Umamaheshwari, S.Selvan, S.T.Venkataramanan, R.Gopi, H.TANUVAS2017-11-222017-11-222016-120974-8180http://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/handle/1/5810036207TNV_IJPS_Y2016_V51_I3_Pg305-307A study was undertaken in 63 ostrich chicks hatched at PGRIAS, Kattupakkam to assess their survivability and growth pattern. The average body weight of ostrich at hatch, 7th and 15th day post-hatch were 827.63, 725.58 and 1527.59g, respectively. The growth pattern differed between the dead and alive groups. Body weight at 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 days of age were 769.41, 755.05, 779.00, 850.82, 991.23 and 1167.79 g, respectively in the survived group and those for the dead group were 707.83, 657.83, 607.45, 582.82, 579.50 and 562.00g, respectively. Growth study indicated a distinct positive growth in survived and negative growth trend in dead groups. The hatch weight and weight at 1st day were similar between these two groups and change in body weight was noticed from 2-12 days of age in both survived and dead groups. The study revealed that the body weight of ostrich chicks experienced a dip from day one to 7th day of age at an average of -15.30 g and thereafter the body weight increased gradually at an average of 36.57g/day. The growth pattern in dead chicks indicated absence of body weight gain after first week of age. It is concluded that recording the body weight during first two weeks of age acts as an excellent and inexpensive tool to predict the survivability in ostrich chicks.enVeterinary ScienceArticle