Emu sitting inconsistently on eggs

[briefvisit]

I apologise: was gonna write more earlier, including this:

surely we may suppose that male emus are hard-wired to sit for 7-plus weeks (without food or drink or pooping). Now, 'feedback' -- eggs wiggling -- begins at about 4 weeks. I have seen from close up the tragic moment at which a Dad finally abandoned the two eggs that didn't hatch. He had hungry chicks cheeping about his legs. He was weak from hunger. All souls needed water forthwith.

I'm not making this up: years ago, I observed the four days of a hatch through binos from about thirty feet.
[ https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/mating-season-in-australia.641934/ ]
The male -- 'Boy Emu' -- stood looking at the two eggs, then turned and left the nest.

So . . . if the 'incubation instinct' kicks in. And there are eggs. (And if the male is more or less experienced. I'm pretty sure that that is a factor.) Then he may tend and guard those eggs for six or eight weeks!!

Supreme Emu

 

[abujumana]

A few months ago I posted that we had found a clutch of emu eggs - after thinking we had 3 females emus. Well since then, I have seen one of the emus (Raptor) covering the nest with leaves and sticks. The eggs have been laid from July onwards. Then just 2 weeks ago Raptor stopped coming up for feeding and on inspection I have found her/him sitting on the nest. The problem is she/he is not sitting consistently on the eggs - and it is so long ago since they were laid! I have seen her./him come up to feed and walk around and then go back to the nest and sit again.
I am thinking there is no chance that the eggs are viable after this amount of time - as well as the change in weather.
So - should I take the eggs away or just leave Raptor to work it out???

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yes I would let her sit for a few more days to see if she is really into sitting. I don't know much about emus.
Also, try to get some food and water closer to her. Then she won't leave the nest. I had to do this with my turkeys or they wouldn't sit.

 

[tmacca]

So it's now 2021 - and we had another clutch of eggs - this time with 25!! The same emu as last year who tended the nest and sat for a little while is doing the same this year. But this year, he (I am presuming it is now a male) sat on the nest much earlier and is constantly tending to it. But he still does not sit all the time - we often see him in the morning (when it's freezing cold) wandering around the property - but then he will go back and sit on the eggs for a few hours. Then later on, he's off the nest again. He is very protective of the nest and will not let anyone near. Before he had started to sit, I did pull 5 eggs out from the edges of the nest and have been incubating them in the house. We are up to Day 43 and so far no wiggling - so again, I am not sure if any of the eggs are fertile. And I have no idea when I should be checking for maybe naturally hatched chicks as I don't know when the male actually started sitting.
Any ideas or thoughts would be appreciated!