Male Emu

[dnkfarm]

My male emu gets all puffy with his head kinda down and walks circles around me while clapping his beak. But only when I go in the woods, he will follow me and start circling. Any ideas what or why he is doing this. (PS he has a female emu)

 

[chickenzoo]

1) he really really loves you.....

2) he is posturing and showing some dominance

Mine will puff up, walk sideways while following me and walk around me..... he doesn't clap his beak thou.... but he is in LOVE with me.

yours might be doing the same, and since in the woods is where some lay, he may be getting excited and trying to intice you to go lay.....

If he starts getting that look in his eye and brushes up against your back side....... i'd be walking away and telling him he needs to find another date...

 

[foulman007]

The other side is he sees you as a threat to his mating role. My male will act the same except he will rush me and stomp and kick his feet. When I get "bigger" than him he settles down. But I do keep my eye on him cause he will sneak up on me and give me a good peck. Then a few minutes later he will calm down and let me grab on him and give him a hug. I am also never trespassing on their nest area they may be pets but still "wild" anaimals

 

[chicmom]

Very interesting.....I think I might be afraid of an Emu......They are really cute as hatchlings......

 

[flyweed]

actually when you get in the cage with Emu's they are so docile and fun loving..you lose any fright you may have of them. They are great birds.

 

[chickenzoo]

Luckily Merlin will let me mess with him and reach under him to check the eggs and stuff. My males, luckily, have never shown aggression towards me...... but they have seen me throw a big QH to the ground that was being cheeky ... so maybe they are to afraid too...

On a serious note, that is what I meant about dominance. He might see you as a rival or a threat to his area.


Chicmom.... my emus are very friendly and docile. They do however lack in knowledge of the term "personal space", and that often freaks people out. they are also very very attracted to shiny, colorful or hanging objects and find them irresistible to grab. people think they are being mean, but they just can't help themselves. Moving them or grabbing a hold of them etc..are the only two real instances where things can go very bad with an emu. They get scared very easily during those situations.

I like to tell people to treat them like a cross between a horse and a chicken. You can love on your horse but if they get scared... you know they can kick or bolt through things.... same with emu.

 

[dnkfarm]

This is how he looks

 

[chickenzoo]

I think he has that look in his eye....

Seriously it could be either way. Most times I have seen my Emu try to dominate each other, they raise up as tall as possible after posturing( walking sideways, walking circles) and bump chests, hiss, then run or chase....and do it again. When my males are in a "lov'n" mood they follow me around real close, strutting, walking sideways, walking circles, and coming real close again. If I bend over to wash out a water trough.... I have to keep an eye on them .....as they may try to "goose" me.....They also will do that to my mini animals...... Jazzy use to LOVE my mini cow and horses...

 

[The Sheriff]

We had the chimney sweep here today. I thought my emu boys were going to lose their minds. The sweep was tossing the tools off the roof as he finished using them and the boys couldn't get into that area of the yard to check it out. The were dancing and gyrating and falling down and getting up and running. It was so funny. I think I paid for an extra hour of the guy watching the silly show!

 

[Pidgey104]

Thats what my Kevin is doing now. But He tried to goose mom the other day LOL. Found our first egg from mthem also Wooohooo. Kevin like to get up in your face but he just loves mom to death. he likes to lay hes head on her shoulder and he'll plop down in your lap like a dog