Look what i found today in the Rhea Pen. 3-27-11

[ChickenAlgebra]

Quote:
My Rheas Come from a Safari Zoo in Texas.

So, I did some math... I have 4 hens... Rheas lay every other day... Its been 23 days since the 1st egg... and I have 20 eggs as of yesterday. So.... mathamateclly, that means 2 hens are laying eggs right? and if Rheas Incubate for The incubation period for rhea eggs is 35-40 days, then I should Hopefully see babys as early as May 5th or 6th...

Humm... He started to brood as soon as there were 2 eggs... now he has 20 + eggs and both males are brooding the same nest... Im interested to know what will happen. Ill be happy with a few babies at least...

Just wait, you'll get Foulman's luck and have 20+ baby rheas.....

 

[foulman007]

Thats how my emus did on their nest started brooding on one egg. I took them away at 11 eggs and they have been hatching over the last 2 weeks. my fear was they would abandond the eggs when the first chick hatched. My emu started laying again after about a week or 10 day rest. I took the 4 eggs she had laid and the male started brooding when the 5th was laid so I gave back the collected 4 eggs. Hopefully we will get an even hatch. My mating male has decided to hatch these eggs instead of my backup male. They even tried to share a nest but everytime one stood up the other stole the eggs.
Side note anyone have that happen where your hen took off a week from laying then went right back to it?
she has laid 36 so far this season.

 

[texascowboy1979]

Quote:
So how does that work? Will they make good dads even thow babies will hatch over a 3 week period? or will he abandon the eggs... cause if thats the case... Ill have to pull babies, I Cant sacrifice one of my Sportsman Incubators for Rhea Eggs.... Ive got them filled with turkey, duck, and Peacock eggs... Oh, and a few chicken...

 

[C&Rman]

Whoa, I have never even heard or seen a Rhea before.
What are they? They look like ostriches. Yellow eggs that is amazing!
Are they freindly? How much do they sell for? Next animal to get is a Rhea

 

[chickenzoo]

If you get extra babies.... send 2 to Florida....

 

[casuarius]

I've never had trouble with my past Rheas abandoning the eggs...but the male can only sit on so many eggs...he wont be able to cover all 20, so only a few will hatch. I've hatched Rhea eggs in a styrofoam hovabator, they're as easy as a chicken egg in my opinion. It sounds like all 4 of your hens are laying. A single hen only lays a egg every 4-5 days, and the male can and usually will breed 3 or 4 females and end up with more than he can handle haha. All in all, my chicks always did better being hatched and cared for by the male...no leg issues. Hand raising them for some reason, i'd get a few splay legs here and there or slipped tendons. I think it's all in the excercise the male gives them. I got out of Rhea's years ago, and I got another pair last year. This male is stupid and don't know what he's doing...he tries to breed my female Emu, and when the Rhea hen sits down for him, he starts biting her on the back of the neck and pulling feathers, she has several bad spots where he broke the skin. Half the time she jumps and runs. So I held him down and cut the hooks off the tip of his beak the other day...lets see him pull plugs out of her now lol. First nest he made was right in the sun, so when I came back from vacation I found three baked eggs. I've been taking them from him now, and so far one is fertile for sure in the incubator...he's too dumb to hatch them himself I believe. Prices are going up on Rheas, they've been selling at the auctions for $300 and up now. I saw some White ones go for over $500 each. Reason being, they are starting to get fairly scarce across the US.

 

[FarmerTed]

Does anyone have any Rhea hatching eggs for sale?

 

[IWantATurbo]

did they hatch yet???

 

[texascowboy1979]

NOt yet... Im still waiting. I cant wait... Its driving me crazy. I know they are due any day now!!! UGH.. come one...

 

[chickenzoo]