Good Pets???

[Tame Emu Guy]

Hey, Chickenfreak!

I seem to be seconding Yinupu of late: indeed, it is important to state the nitty gritty before the cutey cutey.

You keep asking questions. We’ll keep answering them exactly because we respect those who do thorough preliminary research.

Just once ever have I had to bite my lip. Someone asked a question that indicated that they were ignorant, and the painful death of a bird resulted.

S.E.

 

[moonjelly]

Crazy people. I can't imagine someone thinking those cute little chicks aren't going to grow into giant birds. Or at least none of my non-farm friends and family are jealous of me...

In any case, I definitely consider my emu my pets, same as my other livestock.

 

[ES Emus]

Sorry guys.. but it needs to be said from time to time



I hate to burst anyone's bubble.. but I hate to lump emu and other ratites in as "pets" since this fuels the people who are looking for the next "cool" fad pet

Bottom line is they are livestock. Livestock which needs special fencing and care. they are not a puppy or a kitten. They do get big and all are potentially dangerous (ripping out earrings to raking with sharp claws, kicking like a mule to chasing and causing serious injury).

So ownership of any of the ratites should not be taken lightly. If one escapes it's a bit different than a chicken escaping the henhouse. When your cute lil "pet" escapes it can cause all sorts of havoc to your neighbors, their pets as well as passing motorists. Not to mention that escaped ratites have been known to travel large distances which means that havoc would be more widespread.


Most vets have no idea as to how to treat an emu. Not to mention they are prohibited everywhere where livestock is prohibited.
calling them "good pets" fuels the misconception that they can be kept by anyone or are good for all ages.
Plus if something happens and it dies.. it's a bit harder to flush than a goldfish.



Sure emu hugs are great... but there is a lot more to keeping a ratite than their silly antics and goofy smiles. Which basically means that ratite ownership is not something to be taken lightly and certainly shouldn't be the next new 'fad"

Amen!

 

[ES Emus]

We have friends who tried to raise emus and ostriches together. They all got along great the first year, then the second year, some of the ostriches went loco and became a danger to both the emus and the owners! It was quite a drastic (and scary) change in personalities. One year, you could handfeed the ostiches and they were very gentle (for an 8' tall bird) and the next year they were "normal" one day but the next day they would be dangerously aggressive and you never could be sure which personality would show up.

 

[moonjelly]

That sounds strange. Maybe they had reached sexual maturity and it was breeding season? I know someone with two ostriches that he's had for over ten years and they're sweet as can be. I guess with anything it depends upon the bird. Also, some subspecies are more ornery than others.

 

[Nicophorus]

That's interesting and kind of expected from what you read about ostriches. If/when I get ostrich i'll have to plan on housing them separate.

Recently one of my adult emu jumped a short fence into an enclosure I had some young emu in and tried to kill them. Like with so many animals, you got to introduce new members SLOWLY to the flock or you risk disaster. I'll house the juveniles within sight of the adults until they are big enough to join them, and hopefully by then they will be use to each other and get along.

I need to find some young rhea to raise with these young emu, get the socializing started.

 

[Tame Emu Guy]

Wa ha ha!!! I love being no-fences guy!.

Imagine that you were running an emu-ery with a hundred paddocks containing a thousand birds. Then, one night, a wicked witch waved her wand . . .

and all the fences disappeared.

The next morning, you come out of the house at dawn, with a cup of coffee in hand, and from horizon to horizon you see emus chasing each other, flaring, booming, grunting, charging, pecking, kicking, stomping, counter-attacking, fleeing, manoeuvring; and forming alliances in order to flare, boom, grunt, charge, peck, kick, stomp etc., etc.

Welcome to my world . . .

S.E.

 

[Godsgrl]

Just a thought on the ostrich thing. I'm a guide for my zoo's new Veldt exhibit. We have two ostriches, Fred and Wilma. Fred likes to escort our trailer out to the exhibit. Then he'll do his own thing, usually. Wilma will come up and snoop around, even put her head in the trailer to see if our guests have food. But as far as exiting the trailer around them? They have really strong legs, and are awfully tall...not sure I'd want to do that.

 

[Tame Emu Guy]

Hey, Godsgrl!

Let’s see if I got this right: you and others come out onto the ‘veldt’ in a vehicle. The ostriches are captive, and they approach the vehicle. Wilma is tame/inquisitive enough to poke her beak in.

Well . . . it’s a matter of your general relationship with those birds, not so much a matter of the vehicle. Forget about the vehicle for a minute. What you're faced with here is evaluating the pair. [I'm assuming that there's no other major threats -- like a lion!] So:

Have other staff been on foot in the enclosure with them ? Have they a history of aggression in their present location?

Have they ever 'flared' their feathers at you? Hissed? Pranced threateningly about? Manoeuvred as a pair 'against' the vehicle? [Attacked it with their talons? Wa ha ha . . . ]

Can you throw them treats?

Next, Godsgrl, you’d be lookin’ at 'meeting' these birds one on one, using whatever broom/riot shield protocol your zoo has for handling potentially-dangerous critters.

And let's mention here that you are on solid ground as an employee to ask for info and training in this stuff. Your boss should understand that this enhances your work-skills in an immediate and practical way -- apart from his concern not to get his staff stomped on.

[You are welcome to ask about and research handling techniques for ratites. There are a number of pdf's to be viewed. They might well not give you exact information about your situation, but they teach you a lot about the general practices of being at close quarters with ratites.]


So, you’d start at whatever gate takes you into their presence. Enter the compound in maximum-caution mode.

I recommend diligently searching the Youtube clips on cassowaries. You’ll see this sort of thing shown there.

From that responsible beginning, you begin to gauge the birds in respect of a park-visitor-and-staff-safety, then getting to know them. There are BYC folk who can recommend treats. There are BYC threads that can provide information about close-quarters interaction with ostriches.

Can you determine the history of the pair? That could give you pivotal knowledge. Used to people? Were they pets? From a breeding-ranch? From a zoo?

An email or even a letter might be a great investment in your development as a guide.



Final note, G., general opinion reckons:

adult male ostriches most ornery
cassowaries are territorial and aggressive
female ostriches are perhaps next on the list
a grumpy old man emu that you were trying to transport would be next
occasionally 'paddock emus' -- unhappy captive birds -- are a bit aggressive
rheas can apparently be quarrelsome

and of course, thousands of New Zealanders are savaged to death every week by flocks of evil kiwis!


We look forward to hearing your reports!!

Supreme Emu
Western Australia

 

[Godsgrl]

We take guests out into our 43 acre exhibit in a trailer large enough to accommodate 25 people. This is pulled by a small tractor. We don't ordinarily exit the trailer, but we have had some extraordinary circumstances where we have. Picking up dummy eggs, sunglasses, etc. Or a personal request from a guest for pictures of the group on the trailer. We've had no aggression from the ostriches during this time. The birds have never aggressively charged our trailer. They are more nosey than anything.with us.

Yes the staff have been on foot in the exhibit with no aggression towards the keepers. We are not allowed to feed them, as we don't want them to think of the trailer, and our guests as a place for food. Keepers come in on a golf cart and feed separately from us. The birds have been in a zoo for all of their lives, as far as I know. Before going out on this exhibit, they were on display in our main zoo.

I'll look into the videos and articles you suggested. Thank you so much for your information. Last week, we were treated to Fred dancing for Wilma. Such a beautiful display.