Emu pictures and stories.... post them here

[drumstick diva]

Raptor - really enjoyed your video great performance by she/he . I hope you do another video of her racing around her cage. Please...

 

[kathyinmo]

Raptor - really enjoyed your video great performance by she/he . I hope you do another video of her racing around her cage. Please...

Ditto!
Great video and I love the music, too. I look forward to more videos of her!

 

[Raptor65]

One more, got Ellie to try eating and drinking today and you can see her up walking around.

 

[Ellamumu]

So cute, now I want a second one!

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

still a long ways to go on fencing. hope the ground defrosts soon.

 

[IlaWampa]

Got the final results on the necropsy for Thing Two. Seems it was the tick bite that started a chain reaction of infections. Along with the cold weather he was not able to shake it. The tick bite caused Teflitis (sp?) which caused him not to be able to digest his food. So although he was eating, he wasn't digesting, and food was rotting in his gut. So the bacteria caused other infections and he also starved to death because he couldn't take in nourishment. Very, very sad, and I don't know how we could have prevented it.

We have shelters in the pasture, but the emus don't seem to want to go in to them. I guess I need to work on finding some way to shelter them better, so maybe the immune system wouldn't shut down from the cold stress.

In brighter news, we will be picking up our two new chicks on Sunday!

 

[Tame Emu Guy]

Thanks for your post, IlaWampa. My wild birds (‘wild’) suffer from ticks, and it grieves me that I sometimes can’t get them out. I know now that my fears are not baseless. (Last winter, I truly thought one of my birds was going to keel over and die. I managed to get the tick out. She recovered.)

On shelters: seems that the general case for tame birds is that the shelter you lovingly provide will be ignored. I’ve seen Greedy Emu sit complacently for hours in pouring rain and freezing cold without seeming to be even vaguely aware of it. Their natural habitat extends to areas that experience snow (Alps – ‘Great Dividing Range’ – of eastern Australia).

I would provide a shelter, and then be easy of heart when/if they ignore it.

We look forward to news of your new birds.

Supreme Emu
Western Australia

 

[1muttsfan]

Tiflitis is severe infection and inflammation of the large bowel that can lead to systemic infection and death. It is more common in immune-compromised individuals, which may have happened in your bird due to the tick bite. How sad! I wonder if tick spot-ons such as Vectra or Frontline could be used on Emus?

 

[Farmerboy16]

Tiflitis is severe infection and inflammation of the large bowel that can lead to systemic infection and death.  It is more common in immune-compromised individuals, which may have happened in your bird due to the tick bite.  How sad! I wonder if tick spot-ons such as Vectra or Frontline could be used on Emus?

Or get guinea fowl as they are great tick eaters.

 

[IlaWampa]

Do you think guinea fowl would do okay with the emus? And vice versa? They would also be in with the alpacas. I don't anything about guineas... are they easy to take care of?

I think one of my neighbors was considering getting some soon. Maybe I will look into that also. I am trying to find a way to at least create a wind-break around the nesting areas... maybe now that she has determined her nesting spots I should just create as much shelter around those areas as I can...

I should also note that both of the emus had been through extreme weather before. The people we acquired them from had them during a ferocious ice storm and they stayed out in it ... the emus were completely coated with ice, and the previous owners said she was sure they were dead! But the next morning they shook off all the ice off their backs and got up!