Is this normal behavior for Emu chicks? Or is there a problem?

[nurselisa]

My 2 week old baby emy has started to jump spazzily and roll over. Is there something wrong with her? Does she need supplements?? Feeding her Ratite grower and kale. I'm really worried about her. I can upload a video if that would be helpful.

Thanks,
Lisa

 

[Ellamumu]

Thats perfect behavior, isn't it a riot, your baby is happy and silly! Just wait til you see him still doing that at 6 feet tall!

 

[Ellamumu]

...it's also going to make crazy hissing sounds, first time I heard it I thought my baby was choking!

 

[briefvisit]

Hey, Nurselisa. !

'Spazzydancing' Oh yeh!!

The coolest thing you'll ever see -- through binos, freezing your butt off in wet grass at dawn -- is wild chicks spontaneously spazzdancing together as they move from their roost to the pasture. They go absolutely and completely nuts.

I have seen a wild bird doing whirly-whirlies in dawn mist.

And there is an adult spazzydancing on 'Youtube the crazy emu’

( Have a look at 'Miniature Gallery of Wonderful Youtube Emu Stuff')

se

 

[ES Emus]

emus are well known for their "dances"!

 

[nurselisa]

Thanks for the video. It led me to other great dancing emu videos. But these are all much older thatn mine. She is only 2 weeks old. However a lot of the movement I am seing on some of these videos looks a lot like what my chick is doing. Hopping, rolling over, spastic jerks. But mine seems to really get off balance too. Like she is unstable and tripping over her own legs. She does seem better now, and the incident did happen this morning, so maybe she is just practicing her dance??

Thank you all for the responses! It really helps me to know there is a support group here for newbies like me. These are suce magnificent birds and I would really hate to do something wrong that might harm my little baby.

Lisa

 

[briefvisit]

Nurselisa,

here are my observations (that is, of wild birds. I am the only one here with a background in observing emus in the wild.).

Mostly at dawn. In bursts. Incorporated often with running. Involvles the twirly whirly thing, and the crouch-down-jump-at-the-moon thing. Chicks do it together. Adults sometimes do it together.

But the 'burst thing' is primary. If your chick were just fallin' over at intervals, or having trouble walking -- that's not spazzdancing.

se

 

[nurselisa]

Thank you all for your replies. I think what I first observed was just the very beginning of spazzydancing. She seemed really off balance, but then the rest of the day was fine. Next morning she did it again. After watching videos of the Crazy Emu Dance among others, I realized that this is what my baby was doing. She rolls over, kicks her feet in the air, then stands up and then jumps up and runs crazy like she just got stung with a bee in the butt! it is most amusing!!! She is doing it everymorning now and getting better and better at it. She mostly jumps and twirls now.

I am still a little worried about our bonding. I really want her to be social and not afraid of me, yet every time i try to catch her to hold her as some have suggested, she just runs from me. It is not too much of a problem now as she is little and I can catch up to hher, burt as she gets faster i think this will be futile. My friends Emu walks right up to her. Her son held him ALL the time as a baby. Will she eventually walk up to me? Will she eventually bond with me? Or will I have a 5 ft bird that runs when I come near?? She does run with me and the kids when we run around the pasture. I think she really enjoys that. I just want to make sure i am doing eveerything in my power to make a tame sweet bird.

Thanks again for this site and for all you supporters. I have read many of your other threads and am learning much from all of you!!!

Lisa Foushee

 

[briefvisit]

Hey!

Time!

Time!

Did I mention time?

Here is Taming a Chick 101:

get sultanas. sit near Chick, or lie on the ground: low is good.

Learn to sit quietly. Still. Quiet. Still. Quiet.

Try an hour just to get your hand in. Even after a thousand days, only two of the three would eat from my hand.

Speak softly. I suggest training them to recognise a sound (Details upon request).

Flick sultanas ate them like marbles, so there is almost no movement of your body -- throwing the sultanas will scare them.

On a sunny day, lie belly up, with a hat on your face, hand outstreatched, sultanas in your palm. It may be twenty minutes until a little beak whips some sultanas from your hand. I have done this with an ornery old male.

His name is Eric (the chick is Alpha). At least forty minutes. Only did it twice in four years.

Patience.

Enjoy

se

 

[moonjelly]

Emu spinning mania is the best of times!

Sudden and seemingly unnecessary half barrel roll floppy maneuver thingy incoming!