Warning to perspective first-time emu owners!

[briefvisit]

'Occasionally the emus decide they don't want any chickens or ducks in the pen with them and they start chasing them. To make sure the littler birds can easily get away we built an interior pen within the emu pen and left a generous gap at the bottom for the chickens and ducks to slip right through.' The tame-wild chicks -- including Felicity when she was still small -- run into the tangle of low boughs under the fig tree, where the adults chasing them can't get in.

Felicity and her consort, 'Groestl,' are here this morning, just start the eleventh fig-season of the observation project here.

 

[Emu Island]

They will be about 2 weeks old when we can pick them up. They would have access to a good sized pond, about 100 acres that they could play around (although we wouldn’t want them that far). Will they travel too far if we don’t keep them inside our 6’ fence? The 6’ fence surrounds 1 to 1 1/2 acres with a barn and small pond they would have access to. That’s where we keep our birds in the winter so predates can’t catch them on the ice. When the nicer weather is here, everyone free ranges around the pond and takes their little field trips all over the land. We would appreciate any advice

The area that you describe with 1 to 1 1/2 acres with a barn and pond, surrounded by a 6' fence, sounds like the ideal environment for two mu's when they are old enough to be outside on their own. They don't have a natural homing instinct so I'm not sure what would be the outcome if they were left to wander around in 100 acres.

Best of luck with your new babies. Nothing like an emu to brighten the day!

 

[poultrylady]

Excellent advice! I have a question for you please, I have considered getting a few emus myself, I have a 5 acre field, it has field fence all around it with 2 strands of barbed wire and one strand of electric wire on top of that. I am sure that is large enough for a few emus. I do have 3 milk cows that are very tame that run in this field- how do you think emus and cows would get along? Would it be a bad idea to run them together? Thanks for any info.

 

[yinepu]

Excellent advice! I have a question for you please, I have considered getting a few emus myself, I have a 5 acre field, it has field fence all around it with 2 strands of barbed wire and one strand of electric wire on top of that. I am sure that is large enough for a few emus. I do have 3 milk cows that are very tame that run in this field- how do you think emus and cows would get along? Would it be a bad idea to run them together? Thanks for any info.

If the fence is tall enough they should do fine. The electric fence won't have any effect on them (and btw.. we hate barbed wire for emus because they will try to plow through it/over it resulting in shredding their skin).
How tall is the field fence?

Emus will USUALLY get along with larger livestock (miniature horse size and up).. though they will attack dogs, cats, other poultry, other unknown emus and so on. Would you be getting adults, babies or hatching out eggs?
if you were getting adults you would need to confine them into a smaller area at first until they got used to seeing the cows.. if you get babies I would advise the same thing.. mainly so you can keep them 'tamer" until they get used to their new home, the feeding routine and you; before releasing them on 5 acres.

How visible is the fence? When an emu gets going they will tend to run into a fence especially if they don't know it's there..

 

[ES Emus]

Excellent advice! I have a question for you please, I have considered getting a few emus myself, I have a 5 acre field, it has field fence all around it with 2 strands of barbed wire and one strand of electric wire on top of that. I am sure that is large enough for a few emus. I do have 3 milk cows that are very tame that run in this field- how do you think emus and cows would get along? Would it be a bad idea to run them together? Thanks for any info.

Good question poultrylady! Unfortunately, there is not a sure answer but I will tell you what I think would happen. First, that is plenty of room for emus. However, that being said, I think the electric and barbed wire are possible recipes for disaster! Emus are very curious birds and if there is a place for them to stick their heads, they will! Most people who raise emus will tell you that they need a 6' tall fence and would recommend againt barbed wire which they would probably injure themselves with...My experience with emus is that they tend to do better when introduced to livestock in the livestock's pen, possibly because they are too busy orienting to their new digs than trying to pick a fight. When livestock are introduced to an existing emus's "home turf" the emu(s) tend to defend their territory and often will fight with the new intruders. Sometimes these "fights" are more bluffs and sometimes there is bloodshed. So unfortunately, there is no surefire answer, but the larger the enclosure is , the better the chance that they will live and let live!

 

[poultrylady]

I do see how the barbed wire and electric strand would be a problem. I really can't do away with them though because these cows will destroy the field fence without it. I have been considering getting some emu eggs to hatch so I can raise them up and hopefully have tame ones. I am not new to birds, I have everything from chickens, geese, peafowl, pheasants, quail, etc... I have just wanted some emus for years now. But I can't redo the fencing just for them. Well, Maybe someday I can have a few of them.

