Emu fencing

[FourArrowsFarm]

New member here in West Central Indiana.

We are looking to add a couple emus to our homestead. We currently have layers and rabbits, and will be getting a flock of meat birds in Sept. We will also soon have a couple of guineas.

We would like to have the meat birds and emus out on the pasture grazed rotationally. The meat birds will be in a tractor. In order to move the emus around also (we will later be adding a cow and some sheep), we need a portable system. Looking at making a cattle panel hoop house. Do I need to put bedding in there, or will the pasture floor be sufficient? What about winter?

Also, can you offer suggestions for movable fencing?

Thanks in advance for sharing your wisdom.

 

[briefvisit]

Welcome.

'movable fencing'? I don't recall that anyone has ever asked about this! But I suppose the basic rules are the same: must be high; must not have protrusions or allow silly emus to get their heads stuck.

But how would a moveable 'paddock' be large enough for the emus? They need ooodles of room.

'Do I need to put bedding in there, or will the pasture floor be sufficient?' The U.S. folks -- I am Wild Emu Guy in Western Australia -- assure us that you build nice little houses for emus to sleep in, and they largely ignore them.

Feel free to ask as many questions as you like.

Supreme Emu

 

[shamorunner]

Using temporary fencing is a lot more difficult due to the electric pulse no shocking the birds well enough for them to respect the fence. On top of the electric issue, if the birds get spooked then they are likely to test the fence and barrel through, flop over if a sturdy fence, or get tangled up

Paddocking using temp fencing has little to nothing legitimate online. I think there is a place for it as there is with cattle. Keep in mind that you'll need temp posts tall enough to work with and a temp fence that is sturdy enough to repel an emu as well as not require too much setup due to the weight or the fence itself

I'm working on using temp fence with my rheas. I have 5.5ft temp posts coming from amazon to work with and will be using orange snow fencing so the fence is easy for them to see. I'm having good success so far, but I've worked with my birds heavily the past 1.5yr to get them docile enough around people and get them to be calm around equipment

I hope you are able to find something that can work for you. Be ready for a lot of research and testing as well as possibly having to develop things yourself for your emus

 

[briefvisit]

Ah! Electric fences!

'Be ready for a lot of research and testing as well as possibly having to develop things yourself for your emus'

This sounds about right.

 

[shamorunner]

Ah! Electric fences!

'Be ready for a lot of research and testing as well as possibly having to develop things yourself for your emus'

This sounds about right.

My rheas don't get any response from the cattle fence. They will get shocked if standing directly on it but they keep flinching and otherwise act normally