My ex-colleague, Andre, had his wedding dinner in Seremban. Even though it’s only about 45 mins drive to Seremban, we would still like to take this opportunity to explore the attractions in Seremban. After consulting Andre, who was born in Seremban, grew up in Seremban, we were told that there is no attraction in Seremban -_-”

Ultimately, we concluded that we can’t rely on others so we did research online and found this Jelita Ostrich Farm which holds the Malaysian Book Of Records as the first ostrich farm in Malaysia!

The farm is located at the Seremban-Jelebu Road (Jalan Pantai), 10 kilometres from Seremban and 10 kilometres from Pantai. It’s no more than 30 mins drive from Seremban town centre. So we definitely have enough time to visit Jelita Ostrich Farm before attending Andre’s wedding dinner.

We arrived in ostrich farm at about 4p.m. There were few big Indian families visiting the farm. I’m not sure why all visitors were Indians (except us of course), maybe because the farm is run by Indian. (Hmm… sound racist.)

The entrance fee is RM10 per person and we were brought into the farm and were briefed on the ostrich industry by an experienced multilingual guide. The guide was of course an Indian.

There are some 70 ostriches, mainly imported from South Africa.

Considering that the life span of the ostriches is about 70 years, most of the birds here are relatively young, but they can run at a speed of some 70km per hour.

This is what I learned from the farm manager, 34-year-old Kevin Suresh.

“In reality, ostriches do not bury their heads in the sand. They are in fact, territorial birds and are known to attack humans. Therefore, it is important that visitors do not wander around the farm by themselves.”

The ostrich pecked on Don’s neck!! See how fierce it was looking at Don.

We were then taken to a breeding pen where a demonstration on the right way to pick up eggs. Like the primary school Science classes, the guide explained to us that ostrich eggs are very big, even bigger than chicken eggs, turtle eggs, turkey eggs, and few more that I don’t remember now. And lastly he said ostrich egg is the LARGEST egg in the world. Finally… just said so instead of comparing it with so many type of eggs!

To further persuade us that the ostrich egg is very big and the shell is very hard, we were asked to step on the eggs. Since we have already paid that 10 bucks, we couldn’t wait to step on anything possible in the farm.

After the demonstration on the eggs, we were brought to the ostrich ride land. We were told that if we take the challenge to ride one we will go home with an Ostrich Jockey certificate. Well, riding ostrich sounds fun to me, but I’m not sure about the certificate. Will it help me to win the job in the interview?

Don was trying to get his Ostrich Jockey certificate. Not sure if the interviewers will be convinced more with his experience and the certificate in riding the largest bird on earth.

Did you notice that the ostrich’s eyes were covered with a piece of cloth? Their eyes were covered so they wouldn’t panic and speed when different visitors ride on them. Quite sad isn’t it?

Now that it’s what I considered CHALLENGE for the Formula One Ostrich Racing!

Only four to five birds would take part in a race and the interesting feature of an ostrich race is the way the birds manoeuvre at bends.

There are no rules in an ostrich race and the first bird that turns back and heads for the starting point is the winner. An ostrich can achieve a speed of up to 70kph! The trick for riding them is to hold on to their feathers and bend backwards to balance yourself.

After done with the activities, we ate ostrich satay. I know you gonna say that we were cruel, we stepped on ostrich’s eggs, then we rode on them, and now we ate them! Anyway, I still prefer chicken satay. Ostrich satay is too hard to chew.

Apart from the farm activities, there is a souvenir store selling all types of ostrich products like facial products and ostrich ginseng.

According to a study done by a local University, the Ostrich Oil obtained from this farm is rich in EFA (Essential Fatty Acids ) which is rich in Omega 9, Omega 6 and Omega 3.

Benefits of Omega 9:
- Reduces Plasma cholesterol in body

Benefits of Omega 6:
- Better wound healing, reproduction of skin cells.

That’s why they produced all these products:

1. Facial Cleanser ( + Vitamin E )
2. Face Cream ( + Vitamin E )
3. Hand/Body Lotion ( + Sunscreen )
4. Soap
5. Shampoo ( Hair + Body )
6. Scalp Stimulator
7. Ostrich Meat
8. Essence of Ostrich

We didn’t buy any of them, we were not convinced at all. And since we have just eaten ostrich satay, we don’t want to feel anymore sinful to apply their dead body oil on our bodies.

Opening Hours: Daily from 9am to 5pm

Address:

Jelita Ostrich Farm
Kampung Sungai Terip, 70400 Seremban, Negeri Sembilan
Negeri Sembilan, 70400

View Larger Map