Hello,
Question for people who raise chicks!
I currently have an emu chick and am curious how people train and work with them as babies. For background, I was incubating multiple eggs (full story on a previous post!) and he is the only one that made it due to a faulty incubator. I currently have 3 more incubating in a better incubator, so he'll hopefully have friends in a few weeks!
The other emus I've worked with were a bit older when I started with them and were pretty skittish, so it took a while to gain their trust.
Anyway, baby Otto is over 3 weeks now and does his harmless little investigatory pecks, and I know that's a big way they interact with the world so I'm not bothered by those. However, he really likes skin, and he likes to grab it and shake it, a lot. Or he'll just do bigger, stronger pecks, like a nip. I don't want this to be something he does when he's bigger because it already hurts now! Other people will also be interacting with him as he grows and I don't want him to hurt people or cause them to dislike him because he "bites". He's not being mean, I think just entertaining himself. He has other stimulation and things to investigate, but he just loves trying to rip flesh and steal fingers!
My questions are: is this constant grab-and-shake on skin normal chick behavor, and do they grow out of it? Or is it something I need to correct? If so, how? I have tried lightly bopping him on the beak and saying no, but that only encourages him, like it's a game. I read that someone said to gently but quickly move your finger up the beak and across the head and since they don't like it, but he is unbothered. I also am hesitant to do things that might make him head shy and associate head touch with negative reinforcement.
Any advice? How do I speak emu to him and show him we don't do that? Pic of the little monster snuggling in
Edit to clarify: my big emus (now over a year old) also peck at things and people, but they are gentle and you can tell they're just checking it out. They only grab and shake objects, not skin or fingers. To me I see a difference in the type of peck, and I hope I am communicating my thoughts at least a little coherently!
Question for people who raise chicks!
I currently have an emu chick and am curious how people train and work with them as babies. For background, I was incubating multiple eggs (full story on a previous post!) and he is the only one that made it due to a faulty incubator. I currently have 3 more incubating in a better incubator, so he'll hopefully have friends in a few weeks!
The other emus I've worked with were a bit older when I started with them and were pretty skittish, so it took a while to gain their trust.
Anyway, baby Otto is over 3 weeks now and does his harmless little investigatory pecks, and I know that's a big way they interact with the world so I'm not bothered by those. However, he really likes skin, and he likes to grab it and shake it, a lot. Or he'll just do bigger, stronger pecks, like a nip. I don't want this to be something he does when he's bigger because it already hurts now! Other people will also be interacting with him as he grows and I don't want him to hurt people or cause them to dislike him because he "bites". He's not being mean, I think just entertaining himself. He has other stimulation and things to investigate, but he just loves trying to rip flesh and steal fingers!
My questions are: is this constant grab-and-shake on skin normal chick behavor, and do they grow out of it? Or is it something I need to correct? If so, how? I have tried lightly bopping him on the beak and saying no, but that only encourages him, like it's a game. I read that someone said to gently but quickly move your finger up the beak and across the head and since they don't like it, but he is unbothered. I also am hesitant to do things that might make him head shy and associate head touch with negative reinforcement.
Any advice? How do I speak emu to him and show him we don't do that? Pic of the little monster snuggling in
Edit to clarify: my big emus (now over a year old) also peck at things and people, but they are gentle and you can tell they're just checking it out. They only grab and shake objects, not skin or fingers. To me I see a difference in the type of peck, and I hope I am communicating my thoughts at least a little coherently!
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