emus in canada?

[BigMM]

well there is thin person selling emu chicks in my area and i was wondering if they would need heat during cold months as adults, i know the need heat when they are chicks but what about as adults it gets like -30 C here so its pretty cold. and what about food whats a good brand or mix? what size coop would they need for the colder months? we have a shed that's empty and we can hook up a few brooder lamps? and anything else i should know?

 

[Blob Chicken]

There is a Ratite diet made by mazuri that caters well to Emu.

Also they do need winter housing when kept in cold weather. I would say nothing smaller then 10x10, but it depends on how much time they will have to spend in there.

I'm not much of a help with anything else, though. Also keep a space/room heater in mind. They work better then heat lamps for large spaces.

 

[yinepu]

well there is thin person selling emu chicks in my area and i was wondering if they would need heat during cold months as adults, i know the need heat when they are chicks but what about as adults it gets like -30 C here so its pretty cold. and what about food whats a good brand or mix? what size coop would they need for the colder months? we have a shed that's empty and we can hook up a few brooder lamps? and anything else i should know?

You can give them shelter.. they may or may not use it. I think Raptor supplies his emu with a heat lamp in it's shed.
Either way I would not confine them to a shed or coop for the duration of winter regardless of how cold it gets... they will need room to move around. expend energy and keep their leg muscles toned.. plus a confined emu would end up with psychological problems.. pacing would be the first sign that there is an issue.

Food for chicks... or adults?
I wouldn't touch the average ratite "food" with a 10 foot pole. A lot of people who have used it have found their chicks have deficiencies. Even the ranchers here in Texas found it lacking when it came to feeding chicks and adults. It may be the brand.. or it may be that it's not quite formulated just right. either way I suggest doing a search on here for feed... and then check with the breeder of the birds you are thinking about getting.. see if the feed in your area is deficient or not (see if they have had any chicks with bent hocks or splay legs or other issues)

There is a Ratite diet made by mazuri that caters well to Emu.

Also they do need winter housing when kept in cold weather. I would say nothing smaller then 10x10, but it depends on how much time they will have to spend in there.

I'm not much of a help with anything else, though. Also keep a space/room heater in mind. They work better then heat lamps for large spaces.

I won't jump on the Mazuri bandwagon.. here in Texas it has been proven to be lacking. Since it can vary a lot from location to location it's best to check around and see what growers who have used it exclusively in that particular area have had for results.

it's also expensive... I have found that you can make your own blend that is better for the chicks and adults without breaking the bank.

 

[BigMM]

i need to know what to feed adults and chicks. and i made a mistake they are fertile eggs so i would need to know how to incubate them to.

 

[BigMM]

one other thing is that i only have one acre of space.

 

[yinepu]

i need to know what to feed adults and chicks. and i made a mistake they are fertile eggs so i would need to know how to incubate them to.

There are two emu hatch threads here with tons of info.. plus I have two links in my signature with hatching info

For feed everyone does things a bit different
Here's what I am using and have 0 issues with leg problems

for chicks: they won't eat for a few days after hatch because of the yolk they have absorbed. As soon as I move them to teh brooder I offer food and water.. they may or may not peck at it.. but I offer it just in case
first.. chick starter with a sprinkle of game bird starter for the extra vitamins.. mixed with finely chopped greens (kale and collard greens). I add chick vitamins (sav-a-chick works well) to their water for the first few weeks
After the first week I switch the chicks to a 50/50 mix of layer pellets (for added calcium) and rabbit pellets.. along with chopped greens. They are kept on this until they move outside.

You can add chopped apple and carrots as a treat to their food

Once outside I let them graze of whatever plants and bugs they find as well as continuing with the layer pellet and rabbit pellet mix for the first year. i supplement with greens if the grazing is poor.

At the one year mark they get switched over to calf creep feed. The ranchers here in Texas found that their adult birds did much better on it than any other mix or commercial feed. It increased amount of eggs laid, hatched and fertility in their breeding birds.. plus the hatched chicks were stronger and had no health issues as opposed to chicks from birds that were fed a commercial diet.

one other thing is that i only have one acre of space.

You can use pens... just make sure they are as large as possible and make sure the emus have "toys" to keep them occupied or something to keep them busy. Boredom is an issue with birds in confined spaces... so you will need to keep that in check. Also make sure you have tall sturdy fences to prevent escapes and your birds becoming a hazard to others.

Commercial emu pens are pretty small compared to birds that have hundreds of acres to roam around on. So essentially you will be using a setup which will be close to a commercial emu meat farm set up.
You may have to make adjustments as time goes by depending on the number of birds you decide to keep. Watch them and make sure they aren't pacing or fighting. Let them be your barometer. If you start having issues and can not remedy them then you may have to re-home or butcher some of your birds.
Harsh as that may sound.. it's the reality of having birds in smaller areas

 

[Tame Emu Guy]

I feel it’s right to back Yinepu on this one. In Australia, the birds do indeed inhabit snow territory; but if it is so very cold in your district that the birds would need almost an igloo to shelter in, then it’s too cold a territory for emus.

A happy healthy bouncy-energetic emu is a wonderful pet, but you only have to research on Youtube to see that birds in small spaces are unhappy birds.

The diet thing as well: in the wild, the birds get an amazing overall variety of food. Certainly you could feed them ‘ratite pellets,’ but I’d hope to see a great deal else in their diet, certainly big clumps of Yummy greens hung daily about their environment, and treats of dried fruits and other ‘moist’ things.

An acre is a postage stamp. No offence meant.

Supreme Emu

 

[BigMM]

i was just wondering if anyone know were i can buy some emu CHICKS not eggs because i dont have a proper incubator that will fit the eggs, i live in nova scotia and i also have family members that live in new brunswick, so does anyone know were i can get some around my area?

 

[Di Warren]

Silver Shoes Emu Ranch is in Berwick, New Brunswick. We live on Grand Manan Island and are getting our emu chick (at 8 weeks)from there. I can send you their contact information if you would like.

 

[ES Emus]

send a pm to EmuChemainusBC ( www.mtsickerfamilyfarm.ca ), they may be able to give you some guidance