We have an interesting cross-section of emu-raising styles in our 4-H group: One family's pair is quite wild at 2 mo.; they've spent most of their time in a pen in the barn. The other family keeps their emus in the basement, where the mom has a daycare and the kids often visit the "moo-moos;" their emus are very social and will come to the side of the pen for a look. (I should add that their emus are moving out to a 10'X100' pen tomorrow.)
Our chicks (now deceased - see my post) were handled a lot, even traveled to IL with us one weekend (we requested a room by the elevator in case they got rowdy, but they were angels). I often held them while watching TV, and we brought them in when night temps were below 75 deg. We let them out for a run each evening (DH would run with them), but they would follow me if I left the area. The younger one would waddle over and sit down by me when he got tired, or if something scared him a little. They had a cordial, if not so warm, relationship with our hens, and the dog would raise holy heck if anything larger than a blackbird flew over our yard. I do think they all would've gotten along. Our breeder did stress that the emus should be introduced to all our other animals as chicks so that the emus wouldn't see them as intruders later on, when they were big enough to stomp/squish their yardmates.
I think emus are like any other animals; they have "personalities" and preferences and are influenced by how they're raised. If we try again next spring, we will socialize our birds like we did this year. We'll still have them in a 6' chainlink pen, probably 10' X 100', but the hutch they go into at night will be tighter than Fort Knox this time with solid walls that @%#& raccoons can't reach through.
