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Work has taken a different meaning for me this week, with countless client meetings. A new learning experience for me, since I was never involved in projects before. Kinda scary, yet exciting. I swear that I was drained of energy when I head home every day. Thankfully, Friday is drawing near & I'm soooo looking forward to the weekend to rest & relax. I'm definitely missing the long weekend that we had last week :( Here's a quick entry before I head off to lala-land.
After departing from Desaru Fruit Farm, we drove over to Desaru Ostrich Farm. I have visited Malaysia countless times when I was younger, but I didn't expect to find an ostrich farm in the middle of the country! It was definitely an eye-opener for us. The farm is managed by Citra Alam Ostrich & admission ticket costs RM$15 for adult. You will be transported into a different world upon entering the gates.
A day old ostrich welcomes you into his home.
Ostriches roaming around the compound freely, just like their own home! How cool is that? 
We sat through an educational talk that highlights the treasures of an ostrich. In conclusion, every part of the ostrich is of use to human, starting from their eggs, feathers, fats (oil), skin, meat, bones etc. The shell makes an attractive lamp shade once the white & yolk is drained out of it. One of the customer bought the shell at RM$100 for decorative purpose.
There are 2 ostrich eggs placed on the ground, which you can step on. The egg shell is so hard that an adult human can stand on it and it will not break for the egg has to bear the weight of an ostrich when it sits on the egg to incubate it.
This is the membrane of the ostrich egg, highly stretchable.
Ostrich lays the largest eggs of all living birds, hence a single egg is equivalent to 24 hens' egg. The enormous egg yolk looked like a giant mango to me. Don't expect to crack open an ostrich egg with a spoon. They will have to be break using a hammer or power drill.
Their skin, which I supposed is the most valuable of all. This piece can fetch up to RM$3000. Well, small price if you compare it to an Ostrich-leather Birkin bag, lol!
Like human, these little ostriches must be kept under shelter. If they are exposed to the rain, they will fall sick and could even die. These were around 2 weeks old.
After the talk, you are free to roam around the compound. The place is not that big, around the size of 1.5 soccer field based on my rough estimate. There must be more than 300 birds within the compound, with some fenced up while some were roaming around. We even had one ostrich gate-crushing the talk/demo earlier. He just walked in stood there momentarily, listening to the talk.
These ostrich were busy pecking at the green wires that supposedly hold up the fence. I wondered if they were trying to open the gate or they thought that green means food? Well, I certainly didn't linger outside their compound for fear of them crashing me if they succeeded in "jail-breaking", haha!
In another enclosure, we saw a cassowary, which is the 3rd largest bird after ostrich and emu. They tend to be shy, but are capable of inflicting injuries when provoked. I certainly don't find this fierce-looking creature shy. In fact, he was walking around the enclosure as though the king was out on a parade even though he was the smallest in size.
Our guide told us how to differentiate between a male & female ostrich, as well as a lady-boy ostrich. They can be differentiated by the colour of their beaks & feathers. The one above is a female, for it has brownish white feathers. As ostrich is a desert animal, their feathers will be discoloured or even drop off when exposed to the rain.
Ervin getting up close and personal with the ostrich. We were told to always hold its neck and do not touch the head.
These ostrich are curious creatures, staring at your face with a nosy expression. Leecher bought a bunch of vegetables (at RM$2) to lure them over, so we could take pictures.
It sure worked! As soon they saw food from the corner of their eyes, they were intent on getting it, haha! Ostrich's diet mainly consisted of plant matters & each one can eat up to several kg of food each day.
Difficult to get its attention when the focus is on food, lol! Plan backfired.
I was clinging to Leecher, for I'm afraid to be close to them. Leecher then encouraged me to take the leap of faith. After much encouragement,
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I was clinging to Leecher, for I'm afraid to be close to them. Leecher then encouraged me to take the leap of faith. After much encouragement,
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Ta-dah, my first encounter touching this large bird! The neck felt really soft and smooth, so much so that I was afraid that it would feel uncomfortable with my grip.
Hello, meet my new friend! It wasn't so scary touching them after all.
We ended the visit with a plate of ostrich omelette & ostrich meat satay. At RM$10, you get a plate of ostrich omelette which looked no different from the usual omelette that we are used to. Ostrich meat is lower in calories, cholesterol and fats, as compared to chicken/pork/lamb/beef. It tasted just like beef to me though. Recommended to order some for tasting, but head somewhere else for a full meal.
Desaru Ostrich Farm
EMR 15, Teluk Ramunia
Kota Tinggi, Johor
Malaysia
Open daily from 10am till 6pm
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