الفهرس 
INTRODUCTIONOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Ostrich (Struthio camelus) became one of the new and valuable agricultural enterprises which have a new view for interest in Egypt since 1996 and has now become an important commercial species in many countries of the world (Mahrose, 2007 and 2012).In the recent several years, the ostrich farming and industry worldwide has been changed (Horbanczuk, 2005). Ostrich is being promoted as an alternative to traditional pastoral farming of sheep and cattle. Current interest in ostrich has been encouraged by investment and the suggestion that there may be large returns on invested capital (Brown and Thompson, 1996 & Schupp et al., 1998). Gamma radiation is the most effective method for sterilization of poultry and food products (Anonymous, 2014). Exposure of living tissues to gamma-rays produces ionization inside their cells. This alteration causes biochemical and physiological changes depending on the dose level and the stage at which the tissues were irradiated (Kraljević et al., 2009). Gamma irradiation is one of the most effective preservation methods to ensure the microbiological safety of the products .Some studies were carried out and demonstrated that the stimulatory effects of applying low radiation doses during the different stages of lifespan on several aspects of poultry performance. Documented improvements were reported as enhanced vitality and increased body weight gain of broiler chicks (Chotinski and Tsvetanov, 1983 and Mekkawy, 1995), higher hatchability, and lower embryonic mortality and increased hatching weight of Japanese quail (Ezzat et al., 1996). The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of exposing ostrich eggs to gamma irradiation before incubation on some hatchability traits and subsequent effect on hatched chicks growth as well as blood constituents at 35 days of chick ages.