How Much Cold can an Emu take?

[juliefpc]

Curious about tonight's hard freeze coming here in FL. Its expected to get down to 28F. I am having an impossible time getting the female Emu into the barn as she has been penned up for the last day as it was a cold hard rain all day and she is just wild right now. If I can't get her into the barn, will they be okay in their pen? It s 12 x 12 and I have blankets and tarps wrapped all around it to give them a wind break. Any cold weather Emu friends have any advice? I'm so worried about them right now, we've never had this kind of weather here. Yeccchhhhh!

 

[birdmanmax]

Ohh don’t worry about the cold. Up here in Michigan mine sleep outside in a foot of snow in below zero temps. In the mornings they’ll wake up with snow and ice all on there backs yet they still sleep outside(they have a large barn but refuse to use it). 28F for an emu is nothing she’ll be fine.

 

[juliefpc]

Thx Birdmanmax, I let them out this morning with frost still on the ground. These crazy birds even wanted to jump in one of the sheep troughs for a bath. Thankfully it had an ice crust on it lol. Had no idea these emus were so hardy and cold tolerant. They seem to tolerate this crazy cold weather better than me!

 

[pillageTHENburn]

I realize it's already been answered but here in Reno Nevada we get some crazy cold winter nights in the desert (we are at the base of the Sierra Mountains); our experience has been the same as birdmanmax, our bird will gladly sleep in two feet of snow even if shelter is provided. She seems utterly unfazed by snow and cold.

 

[hillbillyreefer]

A neighbor raised them for years in Alberta. They had a wind break shelter and bedding, he didn’t have any problems down to -40F. They are exceptionally resilient birds.

 

[juliefpc]

Ty for replies pillage and hillbillyreefer, I had no idea the emu s were such a resilient bird. I guess we get spoiled here in Florida with our weather. Yep we 're the nuts you see wearing gloves and hats when its 60 degrees F lol. I was so worried as I had babies coming in. The adults are bathing in the sun today as its 78 F but we have some cold nights coming in so I turned their bathtub upside down lol. The babies of various ages are in the barn and the youngest in a large 8' trough in my garage. Everyone has heat lamps everywhere. I think I may have bought too many heat lamps, the oldest two chicks lost their fluff on their backs, probably because they were too tall and I was trying to accommodate the younger two with them who were much shorter. But when I see them huddled together at night, I realize their body warmth was more than enough. Still learning this wonderful breed lol!

 

[507382]

I know this is an old thread, but my three emus are about to head into a -30 C cold snap this week here in Northern BC, Canada. They have straw outside to sit in, a barn with lots of straw, and we are going to put up some tarps on the edge of the fence where they sit to block the wind that we are expecting.
Still, sometimes mine seem to slightly shiver when it gets about -5 or so... So i'm so worried.
Can someone just reassure me that emus don't get frostbite lol and that they will be ok? They are full grown. I have sweaters for them, but they don't seem to do much.

Worried Emu Mum

 

[briefvisit]

Let's have a Report afterwards: if they retreat to the barn, I'd suppose they're cold. But if they still willingly venture around outside, they must be doing okay.

SE

 

[507382]

Let's have a Report afterwards: if they retreat to the barn, I'd suppose they're cold. But if they still willingly venture around outside, they must be doing okay.

SE

Well I'm here to report back after day 1 of really really cold weather, even for canadian emoo standards!

They didn't leave the barn. LOL I got back from town with groceries and they came out to watch me, then slowly went back into the barn within two minutes!

I'm glad they know when to hunker down. I gave them extra treats and coddled them and told them I don't like this weather either. I left the heat lamp on inside for them all day as well as at night. More of the same for the next three days, so I'm sure they will be okay ( I hope)

 

[AB03Sam]

Well I'm here to report back after day 1 of really really cold weather, even for canadian emoo standards!

They didn't leave the barn. LOL I got back from town with groceries and they came out to watch me, then slowly went back into the barn within two minutes!

I'm glad they know when to hunker down. I gave them extra treats and coddled them and told them I don't like this weather either. I left the heat lamp on inside for them all day as well as at night. More of the same for the next three days, so I'm sure they will be okay ( I hope)

Is your barn insulated?