Fig. 1

Mortality patterns of ostriches up to 12 weeks of age. a One of the ostrich chicks included in the study at 1 week old. b The cumulative mortality and mortality rate per week. c, d Log-transformed weights over time of control individuals that were randomly selected for euthanization at weeks 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 (blue lines in c), and individuals that died of suspected disease (red lines in d). Grey lines illustrate weights of all other individuals that survived the whole period. e Photographs during dissection illustrating widespread gut inflammation in a diseased individual (bottom) compared to a control individual (top)