Ostriches for Property Protection?

[Barred Rocks forever]

is it nice to you though ?

 

[casuarius]

Some are mean, some are nice...just depends on the bird usually. All in all, they are solitary animals and territorial. Therefore they can't be trusted. They don't stay tame like a emu. I feed them from the outside of the pen, it just takes a good setup to keep them.

 

[hearthnsoul]

My son in law and friends were walking out at night and it was very dark, next thing you know one of them is screaming,..they here all this commotion and it seems very violent,...they think he is being attacked by a lion, tiger or bear,..oh my. It's brutal they are all scattering thinking they are all going to die,...the friend was really banged up,..it was an ostrich that did all that damage, to him!!!..after he told me that story I had a whole new respect for the bird

 

[deerman]

My Late friend had Ostrich, rheas, and emu. Till some school kids , went clubbing one night with baseball bats. Kill two full grown ostrichs ,two grown emu, and few of the rheas. Now these were all tame. So not sure how well they would protect ,at night. These boys were early teens.

 

[Dingo]

I'm thinking they dont have very good vision at night, the woman I got my eggs from lost a bird during a power outage to a coyote. Normally she has a light on their barn so they can see.
deerman I hope your friend prosecuted those boys.

 

[chickenzoo]

That is just awful..... I hope those kids went to jail. I never understood how anyone could do such a thing.

 

[stuckinthecity]

Wow. I've always liked emus. BUT. can they be kept in the same general area as chickens/small fowl? Like can they share the same pasture without the chickens getting killed?

 

[deerman]

No, the boys all got probation....He had raised them from chicks ,they were 4 years old ostrichs. We could walk in the pen with them anytime. He never replace any of the large birds, I got all his peafowl, still keep some there, for his widow to enjoy..

Think those boys were lucky the ostrich were tame, as a ostrich can kill a man. He said his emus would kill a dog.

 

[chickenzoo]

Quote:
That just makes me sick........ if "kids" can do that to an animal, they sure are going to be problems and a threat to people as they get older. I would be mortified.





As far as the Question about emu and chickens... if you raise the emu up from a young age around animals, and keep any new animal at a distance for awhile for the emu to see, then yes you can keep them together... just not baby chicks. My emu are in the same pasture with some of my free ranging chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys etc... even my Serama roo. They were raised up around them, so they are part of their flock as far as the emus are concerned. Now, I have not had luck with stopping them from chasing cats. They will chase ours if they get close and occasionally chase the ducks just for fun.... poor ducks.

 

[stuckinthecity]

Lol, I can imagine why the ducks don't like the emus. I would be scared too if a dinosaur with feathers came after me too!