Neighbors may be teasing my Emu & Ostrich - Need help w/ correct wording for a sign...

Well here's the way I look at it. If you get hauled into court, there's no way you can say you didn't know they are dangerous. If you say they aren't dangerous imo that's worse than saying they aren't. If you make every reasonable attempt to notify them of the same and they end up hurt... that's their issue. I would believe that just about any attorney would have the ability to argue the fact that because you said they are shy or "scaring" the birds would be minimizing the danger the person was actually in. And because the danger was misrepresented you are liable for the injuries sustained.

I have a flock of over 50 of these gorgeous prehistoric chickens. And I've been turned on more than once. I'm usually in a position where I can jump up into the bed of my truck or in a Bobcat so they couldn't kick me if they wanted to. At a minimum I carry a dressage whip into the pasture. You only have to be chased over a fence once, or around a truck once to get the hint that they are bigger, badder, faster and more dangerous than us little soft skinned humans. Weekend before last I fenced over 350 ft for a juvenile holding area. One of my males got too curious and I turned around and GENTLY placed that dressage whip on his back which usually makes him uninterested. Oh but that time he went nuts, raised up his wings and started to chase me. They don't do circles well so I knew all I had to do was haul butt around my truck until I got to the back. Then I jumped up in there and raised that whip HIGH over my hand and started making it whistle by twisting waving it in a fast circle. If you are taller than the bird, the bird backs down. He chilled out, got amnesia (their brains are only the size of golf balls), and things went back to normal. I built my fence. He went and pecked at grass. But if one of your neighbors decided to do something stupid like that, then they would probably end up in the hospital or worse.

One of the previous posts here said put up a live fence or bushes for a barrier. He/she was dead on accurate. You definitely do not want the public having easy access to your birds. People usually only see these things in zoos and on tv so curiosity is going to be natural. There are hybrid versions of Cypress that you can get off of ebay for 1.00 a cutting. They grow 12 feet per year if you know what you are doing. (Soak them in water for 2 weeks before you stick them into the dirt) Plan them every 5 feet. Prune the tops when they reach the height you want and they grow into an impenetrable hedge. If I were you I'd put up the scary sign and a live fence as quickly as possible.
 
Thanks for your advice, that makes a lot of sense to me. Yes, my male/female/whatever it is has already challenged/attacked me. I knowingly went into it because I needed to, but I'm sure someone who had no idea what they were getting into would be put in the hospital or killed if they jumped the fence because... well because they're stupid basically.

I can't grow anything though. I don't have water out here. It all has to be trucked in- there's just no way I can do that. I am going to nail wooden signs at the edge of my property that say no trespassing. The bird's fence line is about 5-6 feet onto my property, so by the time they hit the fence they are already trespassing. May be able to put up a hot top wire, too, but for now I've got signs that say it's electric, even though it isn't. Most people wouldn't be able to tell the difference.
 
ROFLMAO! Holy smokes, hey there! I wasn't paying attention to who I was talking to hahahah :) I'm an idiot. You need pics re: the sex of that crazy bird you have. Black feathers, black beak. Have you seen it go to the bathroom yet so that you can see if it has a "dangling curly" or has its beak started to lighten up? I swear that thing acts like a juvenile male. Black feathers... male. Black beak errrrr confused? :)



On the left is a young (2 year) female. In the middle is a 4 year old male. On the right... another young female. If you check out the feathers of the hens... they are brown. Check the shins of the hens... dull. And the beaks of the hens, black.

The male is a predominantly 'blue' ostrich. He's tall, long legs, well proportioned, long neck, blue skin on his neck. (Blacks have shorter necks, shorter legs, large body in proportion to everything else. Reds are like blues, just giant sized, redish skin on their necks and red tinged feathers everywhere, but they are NASTY MEAN.)

Anyway back to sexing visually. When he goes to the bathroom, there is NO DOUBT about what he is. He'll make any human man feel envious in comparison hahaha! But aside from that... if the beak is pink, shins are pink, feathers are black, then it's definitely a boy :)
 
So confusing. Too tired to take this all in right now (bottle raising a lamb right now that is making me feel like I am losing my mind). I'll take a look at this post better this afternoon. The only way she can be a girl in my mind, is that she has an unusually high level of testosterone. I am ready to just pay the money and have her DNA tested. Or I can devote some time to sitting out there and zooming in with my video camera to see what I can capture. Something must be done. I'm just getting too darned curious.

I can tell you though, she/he/it is nowhere near as light as your girls and also very tall. Much taller than other female ostriches I've been around.

Basically, guess I'll be spending this weekend trying to watch an ostrich go to the bathroom...

Beautiful birds, btw.
 
I've been so busy, that the only time I'm like, "Hmmm I need to sex that **** bird" is at night on the computer. During the day it's lambing season for me, which means not a lot of sleep. But I'll get out there as soon as I can, and I'll bring my camera and then there will be no doubt it.
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Here's our scuffle. No way was I about to let him destroy a thousand dollar video camera. Good thing I faked him out into thinking I was even remotely stronger than him.

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Ok if I had to put money on it... that's a boy. Those feathers that are coming in are definitely black. The top of his beak appears to be lightening. And that neck of his has a red tinge to it. He's got Red in his bloodlines, thus, his aggressive nature. I would not attempt to get into that pen again with him without a truck or something REALLY solid that you can put between you and the bird. You are lucky lady :) He could have stomped you good.
 
I tend to agree, you have a boy...congratulations, NOT !
Just watch it when it goes to the bathroom. if it's a male you will be able to tell, males have what I liken to as what looks like a big thick long tongue that will come out and will " twist" and curl somewhat.
 
Thought he might be crossed with red... when I picked him up the breeder said most were blue/black mixes, but he had just a few red crosses. I remember thinking to myself, bet I'll end up with one AND it'll be a male.

I still haven't had a chance, but I'll sit down and watch him sometime soon and report back what I see. I'm hoping he's a male, he sure acts and looks the part to me. Then I can just move on to finding a female and save the ZooGen fee. Definitely wouldn't have gone in there when he was acting like that, but dammit I really didn't want him stomping my camera to pieces.
 
"Definitely wouldn't have gone in there when he was acting like that, but dammit I really didn't want him stomping my camera to pieces." Sounds like something my wife would say :) It's all good. I'm glad you weren't hurt. I know you have some attachment to the big guy, but you might want to consider selling him and starting over with a blue or a black or a blue black cross so that you don't have to deal with that nasty attitude that come with Reds over the next 30 - 50 years. That's exactly where ostrich get their reputation for being 'mean' or 'aggressive'. If my wife is feeling up to it, I'll ask her to take a video of me interacting with our males. You'll see the difference. I'm definitely not an 'ostrich savant'. It's in the birds' genetics, not in some crazy trainer ability. In fact I have a hard time with horses believe it or not. Something about my body language being off per our trainer lol. Reds are just dangerous. I've never met one I liked or rather, I've never met a Red who liked me :D
 

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