Visiting Chickaboo @ Desaru Ostrich Farm

It is late at night. I could not think of anything but I have a lot of outstanding posts to finish. As far as I remember, I never visited any ostrich farm before.That was my first time. Ostrich is the biggest bird in the world. It has become overnight social media star a few months back when an ostrich escaped from a car and sprinted down KL Federal highway caused a massive jam. People gift her a name "Chickaboo"!

Organisations from airlines to fast food chains have cashed in on Chickaboo's newfound fame by making reference to the ostrich on social media platforms and advertising collateral. Chickaboo's owner, Mr Chow said he has given 11 interviews to radio stations and media outlets, and the ostrich has even been invited to grace late-night talkshow Meletop Kebaboom and attend Sunway University's Open Day.

The Chickaboo story then provoked my interest to know more about the ostrich and thus I included Desaru Ostrich Farm in my itinerary. Desaru Ostrich Farm is located at Teluk Ramunia, with the sea just off in the horizon, is a picture of rural serenity. It is quiet but for the occasional boom, male ostriches make when mating and crowing of roosters.

Till now, Mr Teh, the owner of the farm does not regret with his decision to become a farmer, a career he pursued with his beloved wife, Joyce. Mr Teh quit his job as air force pilot  to become property agent in 1992. 3 years later, he found his calling when he visited an ostrich farm in South Africa and fell in love with the adorable birds. He brought in 32 ostriches from South Africa and bred the ostriches himself.

The black-feathered ostrich is named Tom. It is docile but chicken-hearten as well. When we approach it, it stood up and walked away. Mr Teh said to feed them with food and they will come close to you!

Contrary to what we have seen on TV, ostriches do not bury the head in the ground!

They are vegetarian. They eat grass and corn!

I never touch any ostrich before! I have no idea why I just thought of inflatable balloon when I touch it. Weird as not every part of the body is covered with fur!

I approached the ostriches and they are very curious about me! They came close and even pecked on me! I was shocked at first when being "attacked" suddenly but slowly I "adapted" to this animal's behaviour!

The ostrich egg is as big as my face! 

The egg yolk is 30% while the egg white is 70%.

The eggs shells can be used for other purposes. They can made into beautiful bed lamp with various art on it.

The dried ostrich tendon which is high in collagen can be consumed for beauty purpose.

There are also ostriches' skincare products for sales. I never use any ostrich product so far! I wonder how is the texture of the product? 

The left ostrich looks angry. Luckily there is a barrier that restricts the ostrich from roaming around if not...I will be chased by it then....

Mature male ostriches – called roosters – have distinct black feathers covering their backs and around their sides, with white underside and tip of the tail. Females – called hens – by contrast, are light brown. When they are ready to mate, the male’s beak and shins turn red, and the female’s feathers turn silver. 

I have no idea if it looking sad?

This one is a male ostrich. Male ostriches tend to be significantly larger and heavier than females.

with Tom, the male ostrich

Only kids are allowed to ride on the ostriches thus I did not have any chance to ride one.

There are ostrich satay, ostrich burger, ostrich omelette, ostrich soup, ostrich bakuteh, ostrich teppanyaki at the restaurant in the farm. So much they offer. I have no comment on the meat as I don't eat ostrich meat at all. 

It is educational yet a bit boring as not so much things can do except listening to the explanations from owner and photoshooting. I hope there are more activities added in to make the tour more interesting.

Address:
EMR 15, Teluk Ramunia, 

Kota Tinggi, Johor, Malaysia.