IamEmily
Hatching
Hello. I wanted to share a recent experience I had with my emu. We recently got a new mini horse and we let him stay in a pen next to our two emus ( along with the animals they share a pen with; goats and pigs). Well, this new horse really freaked out our male emu. All night he ran along the fence line and every time he turned to run the new direction, he rubbed his face and neck against the fence ( which is wood and wire) and ended up scraping off all of his neck feathers, some of his head feathers until he was raw and swollen.
I did not know he did this until the morning when I found him. When I left him in the evening he seemed fine and not panicky next to the new mini horse. Anyway, I immediately moved the mini horse to a pen out of site and away from our emu. He still slowly paced the fence line, I tried to gently walk him away from it. He then just sat down and didn't eat. This went on for 8 days!
I looked everywhere online to see what I could do for him. I felt terrible. Poor guy. I added sugar to his water ( which he drank just a little of) and offered him bread and strawberries everyday. Well, o the 9th day, I went out to feed him and he wanted a few berries! Hooray! And each day since he has been eating more- he is on his way to normal.
Well, I have no idea if this will help anyone with their emus or not, but I wanted to get this online just incase. And even though I love our emus, I would not advise anyone thinking of getting one as a pet- only because they aren't domesticated well and I'm not sure humans can provide them with a space and life they deserve. One more thing! No offense to any current emu owners out there! I don't mean you aren't good to your birds, I just mean they seem like they would be far better off running free then in a pen- no matter how large.
I did not know he did this until the morning when I found him. When I left him in the evening he seemed fine and not panicky next to the new mini horse. Anyway, I immediately moved the mini horse to a pen out of site and away from our emu. He still slowly paced the fence line, I tried to gently walk him away from it. He then just sat down and didn't eat. This went on for 8 days!
I looked everywhere online to see what I could do for him. I felt terrible. Poor guy. I added sugar to his water ( which he drank just a little of) and offered him bread and strawberries everyday. Well, o the 9th day, I went out to feed him and he wanted a few berries! Hooray! And each day since he has been eating more- he is on his way to normal.
Well, I have no idea if this will help anyone with their emus or not, but I wanted to get this online just incase. And even though I love our emus, I would not advise anyone thinking of getting one as a pet- only because they aren't domesticated well and I'm not sure humans can provide them with a space and life they deserve. One more thing! No offense to any current emu owners out there! I don't mean you aren't good to your birds, I just mean they seem like they would be far better off running free then in a pen- no matter how large.