Will Rheas ruin my garden?

[Ilovewildlife]

Hi,
I was thinking of maybe getting some fertile Rhea eggs and hatching them. I have a garden which is a few acres and was thinking of letting them roam freely around it. However, I am not sure if they will ruin my garden completely by eating vegetables and flowers. Most of my garden has hedges which are a couple of metres high and my gate is about 1 1/2 metres high. Would they escape from it? My vegetable patch has about a 3/4 metre high fence around it. Would they be worth getting? I'm probably not going to get them if they will ruin my garden, but at the same time, I don't really want to have to build a large enclosure that will take up half of the garden as I already have a large chicken pen. Also, are Rheas very dangerous? Are the eggs nice?
Best regards,

 

[Ilovewildlife]

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[pauleberly]

I have 0 experience wth rheas. When I was growing up my neighbors had Ostrich and they would eat from his garden. While they did not "destroy" it, the things that they did find delicious was completely gone

 

[Enkayinfrance]

Hi. I am considering doing exactly the same in my garden in northern France. It's more field than garden but I do have some fruit trees and roses. I'm thinking about Emus or Rheas. Did you find any information?

 

[Donna R Raybon]

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Go find someone who has emu/rhea and spend some time with the birds and the people. As a newbie you will need the people's expertise. And, never forget none of ratites are a domesticated species, but arewild.[/U]
Be mindful of how would you immobilize or transport a fully grown bird? If one gets loose and causes damage? What if they get spooked and run through a fence? I don't know about rhea, but emu are nearly impossible to sex without bloodtest. Lot of people had them around here back in late 1980s.

 

[Enkayinfrance]

Thank you. I am planning on visiting an experienced Ostrich, Rhea, Emu farmer next week so will see what he has to say. It's certainly not something to rush into and any advice is gratefully received.

 

[Emu House]

Hi, I have one pet emu. No problem with her free roaming our entire 10 acre property including the house garden area. She is and always has been a pleasure to have around. I have an extensive garden area with trees, shrubs, flowering plants of all description and even with access to the vegie garden, she has never been a problem. I can highly recommend an emu as a pet as long as you spend quality time with it. They respond very well to attention. My emu is particularly attached to me as I am the one who tends to her needs more than anyone else. When she was injured, she let me dress the wound and trusted me enough to treat her several times a day every day throughout the ordeal. You don't need an enclosure, but you should have good fencing although when an emu starts eyeing off the greener pastures over yonder, they will attempt to get there no matter what the fencing is like. The most important things is that you don't have barbed wire. That's a no-no. If you have a couple of emus together, they will be less likely to go walk-about. One emu on its own will seek out a mate from time to time and that's when they start to get agitated and want to go. Despite our 'ideal' fencing, ours got out a couple of times. Never far, and fortunately, I can walk her home again by putting my hand on her back and walking next to her. She would be one of the greatest pets ever !