My Agriculture Class and Our Emu Journey!

[N F C]

@Banaynaychicken how are things coming along? Hope all is ok!

 

[Banaynaychicken]

@Banaynaychicken how are things coming along? Hope all is ok!

Everything is going according to plan!!

Sorry I haven't updated XD


So our Emu eggs are doing great! One is 25 days out and the other is 30 days out. humidity and temperature haven't drifted further than 2 degrees/percent out of their zones throughout the entire incubation period, which is great considering the type of incubator we have (Plastic n styrafoam 'bator)

we also have a large coop area ready for them! The Pre-K got new play houses and gave us their old wood ones, which are like a mini cabin put together. The emus will have those and a very large space to run around when they are older, but while they are still young, we have a very large blue tank (normally used for tilapia production) that has been hosed out and cleaned and we are going to put sand in the bottom and a large brick to place water on, and another large brick for a feeder. It will be a emu brooder paradise!!

 

[N F C]

Thanks @Banaynaychicken

Looking forward to seeing pictures when they hatch!

 

[briefvisit]

Hello, agriculture class!

Make sure the chicks' pen has non-slip floors. It's very important.

Here is a picture of a wild male sitting on eggs. His name is 'Boy Emu,' and you'll find him here at 'Mating Season in Australia,' which has lots of data about emooooz:





Supreme Emu, Lake Muir, Western Australia (rothschildi country)

 

[Banaynaychicken]

Hello, agriculture class!

Make sure the chicks' pen has non-slip floors. It's very important.

Here is a picture of a wild male sitting on eggs. His name is 'Boy Emu,' and you'll find him here at 'Mating Season in Australia,' which has lots of data about emooooz:





Supreme Emu, Lake Muir, Western Australia (rothschildi country)

"emooz" I love it!!

We will make sure the plastic flooring is competely covered in sand so that they wont slip ^^

I figure sand is the best option as it is thick and pretty squishy, and very easy to sift/clean. I made a cool tool out of a pitch fork and some 8th inch chicken wire that lets me scopp poop and sift the sand out. like poop mining!

 

[briefvisit]

What fun! Here is a really really rare emooo photo. You know that it's the dad emu that raises the chicks? Well, I have wild chicks here; but there dad has disappeared. So the chicks have adopted a female emu. (The female emu really doesn't understand what's going on. At night, she's usually alone at her roost. Now she has a bunch of scared little feather balls all snuggled up against her.)

Then a wild-wild male with five chicks turned up. So, the photo shows chicks from two different clutches. The wild dad is out of the shot. The two emus visible are both females -- females emus with chicks? extremely rare!!



And here is a cheeky chick drinking from the bird bath in the garden. When your chicks hatch, they'll have no tail feathers, and will have stripes. These chicks -- six months old -- are 'black heads': they have tail feathers, and a lovely fuzzy black 'mohawk' hair cut ('feather cut').



You can impress your teacher by using the word 'taxonomy' in a sentence. You could say, 'Taxonomy is how we put different creatures into categories.' For example, lion and tigers and an ordinary pussy cat are all cats, but they are different types of cats. So, the emus here are sub-species 'rothschildi.' You kids can look at a map, and my garden is just east of 'Lake Muir, Western Australia.'

Check this clip:

Stop the clip after four seconds. Do the emus in this clip seems a little lighter in colour and skinnier than Eric? They are probably sub-species woodwardi.

Here is Eric (with Uno Chick):

 

[Banaynaychicken]

What fun! Here is a really really rare emooo photo. You know that it's the dad emu that raises the chicks? Well, I have wild chicks here; but there dad has disappeared. So the chicks have adopted a female emu. (The female emu really doesn't understand what's going on. At night, she's usually alone at her roost. Now she has a bunch of scared little feather balls all snuggled up against her.)

Then a wild-wild male with five chicks turned up. So, the photo shows chicks from two different clutches. The wild dad is out of the shot. The two emus visible are both females -- females emus with chicks? extremely rare!!



And here is a cheeky chick drinking from the bird bath in the garden. When your chicks hatch, they'll have no tail feathers, and will have stripes. These chicks -- six months old -- are 'black heads': they have tail feathers, and a lovely fuzzy black 'mohawk' hair cut ('feather cut').



You can impress your teacher by using the word 'taxonomy' in a sentence. You could say, 'Taxonomy is how we put different creatures into categories.' For example, lion and tigers and an ordinary pussy cat are all cats, but they are different types of cats. So, the emus here are sub-species 'rothschildi.' You kids can look at a map, and my garden is just east of 'Lake Muir, Western Australia.'

Check this clip:

Stop the clip after four seconds. Do the emus in this clip seems a little lighter in colour and skinnier than Eric? They are probably sub-species woodwardi.

Here is Eric (with Uno Chick):

These are awesome photos!

For my senior photo class im doing a portfolio that revolves around black and white images (mostly macros) of birds, such as chickens, hummingbirds, and here in about 22 days, emu chicks!!! (the first egg is hatching in 22 days, rougly, and the second in about 27. Roughly.) Ill definitely post them once they are edited ^^

Im not actually sure what subspecies we are incubating.... I should look into it.

the woodwardi subs are pretty cool looking. Crossing my fingers for those but emus in general are an exciting thought.

I should ask the farm that the student who donated them got them from.

I would assume they are the same sub species that is used for leather/oil/meat use here in the US. (Which honestly is kinda dumb.... We have cows and plants for hide/leather and oil. and there are lots more cattle than there are emus...)


Its interesting that the females dont watch the babies!

GO MEN! lol they need to step up and grow a set every species or so, huh? I love it ^^ Daddy day care at it's best!

 

[briefvisit]

Actually, you'd find that the (captive) birds in the U.S. (and elsewhere) aren't an identifiable sub-species. In fact, we've discussed whether we could identify by DNA if they are now a sorta new, non-sub-species sub-species!

Say what?

Well, there have been no new emooz brought into the U.S. for a long time, so the 'gene pool' has not been refreshed.

I am also involved in a 're-taxonomy' program involving some activists in New South Wales: http://www.yuraygirwalks.com.au/blog/counting-the-endangered-coastal-emu-population/

The activists want to know if these 'coastal emus' are a sub-species. So I am mailing some feathers from the rothschildi 'range.'

And sadly, half of Australia's emu species are already extinct. There were once pygmy emoooz: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kangaroo_Island_emu

[ Check the painting. You'll eventually know that the females do most of the feather puffing (and they do the vocal sac 'foomphing' at the same time). So you can tell that the standing bird is the female, and the bird incubating is the male. ]

Here is Greedy. She was always puffing her chest feathers:

 

[Banaynaychicken]

Awwhhh!! Hello Greedy!!

I love when they puff their feathers it makes me squeal otu loud like a little kid XD

Have you even seen emus with arms?

 

[briefvisit]

Okay, I admit that I laughed and laughed over the emus with arms.

Now here’s your homework:

what does ‘vestigial’ mean? And do emus have a vestigial claw tucked under each wing? (Think of the little fore arms of the T. Rexs in Jurassic Park)

And is there a South American bird that can still fly . . . but also still has a functioning claw on the front of each wing?


So, if you get your homework right -- feel free to consult other teachers -- you'll be able to say in class, 'Well actually, guys . . . emus do (sorta) have arms!'