Emu pictures and stories.... post them here

[teaton]

Here's my setup

It is good he has natural sunlight, Ive been told thats very important for baby emus!

 

[briefvisit]

I'm by no means an expert...by that I mean I have only hatched out one emu and he/she is only 8 days old. I've pretty much brooded him the same way I brood my chickens. I have a baby pool in my "chicken room". I keep the heat around 75 in the chicken room but I keep an area in the baby pool around 90 degrees (just lowered it to 85 since Daryl is now a week old. I call the 90 degree area Daryl's house and he sleeps there. I'll post pictures a little later...It's been working out well. As far as what I'm going to do with Daryl when he's too big for inside but not ready for pasture yet...I haven't figured it out yet.

I must be careful not to offend here. My perspective, I note, has become a little more vinegarish in recent years.

'getting sunlight is good'? 'too big for inside but not ready for pasture'? I'm not sure how to take this.

When dad stands up to hit the trail with a new clutch, chicks that have hatched perhaps only an hour ago step out in a world of roaring wind and blasting rain. Their little leggies get muscular development from battling through the leaf-and-stick litter on the ground. Their neck muscles develop from a bazillion daily snatches at the food around them. And -- barring predation -- they thrive.


However, to my distress, I read of chicks spending weeks and weeks in small artificially-lit spaces 'cause their owners are afraid they are 'not ready for pasture yet'!!? What could that mean? Bear in mind, readers, that emus are not domestic critters. They're dinosaurs complete with waterproof feather pyjamas. The world is their oyster.

 

[mich9510]

I must be careful not to offend here. My perspective, I note, has become a little more vinegarish in recent years.

'getting sunlight is good'? 'too big for inside but not ready for pasture'? I'm not sure how to take this.

When dad stands up to hit the trail with a new clutch, chicks that have hatched perhaps only an hour ago step out in a world of roaring wind and blasting rain. Their little leggies get muscular development from battling through the leaf-and-stick litter on the ground. Their neck muscles develop from a bazillion daily snatches at the food around them. And -- barring predation -- they thrive.


However, to my distress, I read of chicks spending weeks and weeks in small artificially-lit spaces 'cause their owners are afraid they are 'not ready for pasture yet'!!? What could that mean? Bear in mind, readers, that emus are not domestic critters. They're dinosaurs complete with waterproof feather pyjamas. The world is their oyster.

Hmmmmm....This is very interesting. Like I said I'm no expert. I have only read about emu babies before hatching my little guy. What you're saying makes perfect sense. I plan on turning him out as soon as he's fully feathered. I take Daryl outside almost daily to run. I truly value your input, @briefvisit . How do you suggest I raise Daryl?

 

[briefvisit]

Hmmmmm....This is very interesting. Like I said I'm no expert. I have only read about emu babies before hatching my little guy. What you're saying makes perfect sense. I plan on turning him out as soon as he's fully feathered. I take Daryl outside almost daily to run. I truly value your input, @briefvisit . How do you suggest I raise Daryl?

Well, as I haven’t upset you:

It’s just a bizarre reality – I searched the Net for two years before I found this thread – that I seem to be the only person in the world involved in on-going observation of emus (rothschildis) in their natural environments:

One: the discussions of How Big Should My Emu Enclosure Be? indicate that folks have no idea just how much ground emus cover in the wild. A tennis court is about a postage stamp. An acre is a toilet cubicle. The amount of space that a captive emu should have is: absolutely as much as you can provide. One very important reason is that ‘withdrawal’ is the only defense mechanism available to any and every emu with another bird above it in the pecking-order.

It’s time someone did a study to see if foot-and-leg troubles I read about here are as common in the wild.

Two: an open space containing a number of emus (who didn’t choose each other . . . ) is not a comfortable environment for them. Wild emus use cover to get out of line of sight from dominant birds (or me). Bushes, etc. help the birds live safer and happier lives.

