emus

[Barred Rocks forever]

interesting i heard that most people raise them with chickens so they can learn whos boss if i were to say get new chickens would they be ok with that ? i like your emus by the way u should post more pics

 

[Country Heart]

Quote:
Thanks for the pictures - Emu's always make me smile.

 

[ChanceRider]

I've never had a problem with emu chicks learning to eat on their own. Generally, when my emu eggs hatch I immediately remove the chicks from the nest and place them in a brooder. My female emu sees her own chicks as intruders and will stomp the chicks to death if not removed. Just like chicken chicks, they're able to go for a couple of days after hatching without food. However, as soon as they're placed in the brooder I give them access to chick starter and water. They learn to eat and drink and pick at bugs and grass on their own. They are "fence walkers" and will wear a path along fences; they love water, especially in the heat. My breeding pair seem to run, jump and play in the first rains of the season... it's quite comical.

If you want emu to get along with other critters, I'd introduce them when young. Mine have stomped and killed skunks that have made the mistake of wandering in to the emu pen for food. They're also much easier to handle when adults if you start with them as early as possible. A well behaved emu is a necessity in my book... as big as they are they can be a challenge to handle if they don't learn "manners" early. Mine are the easiest of all our critters to care for. They have an automatic waterer and a feed bin that holds 50 lbs of feed, enough for about a week.

Here's a pic of Enoch, my male, on "his" nest:

And a pic of "Keeper", a chick from a few years ago:

 

[Barred Rocks forever]

how would you teach a bird like that manners ?

 

[hen-thusiast]

That emu chick has got to be the cutest thing ever.

I wish I had more land, I'd get a couple of them.

 

[Barred Rocks forever]

how much land do they require

 

[ChanceRider]

Emus can be trained to walk on a leash and harness. I have friends who take their female to farmer's markets with them... they sell emu products and Winston is always a huge hit when she tags along. She was had raised from the time she hatched.

I was given my breeding pair when they were about 18 months old. Though they are friendly, they're not trained to walk on a harness/leash, and never learned to accept other animals in their pen/run. My birds came from a commercial breeder who raised hundreds of birds at a time for the meat, oil, feathers, leather, etc., so they're more comfortable in a large pen than running loose on our property. Our pen is 100' long by about 30' wide, and 6' tall non-climb horse fencing. In fact, we built the pen just like we do our horse pastures. Enoch and BoomBoom have an 8' x 8' x 6' tall "coop" that they completely ignore, except when they eat as their feeder in under cover. They prefer to sleep and build their nest under a large cedar tree in their pen.

Here's a pic of this year's chicks when they were still in their brooder inside a coop.

As they get older they lose their stripes and gain a blue-ish irridescence along their necks, which you can just barely see in the next pic. Enoch (foreground) looks like he was having a bad hair day when the pic was taken.

Chickenzoo... I love the pics you posted of your birds. Very cute!

 

[Albanydog]

Here is "Em" running past the geese when we first got her in April, she was about the size of a football, the next pic was just a few days ago, you can see how she towers over everyone now and stretches up to look you right in the eye. Never had an issue with her feeding herself, she thinks she is a chicken and does what they do. Em is a good "watch dog", she runs up and down the fence to let you know there is a chicken out and helps heard the geese to the goose house at night before she heads to bed with the chickens and we lock her up like everyone else, though she has broken a roost or two trying to cuddle down with everybody else. Come morning she is out the door and starts her morning neck stretches and kick boxing, such a goof, they are so comical to watch. We kept the baby chicks away from her for a few weeks, fearing what she might do, even though momma Hen was going to kick butt and threw herself at Em when she came to check out her babies. We keep an eye over Hammy, our baby pig, when he wonders around the chicken yard too, Em seems to think his tail must be a tasty snack. Pig is growing fast and isn't afraid of much but he is a little nervous about Em and his tail and sticks pretty close by when she is around.

Don't you just luv that face...

 

[sianara]

Love, love LOVE all those pictures. Thanks for sharing them and the stories. It sounds like you really enjoy them