Another Bucket List Item ~ Part 4 ~ The Ostriches

 Finally, the reason for the stop at The World Famous Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Ranch - the ostriches.

The Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Ranch opened in 1999 with only ostriches as the only animal on display. They have expanded over the years and now have about a dozen different critters who entertain visitors and are happy to be fed.

• flightless bird originated in Africa
• males called roosters can reach 9' tall & weigh up to 375 pounds
• hens lay eggs between January and July in AZ
• can live to be 50-70 years old
• their meat is red and tastes similar to beef

This was one of three options for feeding green pellets to the birds - pouring some green pellets in the tube on our side of the wire fence.

The tube dropped the food into a trough for the birds.

Another feeding option was the feeding pans on the observation deck.

The third option was to feed them from our hands. No teeth, but they do peck! So no to hand feeding.

Their eyes are bigger than their brains. Their eyes have long black eyelashes.

I believe we were seeing and feeding males. The roosters are black with white feathers in their wings and tails. (Since it is laying season for the females, and there was a fenced area of other ostrich, I believe these were the males.) The hens are grayish brown.

They have no teeth so eat rocks to grind their food.

their ears; they have acute hearing

Ostrich are the largest living bird. Almost half of their height is neck.

Ostrich are the only two toed bird in the world. They use their strong legs for defense; they can kill a lion with their kicks. A frightened ostrich can run 45 miles an hour.

Ostriches are now raised for their meat and hide, which provides a soft, fine-grained leather. I do not know what the Cogburn Ostrich Ranch does with all their birds. I guess I could have/should have asked. I do know they sell ostrich jerky, but do not sell fresh ostrich meat.

According to their website: Ostrich egg shell is the largest and thickest shell in the world and because an ostrich is a descendent of the dinosaur, this truly is a modern day dinosaur egg. The ostrich hen applies a coating on the egg right as it is laid which gives it a “glossy or “finished” appearance and protects it from bacteria. All ostrich egg shells from Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Ranch are “homegrown” and are laid by ostrich hens here at the ranch. These beautiful ivory colored shells make an elegant decoration just by itself or can be used for a unique medium for crafts.

The eggs weigh about 4 pounds and take about 6 weeks to hatch.

The price on the hand painted eggs was $99.

Ostrich plumes adorned the helmets of medieval European knights, and in the 19th century such plumes were sold for women’s finery. This demand led to the establishment of ostrich farms in South Africa, the southern United States, Australia, and elsewhere, but the trade collapsed after World War I. ~ Britannica

The oldest fossil relatives of ostriches belong to the species Calciavis grandei, which were excavated from the Green River Formation in Wyoming and date to the Eocene Epoch, some 56 million to 34 million years ago. ~ Britannica

The ostrich is typical of a group of flightless birds called ratites and are related to  kiwis, emus, cassowaries, and rheas. 

If you have family visiting, especially younger children, I feel this would be a great place to visit. The price is $12 for ages 6 and older ($14 if you want to feed the cownose stingrays). I know we spent at least an hour there and could have spent more but needed to head to Tucson.