Feeding Emus commercially

Clucksworth

Songster
6 Years
Apr 9, 2013
252
19
106
Somerset UK
Hi,
Does anyone here have any experience with breeding and growing emus up as an alternative meat and oil production? I'm in the UK and I'm considering starting an emu farm in the South West, as currently there is no commercial production of Emu meat in the UK. Does anyone have an idea of the best feed to give emus on a large scale, or know of any feeds that they would mix together ( for example a mixture of cattle/horse feed and poultry feed?) to make a nutritious diet for growing up emus? I currently have a couple of emus, but I've found that Ratite food is very expensive and my chicken's layer's mash wouldn't offer all the vitamins that the Emu's need.


Thankyou for any advice you can give me :)

Clucksworth
 
Raptor65 has a feed combination that he mixes up. I believe he combines layer pellets with rabbit pellets and chick starter. I'm sure he will share the formula with you, just send him a pm. A lot of owners just feed chicken layer/breeder pellets, especially if the birds have the capability of foraging.
 
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Raptor65 has a feed combination that he mixes up. I believe he combines layer pellets with rabbit pellets and chick starter. I'm sure he will share the formula with you, just send him a pm. A lot of owners just feed chicken layer/breeder pellets, especially if the birds have the capability of foraging.
Thank you, I'll pm him later :)
 
The specialist Ratite feed from Dodson & Horrell isn't too expensive if you buy enough of it in one order. They ought to be fed the correct diet. It's called ostrich breeder and is suitable for emus.
 
. . . Also, emus do not have as much meat on them as ostriches. Nothing on the breast. Only on the legs.
 
The specialist Ratite feed from Dodson & Horrell isn't too expensive if you buy enough of it in one order. They ought to be fed the correct diet. It's called ostrich breeder and is suitable for emus.

yeah yeah yeah.. heard it before.. even the "specialist" ratite feed from Mazuri is lacking.. I'll take the experience of the hundreds of emu ranchers in Texas who were raising thousands of emus as to what works feed wise and what doesn't.. the proof was in the hatchability and health of the chicks as well as the health and reproductive vigor of the parent stock.. and those ranchers found that for the first year a 50/50 mix of rabbit pellets and layer pellets out preformed all of the commercial diets for healthier chicks.. and once they hit the 1 year mark switching them over to a calf creep feed resulted in healthier more fertile adults which produced extremely healthy chicks..
So yeah.. I'll go with what works instead of fancy marketing to make a buck anyday!
 
. . . Also, emus do not have as much meat on them as ostriches. Nothing on the breast. Only on the legs.

they are also smaller than an ostrich and not as dangerous as an ostrich..

however even though an emu lacks breast meat there is the tenderloin which runs down the spine, the meat on the rump, thigh and legs... so they have more meat on them than "only on the legs".

we raise and butcher our emus.. so I have first hand experience with the location of the cuts of meat.


we also use every bit of the emu.. from the guts to the hide, feathers, bones and oil... there is 0 waste on an emu if you know how to process it properly.
 
I have tried feeding my three emus layer pellets, rabbit pellets, ratite feeds, cattle feed. They will not eat any of it. The only thing they agree with eating is high protein dog food. I have mixed several different feeds in with the dog food and they just pick out the dog food. I tried mixing everything except the dog food and they refuse to eat it. I have tried fresh foods and they won't eat that either. I am worried that they may not get the nutrition they really need from this dog food diet. Yet I don't know what else I could possibly do food wise for them if they have refused so many other pellet feeds.
 
I have tried feeding my three emus layer pellets, rabbit pellets, ratite feeds, cattle feed. They will not eat any of it. The only thing they agree with eating is high protein dog food. I have mixed several different feeds in with the dog food and they just pick out the dog food. I tried mixing everything except the dog food and they refuse to eat it. I have tried fresh foods and they won't eat that either. I am worried that they may not get the nutrition they really need from this dog food diet. Yet I don't know what else I could possibly do food wise for them if they have refused so many other pellet feeds.
emus will tend to favor one food over another, but when denied that food they usually will shift to another, though it may take several days for them to build up enough hunger to eat whatever is in front of them... Our experience is that the more expensive the food, the more emus like it!
 
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My mus prefer the Purina emu grower, rather than the mazuri, and they love fresh baby spinach, kale, grapes,strawberrys, blueberries and apples(only macintosh).They're funny though if they don't want to try something new, I start feeding it to an available chicken or goat and then all of a sudden they must have it, too funny!
 

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