Emu pair not getting along

[Misfits Farm 92]

I have a pair of emus that are 2 and a half years old. They don't get along. The female will sometimes hiss and chase the male while biting at his head. Is there a way to stop this fighting or do I have to separate them and try to pair them with other birds?
Here's a couple pictures of their pen, if that's the problem.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

@Pyxis might have a few ideas.

 

[briefvisit]

Breeding season here in Western Australia is winter -- June, July, August. When is your breeding-season?

Supreme Emu

The bird at centre has amazing tail plumage!

And just for fun: these are two wild birds been off their roost for no more than a minute. I filmed them while auditing at first light:

https://imgur.com/WOsDgDR

 

[Misfits Farm 92]

Breeding season here in Western Australia is winter -- June, July, August. When is your breeding-season?

Supreme Emu

The bird at centre has amazing tail plumage!

And just for fun: these are two wild birds been off their roost for no more than a minute. I filmed them while auditing at first light:

https://imgur.com/WOsDgDR

Beautiful birds! I believe breeding season here in the US is January through April, but everything I read shows a different thing. I've seen the aggressive behavior mostly during the summer months, oddly.

 

[briefvisit]

Morning, Misfits. Well, we can fumble around with some ideas:

IMHO, the basic issue is pretty much always space. Wild emus squabble endlessly. Really, it just never stops! But the weaker birds just skedaddle. No harm done.

But when you have just two birds -- two birds is not necessarily a breeding-pair -- it's easy to see how this normal behaviour becomes a problem.

[And no criticism here, just data: it seems you have a lovely big space for your birds; but don't forget that emus are used to massive spaces. In full flight, they can run the length of a football field in seconds.]

Supreme Emu

[Five birds here: the three home-team females, one small adult, and a lone wild chick.]

 

[Misfits Farm 92]

Morning, Misfits. Well, we can fumble around with some ideas:

IMHO, the basic issue is pretty much always space. Wild emus squabble endlessly. Really, it just never stops! But the weaker birds just skedaddle. No harm done.

But when you have just two birds -- two birds is not necessarily a breeding-pair -- it's easy to see how this normal behaviour becomes a problem.

[And no criticism here, just data: it seems you have a lovely big space for your birds; but don't forget that emus are used to massive spaces. In full flight, they can run the length of a football field in seconds.]

Supreme Emu

[Five birds here: the three home-team females, one small adult, and a lone wild chick.]

That's a good idea. You probably can't tell in the picture but there's a second pen about the same size as their current pen that used to be connected. Sometime last year though my mother closed it because some of her piglets were getting in with the emus. Now that I think of it, the fighting seems to have only become a problem after this. I'll try piglet proofing that area and opening the gate again this weekend. I feel a little dumb now, I completely forgot they used to have that space as well.

 

[briefvisit]

Ah! Space gives us the chance to experiment. You can enlarge their space! Or you could separate them for a few days -- ??

Big Picture for All Readers: it's a great looking pen, full of Yummies. But emus like to be able to get out of line of sight of other birds. So, over time, bushes etc. are a good thing. And any 'feral' thing that you can get to grow is cheap and much much better than dry food.

SE

 

[briefvisit]

'try to pair them with other birds?'

Oh, don't forget, at two-and-a-half, your female will be looking for her first mate. An emu is physically mature by two. But they don't seeeeeem to try 'the mating game' until their third year.

[I got three home-team females just one month into their third year.]

 

[Misfits Farm 92]

Ah! Space gives us the chance to experiment. You can enlarge their space! Or you could separate them for a few days -- ??

Big Picture for All Readers: it's a great looking pen, full of Yummies. But emus like to be able to get out of line of sight of other birds. So, over time, bushes etc. are a good thing. And any 'feral' thing that you can get to grow is cheap and much much better than dry food.

SE

I'll open the gate tomorrow and see if that resolves things. If not, I'll try separating them for a little while.

'try to pair them with other birds?'

Oh, don't forget, at two-and-a-half, your female will be looking for her first mate. An emu is physically mature by two. But they don't seeeeeem to try 'the mating game' until their third year.

[I got three home-team females just one month into their third year.]

Thanks for the info! From another thread I read on this site, I thought the reason they're fighting could be that the female doesn't want the male as a mate. I see you're probably right about the issue being space though.

 

[briefvisit]

You are welcome, Misfits.

'the reason they're fighting could be that the female doesn't want the male as a mate.'

Could be! Emus choose their mates (and they cover enormous distances in the business of forming breeding-pairs).

You see, it's so hard to separate the reasons. Some stuff is clearly territorial. Some stuff is breeding-pair formation -- which is also territorial. And some stuff, i swear, is just because emus are crazy, and love to chase each other around in large and pointless circles.

Supreme Emu