A few questions

[CHlCKEN]

I absolutely adore Emus and have always had them in the back of my mind to raise. I only have a few questions...

Do emus require an overhead shelter?

Can Emus be raised alone? If not, would it be best to raise all female or all male emus, or is it safe to mix.

I want two or three emus. Is that enough or too little? How much space would that many need? What kind of enclosure can you build?

How expensive is it to hatch out and raise your own?

 

[lost-duckling]

I have a boy and girl they about a year old on an acre and they seem fine. Also the were fine in our 6 degree texas snow storm we had last month with no shelter.
they also get along fine with our other adult birds (ducks and chickens) but they threw some ducklings up in the air and killed them so we are gonna put them on a seperate field of the same size.

 

[CHlCKEN]

@Pyxis

 

[JustAChickenLoverOverHere]

Emus need somewhere to hide from rain, sleet, hail, etc. So yes, they do need an overhead space.
It's best not to keep emus alone, as they are very social. It really depends on the birds, but it's fine to mix genders.
Two or three is just fine. I'd recommend keeping a male and a female, or a male and two females. I wouldn't keep all males.
The bare minimum for a pair, is 100 by 20, and even that's a bit small, as @Pyxis stated in a different thread.
Not sure about hatching and raising them
@EmuCon @Calla Anything else needed here?

 

[JustAChickenLoverOverHere]

@Pyxis

and for the incubator you can use the hovabator genesis 1588. A lot of people on BYC use it to incubate emu eggs.

 

[Pyxis]

I'm at work, but when I get home I'll type up some answers for you

 

[Pyxis]

Do emus require an overhead shelter?

Yes. They need to be able to get out of the inclement weather, and also have a place they can go to be cooler or warmer if it's very hot or cold outside.

Can Emus be raised alone? If not, would it be best to raise all female or all male emus, or is it safe to mix.

They are social and you should have at least two emus. Females are the more territorial and aggressive of the genders, so if you didn't want to breed and keep a male/female pair, I'd keep two males.

I want two or three emus. Is that enough or too little? How much space would that many need? What kind of enclosure can you build?

Two or three is fine. You'll want at the very minimum an outside space of 100 feet by 20 feet for one pair, but I'd personally go larger than that. The fencing needs to be at least six feet high or they can go over it.

How expensive is it to hatch out and raise your own?

Depends. Eggs are usually sold for around 50 to 70 dollars each. Of course, there's no guarantee they'll hatch. And you'll need to purchase an incubator that can handle emu eggs. Plus supplies to build the shelter and fence in a pasture for them.

And that's the initial investment. You'll have to figure feed and maintenance costs for each year, as well. I'd say my adult pair cost me about $600 in feed each year.

 

[CHlCKEN]

Yes. They need to be able to get out of the inclement weather, and also have a place they can go to be cooler or warmer if it's very hot or cold outside.



They are social and you should have at least two emus. Females are the more territorial and aggressive of the genders, so if you didn't want to breed and keep a male/female pair, I'd keep two males.



Two or three is fine. You'll want at the very minimum an outside space of 100 feet by 20 feet for one pair, but I'd personally go larger than that. The fencing needs to be at least six feet high or they can go over it.




Depends. Eggs are usually sold for around 50 to 70 dollars each. Of course, there's no guarantee they'll hatch. And you'll need to purchase an incubator that can handle emu eggs. Plus supplies to build the shelter and fence in a pasture for them.

And that's the initial investment. You'll have to figure feed and maintenance costs for each year, as well. I'd say my adult pair cost me about $600 in feed each year.

Thank you! That was really helpful.