Female emu unable to stand on her feet.

[Angry Emu]

Our dear Emu Drusilla can't stand on her feet.


Name: Drusilla
Sex: Female
Age: 4 years (but we bought her last October in 2018)
Pen mate: Yes, one boy called Fence, he is 8 years old. (Goes together perfectly, still happily in love)
Other animals on the farm: 7 goats, 1 Llama, 1 dog and 4 cats

Physical and mentally:
- Healthy appetite, eating on her own, no problem swallowing (Fruits, vegetables, wheat and pellets)
- Drinks water with no problem
- The stool looks fine
- No wounds, no swollen joints, no visible fractures, the wings are ok, normal body temperature, no bad smell from nose or mouth, nice pink colour in the mouth, clear eyes, "talkes" now and then, showing no signs of aggression or in pain or other neurologically issues.

Problem:
On the morning of April the 8th (Monday) I found Drusilla lying in their barn/shed unable to stand up. Everytime she tried to stand up, she clumsy "falls down" in sleeping position, BUT she has no problem "crawling" around. At first, me and my husband suspected a small fracture or a sprain in one of her legs, but now, 11 days later and she is still having trouble standing up.

Later this evening, I lifted her up carefully to see if she may be able to stand on her feet, or at least put some weight on them at all, but no luck. She just wanted to "fall down" if it wasn't for me holding her up.

Please, does anyone recognise this??? This happend over night, the day before the 8th she was fine, showing no signs of that problem at all. Fence (her boyfriend) are in good condition, and have never been sick. I talked to the guy who we bought Drusilla from, asking if she ever was sick in his care, and he said no. Although, she did had a minor swollen mucosa(?) on her left eye when we bought her, but that vanhised two days later when she arrived to our farm. (His farm was dirty.)

We live in Norway, and I can count on one hand how many people in our country that own Emu's, and the vet. does not know a thing about these kind of birds, so I have no-one to ask for help over here.

Please, if anyone know what can cause this, or have any tips at all, I greatly appreciate any help!
(I apologise for my english grammar, but this is not my main language.)

 

[Kalifornsky]

Did Druisilla recently lay eggs? This is info I learned from an emu breeder: Emus have two hollow bones, their femur. After laying season, emus can be deficient in calcium and that may lead to the weakening of their bones. The hollow femur is most at risk of fracture or breakage in the female emu after this period. Unfortunately he had to put down birds that suffered from this injury.

Source on hollow emu bones: https://www.montananaturalist.org/blog-post/avian-adaptations/

Check the foot and make sure there isn't a splinter embedded, or obvious signs of injury on the legs to cause her to not want to stand. Recently one of my 2 year olds got this huge splinter embedded at least an inch into the bottom of his foot, and he refused to stand/walk. I eventually figured out the problem and was able to remove it, and while his limp was pretty horrible I kept the injury cleaned and it healed just fine.

Crossed fingers for your girl, it's good she's still eating and drinking.

 

[Angry Emu]

Did Druisilla recently lay eggs? This is info I learned from an emu breeder: Emus have two hollow bones, their femur. After laying season, emus can be deficient in calcium and that may lead to the weakening of their bones. The hollow femur is most at risk of fracture or breakage in the female emu after this period. Unfortunately he had to put down birds that suffered from this injury.

Source on hollow emu bones: https://www.montananaturalist.org/blog-post/avian-adaptations/

Check the foot and make sure there isn't a splinter embedded, or obvious signs of injury on the legs to cause her to not want to stand. Recently one of my 2 year olds got this huge splinter embedded at least an inch into the bottom of his foot, and he refused to stand/walk. I eventually figured out the problem and was able to remove it, and while his limp was pretty horrible I kept the injury cleaned and it healed just fine.

Crossed fingers for your girl, it's good she's still eating and drinking.

Yes, on February 6th, she laid one egg, but none of them showed any interesrt in it. The pellet she eats now(along with fruits and vegetables), has extra calcium in it.

Nope, her feet and legs looks good, and I can't see any splinter embedded.

 

[briefvisit]

I feel so bad that I can't help!

So, even if she is able to stand for just a few seconds, does she seem to be limping?
That is, do you think the problem is A: a problem with her legs,

or B: she is sick, and too weak to stand?

My experience (tame-wild emus) is that an emu that can't rise is very ill. If it is a leg injury, the bird will try to rise when you come near it. If it is sickness, the bird will simply keep sitting.

Supreme Emu, Lake Muir, W.A.

 

[sseabass]

This is just a guess and I didn’t research this information before sending it. I just have vague memory of emus becoming egg bound? I think it is called. I remember that it can be very serious and the egg needs to be taken out?
Hopefully this is all correct.

 

[briefvisit]

'I just have vague memory of emus becoming egg bound?'

Egg-bound came to my mind

 

[Angry Emu]

Hi, folks! I'm so sorry for not replying earlier, but I have some updates, and pictures.

I caught Fence red-handed today, being very aggressive against Drusilla! He cut her! (#1 image)). It's not deep, luckily! I've cleaned the wound, and used a product called 'Blue Spray' (#2 image). And, of course, seperated them. She used to hide between the wall and some wood lying in there, and got super stressed whenever I tried to get her out. NOW I know why... And, when she tried to get up and Fence walked in, he tapped on her head with his beak, and she stopped trying to get up and looked so depressed. Again, NOW I know why. I feel so bad.

About Drusilla: She still eats and drinks, and looks healthy (if you don't count the fact that she struggels to get up on her feet.) BUT, I found a lumb right below her poo-hole(I don't remember the english word for it right now). It's the size of a golf-ball, not hard, and I can touch it and squeeze it gently, and she does not seem in pain. (#3 image)


About egg bound, how long could a egg be stuck inside of her? And is there a way for me to check it?

 

[Angry Emu]

I feel so bad that I can't help!

So, even if she is able to stand for just a few seconds, does she seem to be limping?
That is, do you think the problem is A: a problem with her legs,

or B: she is sick, and too weak to stand?

My experience (tame-wild emus) is that an emu that can't rise is very ill. If it is a leg injury, the bird will try to rise when you come near it. If it is sickness, the bird will simply keep sitting.

Supreme Emu, Lake Muir, W.A.

Well, when I lift her up, and hold her, she showed no interest in trying to stand on her own. And sometimes, she try on her own, but falls down. But she can crawl around, no problem there...

 

[FishMtFarm]

Here is a shot in the dark but maybe it is selenium deficiency. That can cause other species to not be able to stand. Maybe get a selenium supplement but make sure you administer vitamin E too. You have to be careful tho cause you can overdose. Because you aren’t in the states I’m not sure what’s available to you but they make selenium pastes for goats and other livestock. Oh and her bum is called a cloaca.

 

[drumstick diva]

I hope something will put her right. Don't even know what she looks like but, am worrying like she is mine.