In regards to emu chick raising...

[arherp]

My goal is to have sweet, tame emus. Do you guys think I could better achieve this goal by hatching out one chick this egg season and raising it up by it self, and then another next egg season? To clarify - this means one chick will be hand raised and alone, as will the one that is hatched later. They would be introduced at another time.

~ would it just be better to raise two together, or could I do the above effectively? Do you guys think they would become friends fine?

 

[Supreme Emu]

Hi, Arherp. I think you'd get an effective economy of scale in raising two. Emus are birds, and they flock. My three emus spent their upbringing in a blob of emubodylegheadneck togetherness, and they don't even have fences.

I would ask another question – and Emu Hugger might know the answer: is it best to have two unrelated emus, and m. and an f., so they can mate later? Will being m. and f. and related or unrelated affect their behaviour in adulthood? What is the Fussin' Equation? (I would like to know the answer to this.)

Supreme Emu
Rocky Gully, Western Australia

 

[arherp]

I will want a m/f pair of chicks, just so that they would be able to breed. Unfortunately, I do not have that ability to pick the sexes since I will be hatching my own though.

You don't think that a bird that was raised with me being the only contact it had would make it a calmer/tamer/more mellow adult? I understand them loving to cuddle and play with eath other as babies, but I don't want any dangerous livestock either!

 

[chickenzoo]

The more you handle them the better. Jazzy is my most friendly one, and I had him by himself for about a month or two before I got another. I kept him in the house and held/interacted wit him often. My other male Merlin, I got when he was a month old, he was being raised outside with other chicks. He is not as friendly as Jazzy, but is not mean- just more standoffish and doesn't like to be touched mostly. No matter if you get a male or female now, it does not mean they will like each other when they are adults. Emu tend to be finicky partners and don't just love another emu of the opposite sex because it's there. You may have to go through a few before they find love..... or you may be lucky. Jazzy has bonded some to the mini horses and mini cows - he thinks they are an emu, or he thinks he's one of them... hehe. he has a female in with him, who he likes, but doesn't know he is suppose to romance her, not the cow.

I have 2 emu that I got from a friend that were raised together, male & female. when they were over her house they lived together fine, but when they came here with more space and other emu they turned on each other and wanted nothing to do with each other... possibly because they are now breeding age and they are related.

 

[Supreme Emu]

Mr. and Mrs. Eric the Emu

I'll post this text here rather than as a topic because it relates to this thread:

I went for a pleasant early morning walk this morning, to the large area of bush down the back of my block. I was crossing a clearing about a half a mile from the farmhouse when I realised that there were two emus walking quietly across the clearing towards me: Mr. and Mrs Eric the Emu!!

I had an apple in my pocket. The trick is to nibble bits off, then flick them out with your thumbnail, thus minimising your movement. Eric, as always, eventually came to within six feet. Mrs. Eric, as always, kept her distance.

The last time I was this close to Eric was last March, in fig season.

So, do emus really pair? I read that they form a breeding pair for some months only. However, I'm sure enough that the female emu is the Mrs Eric simply because she doesn't bolt; and if it's her, then they've been a pair for at least a year and a half.

P.s.: I suppose that the five chicks that were with Eric the last I saw him have headed off – as mine did at about that age – to be a flock of their own. They've flocked off, ha ha!!

Supreme Emu

 

[awesomefowl]

I really want an emu chick. Could I just get one?