Emu pictures and stories.... post them here

[Tame Emu Guy]

Yes, they are. Particularly the one from directly above.

Supreme Emu

 

[Buckhunter76]

Wow, I'd love to have one, but probably couldn't afford the feed

 

[Raptor65]

Wow, I'd love to have one, but probably couldn't afford the feed

I only pay $30 for 150 pounds of feed. I got that much just before he hatched and he's not even close to getting through that even 4 months later. I matched the nutritional value of the commercial Ratite feed, and I think I got it right because Gerry is absolutely thriving on it. I took the nutritional value of several different kinds of feed such as chick starter, chicken brooder and rabbit feed and averaged it out so it was a close match to the Mazuri Ratite feed.

When he's not eating the feed the dandelions poking up out of the lawn are the first to get eaten, there's lots of weeds he likes to eat, sort of an unforeseen bonus to having an Emu in the back yard because it's pretty much weed free there now. The organic fertilizer doesn't hurt the lawn either, so I guess you could say what I spend on food is more than made up for with the lawn service.

I wish I had a camera with me last night, I had him out for a walk while I was waiting for the laundry to finish and the neighbors had some family over when he decided to go visit them. He was running with the kids who were having a blast playing with the big bird and the parents were laughing till their sides hurt. He was a little faster than the kids were so he'd weave back and forth so as not to pass them, then he'd come running back ready to go again, probably the first time I've seen him tired out because he slept good last night.

 

[Buckhunter76]

I only pay $30 for 150 pounds of feed. I got that much just before he hatched and he's not even close to getting through that even 4 months later. I matched the nutritional value of the commercial Ratite feed, and I think I got it right because Gerry is absolutely thriving on it. I took the nutritional value of several different kinds of feed such as chick starter, chicken brooder and rabbit feed and averaged it out so it was a close match to the Mazuri Ratite feed.

When he's not eating the feed the dandelions poking up out of the lawn are the first to get eaten, there's lots of weeds he likes to eat, sort of an unforeseen bonus to having an Emu in the back yard because it's pretty much weed free there now. The organic fertilizer doesn't hurt the lawn either, so I guess you could say what I spend on food is more than made up for with the lawn service.

I wish I had a camera with me last night, I had him out for a walk while I was waiting for the laundry to finish and the neighbors had some family over when he decided to go visit them. He was running with the kids who were having a blast playing with the big bird and the parents were laughing till their sides hurt. He was a little faster than the kids were so he'd weave back and forth so as not to pass them, then he'd come running back ready to go again, probably the first time I've seen him tired out because he slept good last night.

Thats a sweet story, that would've been awesome

 

[Scottingitup]

You should post up the feed combination you have created, sounds like great information to have!

 

[Raptor65]

The feed is made by "WST Pride Feeds", my local feed supply carries it, I dunno where she gets it from but I suspect other brands would have similar values.

Feed​

Crude Protein​

Crude Fat​

Crude Fiber​

Calcium​

Phosphorus​

Salt​

Lysine​

Methionine​

Chicken Layer​

16.00%​

2.70%​

4.00%​

2.50%​

0.40%​

0.25%​

0.70%​

0.20%​

Rabbit Pellets​

17.00%​

1.90%​

20.00%​

0.90%​

0.25%​

0.48%​

​

Chick Starter​

23.00%​

2.00%​

4.00%​

0.50%​

0.50%​

0.15%​

1.00%​

0.30%​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Starter Mix​

18.67%​

2.20%​

9.33%​

1.30%​

0.38%​

0.29%​

0.85%​

0.25%​

Feed Mix​

16.50%​

2.30%​

12.00%​

1.70%​

0.33%​

0.36%​

0.70%​

0.20%​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Difference (Starter Mix)​

2.33%​

0.30%​

2.33%​

0.08%​

0.02%​

1.31%​

0.25%​

0.45%​

Difference (Feed Mix)​

0.50%​

0.30%​

1.00%​

0.55%​

0.33%​

0.29%​

0.14%​

0.16%​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Mazuri Ratite Starter​

21.00%​

2.50%​

7.00%​

1.22%​

0.40%​

1.60%​

1.10%​

0.70%​

Mazuri Emu Feed​

17.00%​

2.00%​

11.00%​

1.15%​

0.65%​

0.65%​

0.84%​

0.36%​

The Mazuri feed was the target, though I lowered the protein a bit. All you have to do to make your own mixture from your local feeds is to calculate the average nutrition of the different feeds you want to use then mix it in equal measurements.
You can use different measurements to achieve the target but what is math and how does it work?

My selection comes out like that in the chart when mixed equally.

 

[Tame Emu Guy]

Winter Sunshine
Come into the winter sunshine, readers (Supreme Emu got good-will-shop binoculars!!):

the big mistake (I’ve learned . . . ) is going to them. The chances of seeing them before they see you are slim. [Almost the closest I’ve ever got to kangaroos was once when I was traipsing through the gums. I heard them coming, and sat down still. A minute later, I was sitting in the middle of 22 wallabies, who had all been hammering merrily through the scrub – they travel at a good pace – until they saw me, and stopped to watch.]
So . . .
You move quietly towards an emu-friendly area such as a ‘corridor.’ A corridor is an area through which a grazing flock passes with regularity. It will have good grazing (check), and perhaps fresh water (check). There is one down in Coffey’s-fence paddock (though the dynamic has recently changed because the fence has been repaired. It was as funny as a circus to see ten or fifteen wild emus queued up to go through the gap in the fence, all of them dancing from foot to foot in impatience, like children desperate to pee.)
As you approach the corridor, you begin paying attention to the status of other life-forms. Think about it, readers, all life-forms that aren’t predators benefit from warning each other of danger. So, you don’t get to observe emus if kangaroos see you first. There are more kangaroos (there are millions!), and they are often in the scrub that you need to cross in order to observe the corridor. So, move; stop and observe; move a little more; stop and observe some more. If you see roos, you wait until they return to grazing, then you move off quietly at a tangent.
Hopefully, you’ll reach a vantage point, that is, not on the corridor, but overlooking a chunk of it. Then you may observe:
so, I’m sitting down by the corridor, on a little waterproof cushion, with binos focussed. The single circle becomes your world. (I only have one headlight today, so I am actually uni-ocular. Ha ha ha.) If you can hear kookaburras and kurrawongs, that’s good: if they take flight in fear, you’re busted. If you can see ground-feeders like parrots, that’s good – ditto. [Waaarm sunshine! Not a zephyr of breeze.] The cows over the fence are all sitting. That’s good.
Rest; scan the edges of your vista. No emus in sight, though it’s much more likely that you’ll hear them first. Rest. [Ummm . . . waaarm . . . ] Scan again: there’s a grey fantail. Some parrots.

No sightings today, but that’s okay. One quality observation is worth a million sightings of emu tooshes disappearing in the distance.

Supreme Emu

 

[kathyinmo]

I just love reading your experiences! The only thing better would be your experiences on video! I have a vivid imagination, so I guess I will just be satisfied with what I have imagined.

Thanks for your story!

 

[kathyinmo]

I made a little video, as we were out today...

 

[Buckhunter76]

I made a little video, as we were out today...

That was an awesome and it was beautiful, Thanks for sharing