Three: some years ago, we did a serious study of a pair of wild chicks (whom I could get close to because his dad is tame-wild). ‘Alpha’ and ‘Omega’ were observed through binos from about twenty feet for several months (not continuously. I ate and slept between times . . . )
What became clear is (a) they eat a far wider variety of substances than you’d guess, and (b) they derive an enormous amount of exercise from the reach-and-snatch of securing morsels. Swarbrick (‘Emu Husbandry Guidelines’) is the only person I’ve read who digs this, and she recommends hanging bunches of silverbeet (spinach, for you folk) in order to give the captive emus the exercise of ripping them to bits.
So I recommend trying to get anything Yummy for Emus growing ‘ferally’ in Daryl’s world. It seems that situation/budgets have allowed this community (except for a couple of exceptions) to drift into an acceptance of the notion that ‘chick pellets’ and ‘ratite feeder’ are almost sufficient food. Emoooz love FRESH food: flowers, berries, fruit, grass. Do provide plentiful roughage.

Four: there’s a contributor here named ‘S.E.’ S/he is the most knowledgeable character remaining of the ‘original’ cast and crew. Seek advice.

And although formal observations finished years ago, we still get scraps of data. Here are Eric and The Cheepers shot from the bench in my garden. We're using the two chairs to gauge their growth:

 

[emvickrey]

I am very interested in getting an Emu.I want to hatch a couple. i need to know info on them before deciding first. Are they hard to care for? What is their diet like? what sort of enclosure do they need? I would like to be able to let them come inside with us or be outside. Preferrably sleep outside. Do they go broody? How often do they lay egga and at what age do they start?

ust a few questions.

 

[emvickrey]

I just read breifvisit's posts. They are very helpful. I do have another question. Do they jump. I expect they do but I just have to ask. If I put up a 6ft fence could they jump it to get out. I live close to a very busy road but I have 5 acres of land. Mostly behind the house and its woods. We get dogs from neighboring farms and Iwant to make sure they dont get to the possible future Emu or my Emu be able to jump the fence and run away. I wont put an animal in danger just because I want one.

 

[DutchEggs]

/emvickrey, they do jump, I have a seven foot fence that has done just fine.

 

[briefvisit]

Em, this is a standing discussion. The consensus -- from folks who need fences, not me -- is that: if in doubt, make it a bit higher.

Note One: they don't 'jump' as such. They -- and I'm not pulling your leg -- 'surf.' That is, they run at/up the fence, and somehow cleverly manage to tuck their leggies in under themselves at the last second, and . . . zip, they're over! In the bush, they often, on low fences, go over the lower strands but under the top strand. (And in formal observations, finding feathers on fences is data on patterns of travel.)

Note Two: an equally important concern is the type of fence; and the context here is that of really comprehending emus' behaviour when they panic. They aren't dumb; but they don't understand anything except straight lines. Thus, if spooked, even though they've been a million times through a gateway a coupla feet to one side, they'll charge in a straight line into a fence. Thus, any sort of protrusion, like nails and wire, is a risk. Some folks -- see if you can find videos by 'the Sheriff' -- have that sorta white-painted wood slat fence that you see on horse studs (but it's no good if you have chicks).

Note Three: a related concern: if you wanna keep emoooz, you gotta have the discipline to very very very very very carefully scout the ground of their intended enclosure for foreign objects: shards of glass, nails, anything shiny. Heck, I had Greedy Emu swallow the top of my fountain pen: liked the look of it; snatched it up; juggled it about for a second; swallowed it. I have several times seen x-rays of birds who've swallowed objects, suffered perforated stomachs, and died.

[ Number One, the dominant female, is presently holding off a wild breeding-pair that is trying to tax 'her' figs. I can hear them threatening each other.]

 

[emvickrey]

Thanks for all the info. Emu isn't a good idea for us after all.

 

[briefvisit]

Thanks for all the info. Emu isn't a good idea for us after all.

Come and visit anytime, em.