Emu with Chickens

[Jakek88]

Hey everyone,

We've got an emu that we raised with our 20 chickens and he is great at protecting the flock. We've run into a problem now though, as he is full grown and keeps trying to kill any new chicks/chickens that we introduce to the flock. We've tried introducing the new birds In a dog crate for a couple weeks but he's persistent in trying to kill them. Any suggestions on how to get the emu to accept new members?

Thanks!

 

[LTAY1946]

Hello and Welcome to BYC!

I know of no way to get him to change if he is seeing himself as the protector of your flock.

 

[RT Goth Barn]

Hey everyone,

We've got an emu that we raised with our 20 chickens and he is great at protecting the flock. We've run into a problem now though, as he is full grown and keeps trying to kill any new chicks/chickens that we introduce to the flock. We've tried introducing the new birds In a dog crate for a couple weeks but he's persistent in trying to kill them. Any suggestions on how to get the emu to accept new members?

Thanks!

Oh my god!! I would love to see this picture of an emu with chickens

 

[aart]

@Pyxis can probably help here.

 

[Pyxis]

Mine are usually a little weird about new birds for the first couple weeks, so I don't let the birds into the emu pasture until they've been around for at least that long for the emus to get used to them. The birds are put into a coop and run that runs along one fence line of the emu pasture, so the emus can see them out and about and just being birds.

By the time it's been a couple weeks, they're fine with the new chickens and it's safe to let them into the emu pasture.

Do you just have the one emu? You should get another if so - they're social and do best with a friend. It might also help in this situation - gives him another emu to interact with instead of just having your chickens to focus on.