Turkmen company plans to increase ostrich population to 10 thousand

The "Düýeguş" (Ostrich) production complex, located in the Ak Bugday district of the Ahal region, currently raises about 2,000 ostriches, with plans to increase the number to 10,000 in the future. This was reported in the "Bereketli Toprak" newspaper published on Wednesday. "In the incubation department equipped with modern equipment, air temperature and humidity are maintained at normal levels. Here, ostrich eggs are incubated for 42—46 days. Ostrich chicks are kept in a specially equipped section until they are 3 months old," says Welmyrat Welmyradow, the director of the production complex. The complex includes spacious pens for keeping ostriches, areas for bird exercise, a feed mill and warehouses, a production department for preparing poultry meat, processing ostrich leather, and collecting feathers, as well as a veterinary point and an administrative building. Ostriches lay eggs from March to October. An ostrich egg weighs between 1.2 and 2 kilograms and replaces 25—30 chicken eggs. As noted in the report, producing 1 kilogram of ostrich meat requires less land, less feed, and less water than cattle or small ruminants. Ostriches reach slaughter weight in just 10—12 months. An average of 40—45 kilograms of meat is obtained from one bird. The "Düýeguş" production complex was founded in 2022 and is a modern agro-industrial enterprise built taking into account the necessary conditions for ostriches.