New emu owner. Not eating their pellets?

[mark19851234]

'but the female keeps chasing them' Of course! If I were a dinosaur capable of eliminating that sheep in a milli-second, I'd sure run away!!

Vegies? Well, other members here on BYC mention spinach (silverbeet). But I don't know because my birds are on auto-pilot. I always mention fruit because it is something I know they really like. (The fruit comes from the trees remaining from the orchard -- they scavenge it most ably.)

Maybe, in order to 'get the ball rolling,' you could put aside the no-junk-food rule, and just try to get them to eat. Peanut butter isn't junk. Carrots? Cabbage and cauliflower? bread, lentils, rice, pasta? scraps of meat?

But here's the bottom line, Mark: although individual birds have individual tastes, healthy emus are curious, and will scoff up a wide range of foods. So you might get a bit of every potentially Yummy thing, and put all of them out, in little heaps, and just leave them. Check later to see if they ate any. Chop things fairly finely.

SE

Thanks again for the reply it is really appreciated. I am hoping they can live with the sheep eventually. I guess they have never seen sheep before and a new home thrown into the mix is a lot for them to cope with. I have just put down bowls of scrambled egg, carrots, brokoli, dog food, dog treats, tuna. If this doesnt work I am really not sure what to do. They looked at the food then walked away. I am hoping they will eat it eventually

 

[briefvisit]

Just not feeling isolated helps new owners. BYC long-timers understand this.

Let's go through a little check list:

the two emus are not outright ill
they are not alarmed or pacing the fence or doing anything else that indicates stress -- except not eating!
they are drinking
you are prepared to get a vet to look at them

Yeh, okay. So now we sit and wait.

SE

 

[mark19851234]

Just not feeling isolated helps new owners. BYC long-timers understand this.

Let's go through a little check list:

the two emus are not outright ill
they are not alarmed or pacing the fence or doing anything else that indicates stress -- except not eating!
they are drinking
you are prepared to get a vet to look at them

Yeh, okay. So now we sit and wait.

SE

Hi

Thanks for that logical response it is very reassuring. I read online the males can go 50+ days without eating while they are with the eggs. I assume based on that 5 days without food isnt going to hurt them. I will keep you all updated. Thanks again!

 

[mark19851234]

'but the female keeps chasing them' Of course! If I were a dinosaur capable of eliminating that sheep in a milli-second, I'd sure run away!!

Vegies? Well, other members here on BYC mention spinach (silverbeet). But I don't know because my birds are on auto-pilot. I always mention fruit because it is something I know they really like. (The fruit comes from the trees remaining from the orchard -- they scavenge it most ably.)

Maybe, in order to 'get the ball rolling,' you could put aside the no-junk-food rule, and just try to get them to eat. Peanut butter isn't junk. Carrots? Cabbage and cauliflower? bread, lentils, rice, pasta? scraps of meat?

But here's the bottom line, Mark: although individual birds have individual tastes, healthy emus are curious, and will scoff up a wide range of foods. So you might get a bit of every potentially Yummy thing, and put all of them out, in little heaps, and just leave them. Check later to see if they ate any. Chop things fairly finely.

SE

Made some progress today. Managed to get the girl to eat dandelion leaves and about 20 grapes!!! The boy did try some leaves but dont think any actually made it down his throat. Shows no interest in the grapes. Wierd how the girl only seems to like red grapes. I will try and find some more tomorrow to give them as spinach leaves didnt seem to have the same effect.

 

[briefvisit]

This is very promising.

Meanwhile here, the Gang of Five -- Tooshtoosh's clutch, now on their own in the world -- eat their wheat and as much of LimpyChick's wheat as they can.

 

[T-R-O-U-B-L-E]

How are the emus now?