Emu Hatch-a-long 2012

[BJonTHEborder]

Could one give a "prenatel" vitamin to laying emus to possibly help in case of a deficiency?

 

[yinepu]

Quote:
that's one of the reason Janice Castleberry recommended a lower incubation temperature.. she said that the birds which were incubated with lower temps seemed overall healthier with a lot less issues... and they took a few more days to hatch than birds incubated at higher temps...

when you think on it.. the adult birds don't incubate at 97.5... it's much closer to 95.5 (which you can determine by length of incubation)

 

[yinepu]

Could one give a "prenatel" vitamin to laying emus to possibly help in case of a deficiency?

Just an increase in B vitamins before the laying season starts..

it's already a proven fact that adult birds with deficiencies will produce eggs that are lacking in vital nutrients.. which leads to hock and hip issues


the problem in convincing the breeders that their birds aren't getting adequate nutrition..


back during the heyday of emu meat production the ranchers around here insisted on the expensive "ratite diets".. they had low hatch rates.. fertility issues and chicks with deformities.. it was just something they accepted at the time (emu eggs and chicks were selling for hundreds or even thousands of dollars and mature breeders were going for 25K)

However when the bottom fell out of the market they quickly switched to cheaper feeds.. rabbit pellets and layer pellets for the first year.. then switching over to calf creep feed after the first year.. they then went back to the feed store "complaining: that their birds were doing BETTER than before.. more viable eggs.. less issues with hatching and chick health.. so they were kicking themselves for all those years when they trusted the ratite diets and had insisted on "the best" when they NEEDED higher production and were now getting much higher production and healthier chicks on "cheaper feed".. (yet those chicks were now selling for much less because of the collapse of the emu market)

 

[BJonTHEborder]

That is very informative! Thank you for cluing me in. I will tell my friends about this as they haven't had eggs for 2 years from their pairs of emus. They have their feed mixed at an elevator & said they use to get a special vitamin packet that they can't get any longer. The co. went out of business & no clue what was in it. Since then no eggs!

 

[Avie]

Hi, I'm new to emus, I hope it's OK to jump in!
Can anyone recommend a favorite brand of vitamins? I use LaFeber's for my pet finches, but that could get expensive for emus.

 

[yinepu]

Hi, I'm new to emus, I hope it's OK to jump in!
Can anyone recommend a favorite brand of vitamins? I use LaFeber's for my pet finches, but that could get expensive for emus.

pretty much any avian vitamins will work...

I've used Prime for my parrots for years.. so all the chicks end up with it in their water sooner or later

I've also used polyvisol (no iron) plus several different kinds from the different hatcheries...



if I had to pick just one it would be Prime

 

[CNSpots]

Still nothing happening with my eggs...I went back and double checked my stuff & realized I was wrong when I posted the other day. Today is Day 55, but my incubating temp has not been 97.5 like I said...I have 2 thermometers in there and the digital does fluctuate between 97-98, but my regular one sits on 96 so I'm going to go with that one. I really don't trust the digital & even the info with it says it could be off by a degree or two. Still no movement or noise when I check the eggs, but they do tend to want to shift to lay a certain way when I turn them and today the sound was more of a "chink" than a "thud" when I checked them. Still slightly tilted air sac end up and when removed from the incubator that end cools down but the other end retains heat. How long should I wait before I make an exploratory hole in the air sac end? Is there anything else I should try first?

 

[Yoda]

They sound like duds unfortunately

You should here something or see some type of movement with the egg by now.

 

[Yoda]

I took cardboard and cut flaps on the ends and folded it up to create a large "soda" box. I cut some of the indoor/outdoor rug and put it in and then added a cardboard sides and got a nice little pen for the 2 remaining chicks. They look lost in it right now but they will grow fast. Going to work on my Peafowl pens today (Thursday) as they were really badly damaged in the last snowstorm. The 12 inches of wet snow caved in the netting and broke a few posts as well. Once they are up the Emus will be outside for a few hours to get them legs growing. Here's some pictures I took tonight:




The older chick has the string on it's leg. Theodore is the one on the left in both pictures.

 

[yinepu]

I took cardboard and cut flaps on the ends and folded it up to create a large "soda" box. I cut some of the indoor/outdoor rug and put it in and then added a cardboard sides and got a nice little pen for the 2 remaining chicks. They look lost in it right now but they will grow fast. Going to work on my Peafowl pens today (Thursday) as they were really badly damaged in the last snowstorm. The 12 inches of wet snow caved in the netting and broke a few posts as well. Once they are up the Emus will be outside for a few hours to get them legs growing. Here's some pictures I took tonight:




The older chick has the string on it's leg. Theodore is the one on the left in both pictures.

I need a box that big!.. mine have been getting indoor free range time in the bedroom.. plus forays out into the yard.. their sleeping quarters are starting to shrink rather rapidly as they are growing .. so a bigger box would be so nice!


I gave away two of the chicks to a "local" lady (both very definately males.. the california chick was one of them..). She has two older females and was looking for males.. so it worked out ok

I haven't checked the remaining three yet... but i suspect Murphy's law is gonna nail me on them as well....