but we wanted to move her to a completely enclosed shelter to get her out of the cold, but she wouldn't budge. We were like "Well we'll just pick her up." Unfortunately neither of us could lift the 250 pound beast.

It ended up taking 6 people to carry her to the enclosure, and she's still there and hasn't been able to get up. We're now medicating her, and feeding her "metamusal balls" to help her move things through. And getting those in here is quite the predicament...thus I bring you pictures!

I know, too long; didn't read...

The first step is to make the balls by mixing the powder with water.
Woody1.jpeg

Next is to use a jacket sleeve to cover up her face so she doesn't see it coming.
woody 2.jpeg

Then you have to forget that their feet are scary and can slice your guts open with just one kick.
Woody3.jpeg

Then one person has to sit on her back and hold open her beak while the other person closes her glottis to shove the balls down her esophagus. This is the tech demonstrating, but I ended up doing the sitting/opening.
Woody4.jpeg

Then you have to wash your hands. Because it's gross.
Woody5.jpeg
 
Aw, I hope she's okay!! I had to tube feed an emu for a friend of mine a few years ago. I used a turkey baster, and sat on her back just like that!!
 
I hope she's ok too! She's only 15 or so, so she's got a lot longer before she's supposed to go. If it was any other time besides winter, the outlook would be better.

Wow, did you get get the baster all the way down to her crop? I'd be a little more weary of doing that to an emu over an ostrich. I prefer when my birds can only kick in one direction lol.
 
That is so cute and pretty hilarious I can't imagine,lol but I do hope she makes a full recovery:)
 
It is pretty funny...we treat her just like she's a dog or something completely harmless. She's a great sport though, and I'd love her to live. Just like 2009 was the year of death for celebrities, it was for us out there. We lost 5 or 6 fallow deer from old age, all between 14 and 17..with average life span being 8!
 
So thaaaat's how you force feed an ostrich! You learn something new every day ;) Oh man, my niece would be so jealous of you: ostriches are her favorite.
 
Well tell her to come to school at Texas A&M...she can work here when she's a junior or senior in college ;D
 
bapkate said:
She would be so psyched! They have nap times and Story Circles there, right?
Click to expand...

Totally! And you're forgetting everyone's favorite: snack time!

Speaking of snacks, we often offer people ostrich eggs to make omelets. They're one of the healthiest eggs around, and one equals about 12 chicken eggs.

more_you_know1.jpg
 
AshleyShadows said:
Totally! And you're forgetting everyone's favorite: snack time!

Speaking of snacks, we often offer people ostrich eggs to make omelets. They're one of the healthiest eggs around, and one equals about 12 chicken eggs.
Click to expand...

That's amazing! I could totally go for an ostrich egg omlette. I'm amazed that ostrich eggs aren't more popular than chicken eggs ...but then I can't imagine it would be that easy to find people willing to collect eggs from ostriches. Yipes! :grin01:
 
Forget ostrich eggs, this is the future!

1902-ostrich-cart.jpg


And also, poor, poor Woody. I hope she pulls through.
 
AshleyShadows said:
I hope she's ok too! She's only 15 or so, so she's got a lot longer before she's supposed to go.
Click to expand...
Wow, I didn't know ostriches lived that long! (I also didn't know that about their feet!) What's their average lifespan?

Those pics are really cute, hopefully she'll be okay. Looks kind of like my method for giving pills to my cat. ;)
 
Jessica, I don't even begin to understand that...:p

And yes, we're all hoping she pulls through. Except the tech..I think she's ready to let her go, but it's up to the vet.

And I believe 50 is about average for an ostrich, but they can definitely live longer. Birds just never die...that's why you have to put them in wills lol.
 
Oh, so THAT'S how you force feed an ostrich. I was wondering.
You have a nice job, even when it's messy. I hope she does okay, now you must keep us posted.
 
I want an ostrich egg! Hope Woody pulls through it looks as though she has a lot of people pulling for her.
 
Do you have any idea what might be causing it? I read where you said the "medamusal" (sp?) balls were to get things moving. Is she impacted with an egg or something?

I hope things go well. Pretty bird!

Wayne
 
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