how to get an emu to eat

poultry bro

Chirping
5 Years
Oct 4, 2014
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hey everybody I just adopted an emu from a local animal shelter for 40 bucks haha what a deal anyway im new to raising emus I am very familiar with other birds but this one is a bit of a challenge the few problems I have had with him is that he paces almost all day unless im in there with him and even then he will sometimes I have read a lot about them and I also found out that he was captured as a stray from the area so I assume this is why he paces but the biggest concern is that I have been feeding him flock raiser in crumble form and he seems to spit most of it out when I feed him by hand but im not sure what this is about also he is weird around the water trough he looks at it and walks away I have only seen him drink once last night but I have been gone most the day in school I will be able to monitor him closely for the next 5 days or so I hope to see him drink more eat more and stop pacing but any help would be appreciated
 
Hey, Poultry Bro. We have discussed pacing so often. I deal with wild birds, and suspect that pacing birds are unhappy birds/have too little space.

But let’s feed him/her first:
Everything in the universe is either Yummy for Emus or Not Yummy for Emus. That is, if it’s Yummy: scoff; gone!
Try your bird (What’s its name? Can we have a photo?) on dried fruit to see that it can eat okay. Indeed try it with a range of foods.
Water? Emus seeeeeeeem to drink less than you think. If it IS drinking, should be alright.
Finally, a sad little Note: a couple of years ago, this site was busy, and a world leader in advice on ratites. If my eyes were better, I would be able to help you more.
But CHECK THE PAST THREADS. We have, over years, discussed every subject. The threads are great reading. [Check ‘Mating Season in Australia’ and ‘Planet Rothschildi’ – that’s me!] And there is a huuuuuuuuuge amount of info there.


Supreme Emu, Western Australia
Here is a WILD chick named 'Uno.'
 
hey everybody I just adopted an emu from a local animal shelter for 40 bucks haha what a deal anyway im new to raising emus I am very familiar with other birds but this one is a bit of a challenge the few problems I have had with him is that he paces almost all day unless im in there with him and even then he will sometimes I have read a lot about them and I also found out that he was captured as a stray from the area so I assume this is why he paces but the biggest concern is that I have been feeding him flock raiser in crumble form and he seems to spit most of it out when I feed him by hand but im not sure what this is about also he is weird around the water trough he looks at it and walks away I have only seen him drink once last night but I have been gone most the day in school I will be able to monitor him closely for the next 5 days or so I hope to see him drink more eat more and stop pacing but any help would be appreciated

He's pacing for several reasons. #1, he's in new environment . #2, something could be spooking him that he's not accustomed to such as a 4 wheeler, dogs around his pen, screaming kids, loud vehicles,/heavy equipment, etc. ....depends solely on what the bird is USED to and what will/won't upset it.
Most grown Emus don't like crumble food , try pellet food.
Not sure what to tell you about your water trough situation, Emus love water...to drink and play in . Is that trough clean , housing clean water at all times ? Try putting a bucket of water out for it and see what happens.
Back to the pacing, good idea to get some electrolytes (unflavored) in the bird. You can do that via the water.
Gatorade is one good choice . An Emu can/will simply drop dead from stress and that bird is stressed.
 
hey everybody he has been drinking very well he also started to eat crumble flock raiser and he wont touch fruit at all we ordered some emu food from our feed store i found out that he was a feral and thats why he still paces he has no fear of dogs or loud cars he was in a small horse pen at the shelter when we found him there and now he paces a lot less but he still does a little so thanks everybody for all the advice now i am trying to find an emu breeder in my area so i can get a few more
 
ok, sounds like some improvement going on but again, very good idea to get some electrolytes in that bird .
 
i feed rabbit feed, cracked corn, layer pellets, and sweet feed, allstock all mixed 2 scoops a day.......sometimes they get tired of it i think and they wont eat as much......what i do is i dont feed them there evening meal for like a day or 2....then they get back to normal.
 
He has been doing very well he paces much less than he did at the shelter mostly when he gets exited about what the neighbors are doing like unloading the car he is on an emu maintenance pellet by mazuri and now plays with the dogs through the fence
 

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