Emu food

[flyweed]

So question for you all....what are you all feeding your Emu's as their staple diet? I start mine out on regular chick starter, and then switch them over to a feed that I have my local feed mill grind up and mix for me. I gave them the ingredients and dietary info off the back of a bag of Mazuri Ratite maintenance formula, and they made it up from there for me. I pay $24.00 per 100 pounds, and have to buy it 500 pounds at a time.

that's all I give mine other than some ocassional horse sweet feed, and water.

Just curious what you all are doing.

Dan

 

[The Sheriff]

I used Mazuri Ratite Starter for the first eight months then switched to Mazuri Ratite Maintenance. I have to order it in bulk in advance because it takes 6 weeks to get to my local feed store after the order is placed. My emus love it. I feed them in the late afternoon to entice them into their enclosure. Doesn't always work.

 

[chickenzoo]

I raise mine up on chick starter and some broccoli , as they get a few months old I add flock raiser. As adults they get a mix of stuff .... Sweet feed, horse pellets, flock raiser, dog food, catfish pellets, game bird seed..... Then treats of collards etc.. I tried the emu pellets but mine turned their nose up at it..... Picky emus. They wanted what everyone else was getting....

 

[flyweed]

I switched mine over from pellet or crumble style chick starter, to the stuff my feed mill makes for me now. Like I said, it contains everything that the Mazuri ratite maintenance formula has in it, BUT my feed mill doesn't have the ability to make it in pellet form...so it's a mix of crushed grains, etc, so it's more of a powder type consistency. My birds didn't like it much at first, but now they are eating it up like no tomorrow. THey still love their sweet feed too, and then I'll throw in slice up apples when they are in season.

Dan

 

[casuarius]

They'll eat anything. Mazuri feeds are highly over rated, and if you compare the ingredients, isnt any better than regular chicken starter/grower/breeder, and the price is way more. I feed mine either chicken layer/breeder pellets or dog food. I get the dumor brand pellets from tractor supply for around $14/bag 50 lbs, and the dog food is called doggy bag brand for $14/bag 40 lbs. Been giving it to them several yrs with no issues. I also feed the chicks layer/breeder crumbles or pellets also, it has more calcium than the starter and ive experienced less egg issues using this.

 

[Nicophorus]

heh, I basically do the same thing as Casuarius. After looking at the specifications for the emu-specific food and compareing it to more general poultry food, I could not justify the cost. I fed all my birds (chieckens/geese/etc) an All-Flock type pellet, but since they raised their price AND switched their bags from 50 lbs to 40 lbs, I dont think that is worth it anymore either.

I've gone back to chicken layer pellets for everything as their base ration. They all get to graze/forage anyways, plus whatever I may throw out into the backyard for them (soft fruit I dont want to eat, stale bread, leftover pasta, etc).

 

[thirst]

I know this thread is old, but my question is related to this.
Ok so at what point are y'all switching from the starter feed to the combination of feeds for yalls emus. This is my first time having an emu. Ours is about 6 months old. And the chicks that she was raised with are about to go out with the older girls and get layer feed.