Ostrich farmer Robert Bailey with some of his self-reared birds and one of their giant eggs on his farm near Chepstow, Wales. Surrounded by the tall-headed ostriches, he holds the egg to show a female bird, which obligingly looks down at the white shell. Rearing these birds is a specialist and very expensive business but Ostrich meat is a South African delicacy, used for Biltong. Ostriches lay an egg every other day, of which 40 to 80% are fertile. In the wild there is a 95% failure rate but using an incubator almost guarantees total success. Its latin name, 'Struthio camelus', is the largest of living birds with some males reaching a height of 8 ft (244 cm) and weighing 200 to 300 lb (90-135 kg). In the wild, the polygamous male has from two to six females in his flock. The cock scoops out a hollow for the eggs, which weigh nearly 3 lb (1.35 kg) each.
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