How to Buy a Gigantic Bird to Chase My Neighbor's Dog Out of Pasture

[welsummerchicks]

I just got this wonderful idea after seeing a video of a rhea chasing a guy.

I am putting up a six foot electric fence and I just have this marvelous picture of an emu or rhea repelling the neighbor's pets.

I think I would prefer a rhea for this climate!

 

[justbugged]

I know of some free Emus in Northern California.

 

[welsummerchicks]

I don't see any indication that emus do well up here. I think I want a rhea. A nice grey one - it would blend in with the scenery til right before it - POUNCED.

They ARE ill tempered, aren't they?

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

Guns work too!

Or just get a few BIG LGD's. Ours took care of the stupid neighbor's lab.

 

[Supreme Emu]

Several things come to mind, Chicken Obsessed:

Firstly: no, emus are not naturally ornery. I strongly suspect that the ornery ones you read about are what I call 'paddock-emus' – left somewhere in some paddock with nothing but food and water and a fence. You'd be ornery too. In the wild – unless cornered, in which case they are highly dangerous – they will generally flee. (They are curious though, and I hear that they will approach a tethered dog.)

Secondly, bear in mind that you have two choices: one, secure a grown emu from someone in the States. It will be a chick, in which case you got to raise it ornery; and I'm not sure how you'd do that . . . Two, you secure a grown emu, in which case you need to somehow . . . umm . . . pre-measure its orneriness. That is, having been raised in the States, it will probably be a pet.

Finally, a more serious issue: I have had a number of conversations here about fights between dogs and emus. BYC is a forum for bird lovers, which is why I'm here; but in My Real World, here in Oz, people shoot, poison, and run down emus, on an industrial basis, with glee. My point is that I don't think that pitting a dog against an emu is ethical. Emu lovers might say that an emu will likely win. Dog lovers boast that their dog will gut an emu alive in three seconds – I'm being serious here. It's quite likely that an emu will be horribly injured in a fight with a dog. Nil-all draw perhaps.

I hope I haven't offended.

Supreme Emu
Rocky Gully, Western Australia

 

[MyKidLuvsGreenEgz]

Quote:
Just thought I'd point out that it's WELSUMMERCHICKS, not Chicken Obsessed. Just like you're SUPREME EMU, not Out of the Brooder.

Know nothing about gigantic birds but have heard that geese protect their territory. My 2 cents.

 

[StevenW.]

Geese can and will get killed or eaten by a dog bigger than themself.

 

[Supreme Emu]

Oh! Thank you, MyKidLuvsGreenEgz.

Supreme Emu

 

[chickenzoo]

Electric fence will do nothing to deter a panicked or very curious emu, they will go right through it as their feathers are very insulating. If you have 2 emu they would be more likely to challenge a dog. Most dogs will run from a stomping emu, but a very vicious dog or a pack of dogs could do them harm. Mine hate cats... will chase any cat with in sight.

 

[casuarius]

Electric fence won't hold any ratite, they will go right through it as chickenzoo said, or tangle themselves up in it and maybe kill themselves. Also Rheas are absolutely terrified of dogs, and they don't kick. They will run for their lives. But male Rheas can be one of the most aggressive animals towards people that you can own. My emu's will go after dogs and kick them. Your best bet would be a couple of emu's...one won't do it. However you'll need to consider another type of fencing. Electric should keep the dogs off your place by itself.