Mighty Neighborly

[smokeyjoe]

you can't knock free and they enjoy the corn , how many do you have and how long you been raising them , if you don't mind me asking.

 

[ES Emus]

you can't knock free and they enjoy the corn , how many do you have and how long you been raising them , if you don't mind me asking.

our in-house population fluctuates between 5-10 adult birds, of which we generally breed two pairs. We incubate 10-20 eggs on the premises and sell/ship the remaining eggs and whatever chicks that we don't incorporate into our flock. This is our fifth year with emus. Last year, we furnished an emu/ostrich farm in PA with eggs and sold chicks to buyers from NJ, PA, southern and western VA. So far this year we have already had egg orders from as far away as CA and OK! Our chicks are pick up only. If the demand continues to grow, we may be expanding our breeding program, but for now, it is all that we want to undertake!

 

[ES Emus]

bagged up 300 pounds of corn this morning and there's still another 150 or so pounds still on the ground...!

 

[yinepu]

Do you have other birds who will get more use out of the corn?

if not.. do you have a grinder?

 

[smokeyjoe]

wow that's a lot of corn , if you have a way to crush it they will get a lot of use from it however like you said free is free and they love it , the only problem I see is the fact that when they eat whole corn and pass it whole they tend to try to eat it again which can cause bacterias and other problems , they do really well with cracked corn , if there is a feed store that can crack it , sometimes they will for free . but emu love it like ice cream , I have had Emu for about 18 year and love every second , I too fluctuate from 10 to 12 at any time , my emu have started breeding so I expect them to start laying soon normally around the end of September or first of Oct I looked back today and last year they started Oct 3rd so I will be watching and I let the male hatch most of the babies, he does really well hatching and saves me having to , he has a good hatch rate about 99% I can't beat that and he doesn't mind giving them up , I too don't keep many, I sell them to people who pick them up only, and sometimes I will sell the fertile eggs but most of all I use the eggs to carve and sell or use as gifts for special occasions . oops sorry for taking up your time .I will let you go ,

 

[ES Emus]