The Ostrich chicks all have a brownish colour when born. This is for camouflage since they are small and close to the ground.  When they are about nine months old the male’s feathers will turn black and the female’s feathers will turn grey. This is again for camouflage since the female sits on the eggs during the day and the male sits on the eggs during the night.

At Safari Ostrich Farm we also have a few white ostriches.  This is because of a genetic deviation. These birds have a recessive gene that makes their feathers white. This is a very rare occurrence and a white male and female will not necessarily have white chicks. We do not want to breed with them since it is a “weak” gene and they are generally smaller that the average size of what an adult ostrich should be , also the quality of their feathers is not as good.

We do not have this gene in the flock of ostriches we farm with but managed to get five of them over the last 25 years. The visitors to our farm are always amazed when we show them these beautiful birds as part of the guided tour. They are actually quite special and therefore we have given them special names. The 4 girls are named Lady Gaga, Paris Hilton, Madonna and Pamela Anderson and the one male ostrich we call  Michael Jackson.