Can ostriches hatch emu eggs?

[bravevline]

We only had the two emus and the was ill. She laid only the one egg before she died. I hope it's fertilized. We don't have an incubator so I threw it in the ostrich eggs they've been sitting on. It's been there for a couple days and they've still been sitting. Will this pan out well?

 

[Tame Emu Guy]

Hey ya, Braveline,

wow! Never a dull moment here at BYC!

First Answer: congratulations, you are very likely the first person to ever ask this this question . . . at least on the Net; and I ruckon that it’s a 99% chance that no one has ever had this experience. . . . at least on the Net.

H o w e v e r . . .

you could . . .

hit the Net, and get some data on incubation periods and (wow, talk about esoteric!) the body temperatures of various ratites.

Next, Braveline, you start reading the posts on the Emu Hatchalong 2012 thread. You’ll find there the best information available, on the Net, on the temperatures necessary to successfully hatch emu chicks.

Then . . . you start providing us with periodic reports ‘cause we wanna know how this will pan out!

Supreme Emu
Western Australia

 

[bravevline]

I've learned to make a homemade incubator using heat lamps. I candled the egg and it seems be doing fine now, but thanks for reading!

 

[29PalmsRanch]

I've learned to make a homemade incubator using heat lamps. I candled the egg and it seems be doing fine now, but thanks for reading!

You've got one huge problem. Emu eggs go for about 10 days more than ostrich. Ostrich pop between day 40 and 42. In fact I've got 3 in the hatcher now. One has already started to pip The other issue is humidity. Ostrich go at 20% - 40% depending on weight. No increase is needed at hatch. I keep mine at 30% - 35% in the hatcher. Emu I understand go at 50% until day 50 and then increase for the hatch.

You are going to have to hand turn under artificial conditions for the remaining 10 - 12 days after the ostrich hatch. And here's the other bear. The ostriches will get EXTREMELY protective over the chicks that hatch first. You are going to have to figure out a safe exit strategy for the emu eggs.

I'd get an incubator up and running right now, whether it is home made or an old GQF Sportsman. Get it stabilized for 24 - 48 hours. Then go steal the emu eggs back and put them in your incubator.

 

[bravevline]

Everything is fine cause the incubator is being used only for this individual egg

 

[The Sheriff]

You've got one huge problem. Emu eggs go for about 10 days more than ostrich. Ostrich pop between day 40 and 42. In fact I've got 3 in the hatcher now. One has already started to pip The other issue is humidity. Ostrich go at 20% - 40% depending on weight. No increase is needed at hatch. I keep mine at 30% - 35% in the hatcher. Emu I understand go at 50% until day 50 and then increase for the hatch.

You are going to have to hand turn under artificial conditions for the remaining 10 - 12 days after the ostrich hatch. And here's the other bear. The ostriches will get EXTREMELY protective over the chicks that hatch first. You are going to have to figure out a safe exit strategy for the emu eggs.

I'd get an incubator up and running right now, whether it is home made or an old GQF Sportsman. Get it stabilized for 24 - 48 hours. Then go steal the emu eggs back and put them in your incubator.

Baby pics, please?

 

[29PalmsRanch]

Baby pics, please?

Absolutely! As soon as they break out I'll definitely upload pics. They take a bit longer than normal birds We won't do anything to assist unless they go into day 3 without any progress. Then it's a crap shoot with respect to whether the bird will survive or not. Usually what happens is they pip sometime during day 1 of the hatching cycle. They just sit there and breathe while enlarging the hole a bit they initially made. Towards the end of day 2 they become much more active when the rest of the yolk sack is absorbed into their body. Sometime between the end of day 41 and mid day for day 42 they make their break for it.

The incubator they are in is a Hatchrite. It is a 4 drawer unit with 2 in the upper part, 2 in the lower. My Natureform hatcher is down due to faulty Humidity and Temp controllers. So while we are waiting for those to get here next week, I removed the bottom drawer in the lower unit to use as a hatcher. There are eggs in the tray above, but there is a good 18 inches or so of clearance between the bottom of the lower unit and the bottom of the tray above the eggs. So we should be all good. The only thing I do not like about this is that the birds are hatching onto stainless which is slick. We are going to line the bottom with sterilized dry towels this morning. (My wife breeds a champion line of English Mastiffs... so we have the towel sterilizer thank God) That should give them the ability to move around as they wish without 'skating'.

 

[29PalmsRanch]

Baby pics, please?

Baby!




Resting...



Up it goes!



Resting...


Up it goes!

(repeats endlessly )

 

[bravevline]

It's so beautiful!!! I just love the ostriches!

 

[29PalmsRanch]

It's so beautiful!!! I just love the ostriches!

Thanks We are sending off his/her feather for DNA sex testing in the morning. It's name is going to be Una or Uno because it's the first bird of the season for us. And though they started REALLY late this year, my hens are going at it hard and heavy. We have a group of 5 hens who are averaging one egg each every other day. Right now we have 100+ in the incubator with 8 new ones from this evening going in first thing in the morning. Beginning this Sunday, we have groups of eggs going to the hatcher every 3rd day. It is going to be an interesting and busy hatching season through the end of November beginning of December this year that's for sure

The little one is currently crashed out in his little brooder run. He started walking around this morning... and its always the cutest thing to watch lol