2026 Emu Hatch-Along

[Strawberry74]

I liked that pop up playpen idea so much that I just bought one lol not really feeling the whole building a pen thing right now.

2 males and 2 females. The standard male and white female have paired up (100% blonde chicks). The blonde male and standard female have paired up (50% blonde/50% standard chicks).

But I’ve seen them randomly pair up with each other lately, so all colors are possible. Will most likely see a bunch of blondes.

Yay! The pop up brooder is awesome and so useful!!

 

[Strawberry74]

Weighed eggs on Saturday. Nothing has changed on that front. The first round are at day 31 today so wiggling should start becoming noticeable if I can find the time to watch for them! I did watch a few when I was weighing on day 28 and I think I saw some!

How's everyone else's hatch progressing?

 

[ShannonsChimkens]

Weighed eggs on Saturday. Nothing has changed on that front. The first round are at day 31 today so wiggling should start becoming noticeable if I can find the time to watch for them! I did watch a few when I was weighing on day 28 and I think I saw some!

How's everyone else's hatch progressing?

Put something small that makes a sort of antenna on top of the egg. You will see the movement SO much easier. Anyone that has hatched or attempted to hatch emus knows the feeling of thinking you saw it move but aren’t sure lol then you start thinking you’re crazy.

I just had the play pen delivered to my gate. It will be a mad scramble Saturday to get it put up and lined with something to keep the poops from spraying out through the netting material. They go out in a little cabin we have on the property, so have to get that organized first. So much to do!

I checked about 6 eggs due to hatch Sunday and early next week. All moving

 

[ShannonsChimkens]

First one is a blonde male

 

[Strawberry74]

First one is a blonde male

Um...we can't believe you unless you post pictures! How do you know it's a male already?

And Yay!!! Congratulations!

 

[Strawberry74]

Um...we can't believe you unless you post pictures! How do you know it's a male already?

And Yay!!! Congratulations!

I just went down the Google rabbit hole and learned about vent sexing emu. I guess I never really thought about it. Lol!

 

[WingItRanch]

I just went down the Google rabbit hole and learned about vent sexing emu. I guess I never really thought about it. Lol!

How do you normally sex? Coloring, feather shape, calls?

 

[Strawberry74]

How do you normally sex? Coloring, feather shape, calls?

I always send in the egg shell lining for DNA testing. Otherwise you can't really tell until around 14 to18 months (from what I've read) when the female starts to mature and her voice changes.

 

[ShannonsChimkens]

Um...we can't believe you unless you post pictures! How do you know it's a male already?

And Yay!!! Congratulations!

lol, ok ok. I’ll get out of bed and hold him shortly.

How do you normally sex? Coloring, feather shape, calls?

Emus are surprisingly easy to vent sex. But it has to be done within the first couple of days after hatch. Their “parts” kind of retract a little and make it much harder after day three. The males have a little doohickey and the female does not. But after three days, the males doohickey can hide and it will look female. So I check twice if it looks female just to make sure lol

The only true ways to sex an emu is vent sexing, dna and adult sounds. DNA isnt too expensive, but takes a while to get sent out and get results back. Then sometimes the sample can get contaminated and they have to be sent out again. The adults make distinct sounds. Females drum with an air sack and males grunt as they don’t have the air sack. But it can take a year and a half for the adult noises to start.

The other methods, like head markings on chicks, are not 100% accurate.

 

[ShannonsChimkens]

I have photos of vent sexing emus if anyone needs them.