Wales - Monmouthshire - Incubating ostrich chick

An ostrich chick stands alone in a private pen, beneath a heat lamp at the ostrich farm belonging to Robert and Nina Bailey near Chepstow, Wales. The reddish glow from the heat source concentrates life-giving energy into the young bird, helping it survive the first three months after hatching. Rearing these birds is a specialist and very expensive business but Ostrich meat is a South African delicacy, used for Biltong. Nutritionists promote it as a more healthy alternative because it is higher in protein and lower in fat and cholesterol. An ostrich lays 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 like this 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 90-135kg. (Photo by In Pictures Ltd./Corbis via Getty Images)