 

[yinepu]

Emu all have different personalities. Mine get along fine.with all my great pyrenees dogs.....fainting goats...mini horses...mini cows...llama...alpaca. ....mini pig....horses etc. Never had them.be aggressive towards any new animals.of that size. Smaller poultry are normally a concern. I have some Emu that won't bother the.chickens...the younger 2 like to chase them sometimes...but not the ducks. They don't bother the geese to much either...but during breeding season my one male.will chase the geese. They don't mess with the swan or.cranes.....the turkey.and peafowl chase the Emu..... So I think for the most part, if it won't run and it stands its ground the Emu leave it alone. The fun for th is the chase. I have roosters that will beat up a Emu....lol
But smaller birds that run are a target and anything that gets an Emu excited.
Never had any of mine be aggressive to people but have heard of some.
Luckily most of the people who contact me ask a lot of questions about them before deciding on one and I wouldn't sell one to someone who wasn't fully.committed and prepared.
They surely aren't for everyone.

They are just plain weird critters.. lol

My Great Pyr was their "mom" until a couple of weeks ago.. They would even snuggle next to her to sleep
now they try to fight her and chase her off.. No idea why unless it's because they are nearing the 1 year mark. They will actually corner her and attack.. I was shocked when I caught them in the act.. it got so bad that now she's retired from being their mother... So hopefully some of these eggs hatch so she has some new kids to look after.

 

[yinepu]

Strange...... I have 5 GPs. ....its so funny to watch peoples faces as the dogs come running to the fence barking with Emu following right behind...hehe. my Emu and.GP often sleep together....play around.etc.... My one male is sitting.and some of the GPs sleep near him at night. If the dogs try to seal some of the Emu food then they might get a peck....but otherwise they are good. My cat...well most get along with him.....because he grew up with them and stands his ground.....but if he runs they will half heartly run after.
The turkey and peafowl however.....they rule. The turkey will run after the Emu...run them off their food...jump up and flogg them.....funny to watch a fat tom turkey wattling after an Emu...lol. The peafowl are worse. hehe

I wish mine still loved my Pyr.. she misses being out with them.. but when I take her out to the pasture she takes one look at them and her tail drops down and she gives me that look like "do I HAVE to go in there with them??" I don't know what happened to change the dynamic between them literally overnight. one day they were snuggling up next to her.. the next morning she was the enemy. I know she didn't snap at them or anything because she won't even defend herself from them when they do attack. She is a great protector though.. she has killed a coyote and chased off numerous foxes..

 

[Going Bhonkers]

It seems like emus are becoming fashionable to own again, as I have been contacted by record numbers of perspective egg and chick buyers. Many of these people have never raised or even been around an adult emu. One of the first questions that I ask any potential customer is, "how much space do you have for your pen?".

I have been amazed at the number of people who have not considered how much room an adult emu requires and planned to raise then in an "old dog or chicken pen". When I get that for an answer, I refuse to consider selling them an emu, even if they get mad or offer me more that what I would normally charge.

Emus are very large birds (duh?) and need to be able to run in order to strengthen their legs and get their exercise. They are not birds that can typically be kept in a back yard "cage" or even the typical residential back yard!. They can run at speeds in excess of 30 miles per hour and take up to 9' in a single stride! Their pens need to be very long (120' or more), although they can be narrow in design.

If you are thinking about becoming an emu owner, remember that an emu, as a rule, requires about the same space that a horse would and you would not (hopefully) think about keeping a horse cooped up in an old dog pen!

Great advice! I know emus are NOT a possibility for me, so I live vicariously through you guys!!

 

[Chickie Mama]

I agree with the starter of this tread!

Emus are fascinating creatures but there is no doubt about it- they are not for everyone. All of our emus are tame. Hand raised from hatching, but I find that they are more "wild" than any other feathered critters in my care.

Newbies should be aware:
The female emus can be aggressive towards female people when laying eggs.

Emus have a pecking order and the smallest are sometimes bullied pretty badly. (Picture above)


Emus should have weather proof shelter with a large enclosure with high fence and plenty of space to run eat grass and bugs. (Pictured above... It is hard to see in this pic, but the enclosure goes into that green grassy area in front of the barn as well.)Emus do not have a homing instinct (because they wander and migrate in the wild) so if they get out of their enclosure they can be incredibly difficult to get back in. Not to mention they can cover a lot of ground in a short span of time.


I encourage everyone to make well informed decisions.