on the road with emus?

[frankenchick]

Good news: Our babies are coming Sat. (5-8)!!

Not-so-good news: We'll be traveling the weekends of the 21st and 28th. We have sitters for the rabbits and chickens, but no one near us knows anything about emus. These trips are unavoidable.

Can our babies travel with us? Each trip will be 6 hrs one way. We have a dog kennel (airplane kind, big enough for a 60# dog) for the trip, and a pen for the hotel. We'd do anything required to make the journey comfortable for them, but I am concerned about stressing them.

If this is a REALLY BAD idea, please say so! The trips are visits to see elderly relatives (my side of the family); I guess my DH and DS could stay home, but I'd hate to go without them.

 

[chickenzoo]

keeping them warm would be the only problem. If you have someone hold them in a towel, and not use too much A/c, then it should be fine. All the attention makes a better emu.

 

[CoopCrazy]

Get you either a plug adapter for your car or some of those Hot Hands that hunters use and take em with you .. Thats I would do .. I took some babies down to Nashville last year and they did great..

 

[frankenchick]

Thanks!

Now, about the Hot Hands . . . I assume this is for the trip. Would I put them under a towel to keep the babes warm? I can have a light on them at the hotel.

We have a pen that we use for our rabbits; it's a 4'X4' wire enclosure with a plastic mat that goes beneath. Would they have trouble with that? I was going to cover the plastic with newspaper, but would that be too slippery for them? Would old towels be better?

 

[chickenzoo]

If you can find an old fold up play pen, they work great. Then I used puppy pads as newspaper is slippery.

 

[frankenchick]

Oooh, I love the play pen idea! Are you talking about something like the pack-n-play?

I remember my "baby" brother (now 38) having a folding playpen made of wood. I'd love it for baby animals; I bet they'd cost a small fortune now.

 

[chickenzoo]

I don't know what they call them, but I have one i use for baby chicks that the legs unscrew and it collapses down. It's made out of material and a see through type fabric. I found it on CL for like $10. Works great.