Poultry Types: Ratites
Poultry Types: Ratites
The term ratite refers to birds that are unable to fly basically because they do not have a keel bone to which flight breast muscles attach.
Birds that have a keel, whether they can fly or not, are called carinate birds.
Ostrich
Ostrich are raised commercially for meat, leather, and feathers (and sometimes their eggs) depending on the market available.
Vocabulary
- Ostrich is singular; Ostriches is plural
- Hen = adult female ostrich
- Cock = adult male ostrich
- Chick = young (baby) ostrich
Emu
Emus are native to Australia. They are raised commercially around the world for oil, meat, leather, and feathers (and sometimes their eggs) depending on the market available.
Rhea
Rhea are native to South America. They are raised around the world for their feathers, hide and meat (and their eggs) depending on the market available. The feathers are used for feather dusters. The hide is converted to leather and used to produce a variety of products.
Unlike most birds, rhea have only three toes on each foot (instead of the common four toes per food). They also store urine separately in an expansion of the cloaca.
