About a year and a half ago I saw an add in the local trader paper for some abandonded emus 7 in all. Figured what the heck we got a small farm of rescued misfits anyway. Got to the place with my f150 ford truck and its camper top thiking just shove em in ...right. At the location I saw a small 100x100 area fenced with 2x4 horse wire and barbwire and this 2 foot wide fence for access. Then i realised Were gonna need a bigger truck! The size of the beasts was unexpected annd a bit unnerving but looking at their condition lack of water (a few inches in a very muddy barrel ) and knowing that the original owner just left them to die when she lost the mobile home she was living in leaving the land owner with birds he had no idea how to care for. so I summoned up the steve irwin in me and jumped in the inclosure and coaxed one toward the fence with some hog feed that the guy had. a careful shove and some devine intervention I had one in the truck the others would have to wait. Upon my home coming the wife noticing my devious smile asks what did you bring home now. I open the truck and she says oh great a dinosaur. After a few minutes i lead it in a type of neck cradle (stupid) around the back of the house to the pasture everything takes cover and not a bleet to be heard from the goats that day. I named it Neptune! The next Saturday I returned to the "farm" with a tow behind trailer jammed it up against the fence and began the round-up. Being hungry and weak I was able to get four more of em into the trailer before the owner showed up to "help". by bring the last two a large sak of food and dumping it where they normaly eat. Not by the exit I might add. So 5 of 7 rescued emu go to prosperity South Carolina. sadly two died in the next few weeks one being a small yearling from malnutrition. But 3 thrive and now its their first breeding season. Saturn My female has sounded only once her deep boom but my males Neptune and Jupiter talk all the time from a deep panther like growl (affection) to their phrump-phrump-prump. which means everything else. My males are very intrested about what prople do and make it a point to help out if the can by picking up various shiney tool a am working with or trying to han me a few nutts and bolts i need to fix the gate. the female no intrested in anything we humans occupy ourselves with.That leads a lot of people to think she is mean but she just likes to be with her kind.
Got a new house and moved into columbia sc bigger yard stocked pond fully fenced nice... wait gotta move 3 emus ,crap. Moverd the goats mover the chickens coop moved the bunnies moved the wife
. took 2 hours to get the emus loaded but finally learned how to properly drive an emu have someone get their attention get around behind them grab a wing in each hand pull toward you and bump then in the direction you want to go. Worked very well with the males the female not digging it a nice high forward marching style kick with each step but better behind her than in front. She has since forgiven me the rudeness of my action. I let them have full access to the new homestead they liked the wooded bit and would swim accross the pone if seperated from one another.I october I put the trio into a breeding area when the males started their alpha male fights and thought the might damage the others if left in with them. On the 26th I Got my frist egg Neptune is the alpha and all three were tending the egg and adding to the nest. Ithink they are as impressed with that big football of teal green as I am.
Emu's while being an intimidating bird I think it gets a bad rap as being mean or agressive. Not so Its not a dog not a cat not a pig or a goat its an emu a 130 million year old species that is not domesticated and kind of set in its ways. Understand it and They make great additions to a small farm. If you scare it it will defend itself . I sit with them in the pen and they come by for a scratch on the neck, but now they have an egg and have taken on a more defenceive position so guess what I pet them from the other side of de- fence.
If anyone in the area would like to try to incubate a few of these eggs I would be willing to share them assuming she lays more that is
Got a new house and moved into columbia sc bigger yard stocked pond fully fenced nice... wait gotta move 3 emus ,crap. Moverd the goats mover the chickens coop moved the bunnies moved the wife
. took 2 hours to get the emus loaded but finally learned how to properly drive an emu have someone get their attention get around behind them grab a wing in each hand pull toward you and bump then in the direction you want to go. Worked very well with the males the female not digging it a nice high forward marching style kick with each step but better behind her than in front. She has since forgiven me the rudeness of my action. I let them have full access to the new homestead they liked the wooded bit and would swim accross the pone if seperated from one another.I october I put the trio into a breeding area when the males started their alpha male fights and thought the might damage the others if left in with them. On the 26th I Got my frist egg Neptune is the alpha and all three were tending the egg and adding to the nest. Ithink they are as impressed with that big football of teal green as I am.Emu's while being an intimidating bird I think it gets a bad rap as being mean or agressive. Not so Its not a dog not a cat not a pig or a goat its an emu a 130 million year old species that is not domesticated and kind of set in its ways. Understand it and They make great additions to a small farm. If you scare it it will defend itself . I sit with them in the pen and they come by for a scratch on the neck, but now they have an egg and have taken on a more defenceive position so guess what I pet them from the other side of de- fence.
If anyone in the area would like to try to incubate a few of these eggs I would be willing to share them assuming she lays more that is
