Emu egg and hatching questions

I picked up 4 emu eggs at the market today, and I have some questions.

The farmer was not there for me to speak with, so I'm trying to make some guesses.

Do emus lay eggs without a male present? ie, can I assume that these eggs are fertile?

For how long can emu eggs be viable after being laid? The eggs arrived today, but they had 100 of them, so they were probably laid over a period of time. I have no idea how many emu the farmer has.

Lastly, how hard is it to find home for emu chicks? I can't keep them, but I think it would be fun to hatch them and brood them for a few weeks. I don't want to hatch them if I'll end up getting stuck with them.

I've been reading up on hatching practices, but I would love any links or pointers you experts may have.

Thanks!

by the way you worded to "find them a home" im under the impression you would give them away, or be asking a small fee? if so i will surely adopt your emu babies! i am dying for emu chicks i just cant afford to buy a couple of them for the prices i have found.

I would probably sell them for a small price, just to cover the cost of the eggs, the electricity to incubate them, and the feed they eat... I hope to find someone in my area so I don't have to deal with shipping them.

I have a friend who THINKS she wants some emu, but is a little scared of their size, so she may change her mind. I just don't want to create an unwanted life. It sounds like there is a certain demand for them at least.

Maybe I'll go pick up some more of those $12 eggs... Of course, I'm curious if they're even fertile. I think I've read that the male has to make the nest, so they were probably kept with males.

I try to start incubation at around 7 days after its laid. An emu wont usually lay and egg if its not mating unlike a chicken.
I have had every egg this season hatch so far. And thought I would be stuck with 20 or so babies. Yesterday I put an add on craigslist and I dont think I will have enough chicks to meet the response at a price of $75. I tell ya running incubators for 3 months nonstop can eat up some electricity. Then to feed , house ,brooder lamps, waterers , etc its a bit of a breakeven. but an awesome experience when that huge chick busts that massive egg and pears at you.
My formula was temperature at 96.5 deg humidity around 20% ahnd turn 3 x times a day avoiding full rotations. at day 45 stop turning. dont abandon them like chicken or ducks. tap them talk to them .They will talk back around day 49-52 and should break out in 24 hours. Weigh your eggs before you start and once a week they should start around 600g and loose about 10g of weight a week. The only bad chick I had (spayed legs) came from a very underweight egg about 530g to start.
Good luck and have a great hatch.

Quote:
Excellent advice! Thank you! I just bought a new scale, so I will weigh them all, and hope for the best.

Quote:
tell me it isnt so? hahaha This would awesome for you Bailey--So glad your the brave one to try it out before all of us!

Quote:
tell me it isnt so? hahaha This would awesome for you Bailey--So glad your the brave one to try it out before all of us!

Well, she hasn't 100% agreed yet, but when they hatch, she get's first right of refusal. So a mid June hatch will be perfect, in case I'm heading to NY in late June...

Foulman gives excellent advice and everything he said about cost of running bators for a long time, brooder lamps, feed, bedding, etc adds up quickly on these large birds.

I have 5 Emu chicks in my brooder now, and 4 more in the incubator I just set yesterday. Again, my first hatch went very very well, I had a temp of 96.5F and a humidity of 30% for the entire hatch. I did NOT turn by hand, but had my autoturner do the work in my Sportsman 1202 bator. I really wanted to see how well the autoturn would do, since hand turning is so crucial for emu eggs...out of 7 eggs I set, I hatched 5 healthy chicks, #6 died 1 day before hatch..was fully formed. #7 was not fertile. So I would say I was pretty successful using the autoturn cradle.

I am hand turning the 4 I set yesterday to see if I can attain a 100% hatch.

Dan

Quote:
Aw shucks
I hope thoes 4 hatch for you I always worry about the shaking/shipping but the fertility thats good the buggers do it 5 times a day. There is nothing like a flock of emu chicks running after you eating everything that moves. I sold off 3 chicks this weekend still have 10 with 4 to hatch next week and 4 for the week after whew thank goodness its almost over for this year.
finaly got to turn off an incubator.But then again I do have 3 dozen peking eggs sitting here..hmmm.