Looking into Emus, but have a few questions first.

[foREVer]

My family and I have decided that it is time for another pet- hopefully a weird one, and all of these emu threads have gotten me interested. So, before i jump into anything, I have a few questions...

- Would the bird be able to survive Michigan weather? (Snow, rain, heat, anything.)
- Is roughly .75 acre to a full acre of land adequate?
- Is it possible to keep them with a four-legged friend such as a goat rather than another emu?
- I have done some calling around, and no stores sell emu-specific food. Would a mix of sweet feed, chicken food, and some treats be okay?
- Could a structure such as a lean-to be okay for shelter?

 

[yinepu]

My family and I have decided that it is time for another pet- hopefully a weird one, and all of these emu threads have gotten me interested. So, before i jump into anything, I have a few questions...

- Would the bird be able to survive Michigan weather? (Snow, rain, heat, anything.)
- Is roughly .75 acre to a full acre of land adequate?
- Is it possible to keep them with a four-legged friend such as a goat rather than another emu?
- I have done some calling around, and no stores sell emu-specific food. Would a mix of sweet feed, chicken food, and some treats be okay?
- Could a structure such as a lean-to be okay for shelter?

yeah.. they can survive up north.. I know of a few people in upstate new york that were raising emus back in 2004 with no problems.. I believe there are also some breeders in Canada

the amount of space question will get you an assortment of answers.. basically more space is always better than less

emus can get along with livestock guardian dogs, zebras, goats, mini horses and donkeys.. the list goes on.. the important thing is slowly introducing them and making sure that you don't expect them to become best friends from day 1.. small chicks can get stepped on by larger animals.. and a full grown emu can trample smaller animals.. so common sense is needed when making introductions and getting them all used to each other

many people don't feed emu specific food.. I give the babies greens and layer crumble when they are in the brooder.. switching up to a 50/50 mix of rabbit pellets and layer pellets after a week.. once they are a year old you can give them calf creep feed and they will be fine .. Texas used to be filled with emu farmers before the bottom dropped out of the market and what I just described was their usual feed used by most of the farmers locally with lots of success for growth as well as egg production with healthy chicks
Other people feed mazurai (sp) ratite feed.. they make different kinds for the different stages of growth...
some here have also fed sweet feed plus dog food plus chicken feed plus whatever the rest of their critters were eating since the emus were raiding everyone's food dishes anyway
There are several threads here on feeding.. so have a look and see what you will be able to provide based on what others have reported good success feeding

depending on where you live there may be guidelines set up by the humane association regarding shelter for livestock.. follow those... chances are that the emus will ignore the shelters anyway.. but it's best to have your rear-end covered.. now having said that make sure they do have a warm dry place to go to in case your weather turns very nasty (and get them used to it) so they will have someplace to go to get out of the weather if they choose

 

[foREVer]

Thank you for your input, yinepu.

I was also wondering of an elecric horse fence would be okay for an emu, or it it would be better to take down the electric and put up a 6' mesh fence.

 

[yinepu]

Thank you for your input, yinepu.

I was also wondering of an elecric horse fence would be okay for an emu, or it it would be better to take down the electric and put up a 6' mesh fence.

you're better off with the mesh.. electric won't have much of an effect on emus since their feathers would insulate them.. plus electric would be harder for them to see