Observations on Mating-Season, Please

[Supreme Emu]

Interesting emu stuff is happening here, and I'd welcome observations: my emus, which are just old enough to mate, have been acting differently in recent weeks. For a start, I'd never ever seen them leave a single grain of wheat behind; but now they wander off halfway through eating their ration.

They hang out with 'foreign' emus, which is funny because different things happen when I hove in sight. Sometimes, the wild emus run off, and mine just stand there, as though to say, 'What? Is there danger? Where? What danger?' and I suppose the wild emus are saying, 'Run, stupid!! It's a human!!' Sometimes, though, my emus run off with the wild emus. I suppose then they think, 'Wait a minute . . . what I am running away from?'

At this very second, as I'm typing here in the EOF (Emu Observation Facility – a.k.a. my house), there's a wild emu standing about five yards into the gums in front of the house. Greedy (the female) is standing in the open, saying, 'No, it's okay. It's just the Wheat Guy. Come and eat some wheat.' The wild emu is saying, 'What – are you stupid? I'm out of here!'

Seriously, though. I would appreciate observations. So, eating less, hanging out less together (and moreso with foreign emus), generally rather flighty. What might I expect? For example, might one of the males disappear for a couple of months while he's hatching eggs?

(Isn't the technology fascinating? You guys are on another continent, and you're emus are connected to a wild emu through you and the email and me and my tame emus. [Greedy has walked up the road, and is gluk-glukking, saying, 'No, it's alright. You can come back!'])

Supreme Emu, Rocky Gully, W.A., Australia

 

[chickenzoo]

I don't know what they do in the wild, but here my female is walking around booming, vibrating her neck and swinging it back and forth. In the US our season seems to start up in Sept, but i here about emus still sitting now. When the season started last year my 2 males (they were almost 2 then) who have been best friends all their lives started hissing and biting at each other, chasing each other off and kicking each other. It got so bad I had to separate them for awhile, and I was sure they were going to go over the 6 ft corral panels. Jazzy had started making practice nests out in the pasture, in his favorite corners but they didn't last long as the chickens stole all his decorative accents.... I ended up getting a female emu about the same age as the 2 males because they decided they would try and court my mini cattle and mini horses. The one male, Merlin fell instantly in love, Jazzy my most friendly emu would have nothing to do with her and would bite and chase her off. Now things have calmed down and everyone is getting along together. Their are still the occasional spats, but over quickly.................. I can't wait to see what happens this year.. LOL

 

[Dingo]

Yes usually the breeding season for them here in the US is Sept-March. The eggs I hatched were late season, usually the emus normally wouldn't have been laying that time of year(April), They started laying later than normal though. The woman I got my eggs from has a rooster on a clutch of eggs right now we assume he's 6 weeks in. If you end up missing a rooster he may be brooding a clutch, I'm not sure if he'd bring his brood back to see you though as hens can be nasty to chicks.

 

[Supreme Emu]

Thank you, Emu Hugger and Dingo. This is interesting. Several months ago, my female began simultaneously booming, flaring her ruff, and doing a sideways-walk-with-head-and-neck-cocked-to-one-side. Is this mating behaviour?

P.s.: I saw a splended emu in the wild this week, big, really dark, and with a dense (Winter?) coat.

Supreme Emu

 

[chickenzoo]

Sounds like she's look'n for love.......