Our newest adventure, EMU's!

[briefvisit]

'She chases him a lot but we have not noticed any mating rituals yet.'

I'll be interested to hear of any mating rituals that you observe.

SE

 

[KsKingBee]

'She chases him a lot but we have not noticed any mating rituals yet.'

I'll be interested to hear of any mating rituals that you observe.

SE

I have read a couple of reports on the foreplay and coitus that I am looking for. The 'snake' dance being the first act, and the dancing around sounds like courtship. Then they go to the ground with him easing up on her slowly. I will report to you our observations. She has been a little rough on him in the past, chasing him over the fence a number of times but the last few days seem to be more playful. I have prepared a spot that Limu favors to sleep at night with a windbreak and a huge pile of steamy hay hoping that he has more material to work with than the clean-cut pasture has provided.

 

[Panamom]

We are no strangers to raising fowl; we have chickens, ducks, damn guineas, pheasants, and about 500 peafowl. We came across a coming three year pair of Standards and couldn't resist buying them. I hate and joke about newbys buying birds unprepared but here we are.

We live on 160 acres and have Valais sheep, our new emu are accustomed to sheep and goats, chickens and dogs so they have no fear of the other animals and share a paddock and barn with the sheep. The emu are very friendly and eat from hand and don't mind being petted. (I so wish there was a stickies index for emu...)

I'd like to get some advice on how emu interact with each other. Limu wants to be with Mumu but she takes one look at him and he will crawl over the four foot field wire to get away from her then paces the pen to get back in only to go through this time after time. Monday evening he went on a walkabout and came home Wed morning, tired and hungry. Put him in the pen and out he comes, so they now have separate paddocks.

I understand we are coming into the breeding season so I am wondering how to proceed? Should I just let him climb the fence when she decides she wants to breed? Limu is the one with the blue head.View attachment 4221817View attachment 4221818View attachment 4221819

Love that you have more than one great bird! What an awesome farm habitat you must have and yes, I also got an emu after wishing and not prepped.
Esmerelda is quite docile and 4 or so yrs old, she is called tame but can do a crazy emu in a Heart beat. They aren’t domesticated at all really, just satisfied with the status quo. Lovely creatures tho. My guess is to allow them to be as solitary as they please then see what happens. Don’t think they will be bred kindly. If you get my drift.

 

[briefvisit]

'I have read a couple of reports on the foreplay and coitus that I am looking for. The 'snake' dance being the first act, and the dancing around sounds like courtship.'

Good morning. We might need a couple of posts for this.

I've observed perhaps a dozen copulations of wild emus. There is no dance.

The 'dawn dance' (long ago we called it 'spazzy dancing') is a thing adults and chicks love to do. But I've never seen it in connection with mating.

SE

 

[KsKingBee]

Not being a morning person I will probably never witness the 'dawn dance'.

 

[briefvisit]

https://imgur.com/DLyYYO1

 

[briefvisit]

https://imgur.com/A14OvdF

 

[briefvisit]

'Not being a morning person I will probably never witness the 'dawn dance''

They may do it any time, KsK; but they most often do it at first light.

SE

 

[KsKingBee]

'Not being a morning person I will probably never witness the 'dawn dance''

They may do it any time, KsK; but they most often do it at first light.

SE

What I have not found yet is the time of day the hen lays her egg.