Dodson & Horrell Vitality Ostrich Layer & Breeder Pellets – 20kg

Dodson & Horrell Vitality Ostrich Layer & Breeder Pellets – 20kg

A pelleted breeding ration for adult ostriches and other large ratites through the laying and hatching season. Breeding birds are asked to do two things at once — hold their own condition and put quality into a very large egg — and a general maintenance feed will not cover both.

It is fed alongside grass or forage rather than as the whole diet: ratites are grazers with a long fermentative gut, and the pellet is there to supply the protein, minerals and vitamin fortification that grazing alone will not. The pellet format keeps wastage down compared with a meal or a coarse mix, which matters when a bird is eating kilos a day.

Performance & Benefits

• Formulated for the laying and breeding season rather than for maintenance.
• Fortified with a full spectrum of vitamins and minerals for the adult bird.
• Pelleted, which cuts the wastage you get feeding a meal to a bird that eats in large mouthfuls.
• Fed alongside grass or forage, so it works with the ratite gut rather than replacing forage.
• 20kg bag — a realistic unit given adult ratite intakes.

Suitable For

• Adult breeding ostriches through the laying and hatching season.
• Other large ratites kept for breeding.
• Holdings with grass or conserved forage available alongside the pellet.
• Not for growing birds — young ratites need a grower ration, and Dodson & Horrell Ostrich Grower Pellets is the feed for that job.

Feeding

• Feed alongside grass or forage, not as the entire diet.
• Dodson & Horrell no longer publish feeding guidance for this feed on their own website. Stockist listings and the bag give a guide of at least 2kg per bird per day.
• Keep flint grit available at all times so birds can grind forage and pellet alike.
• Oyster shell may be offered separately at later stages of lay if shell quality drops.
• Fresh water constantly available. Follow the instructions printed on your bag.

Composition & Analysis

• 20kg bag, pelleted.
• Dodson & Horrell's own website now covers their equine range only and carries no page for this feed, so no composition or analysis is stated here as theirs.
• Stockist listings circulate a declaration of crude protein 18%, crude oils and fats 4%, crude fibre 11%, crude ash 13.5% and calcium 2.7%. Those figures are not published by Dodson & Horrell on their own site and are given here only as a note.
• Treat the ingredient list and analysis printed on your bag as the authority.

Care & Caution

• This is a breeder ration carrying calcium for egg production. Fed to growing ratites it can contribute to skeletal and leg problems, which are hard to reverse once established.
• Adult ostriches are powerful and can be dangerous during the breeding season. Take the usual precautions when filling troughs in a breeding paddock.