Pyxis' Emu Chat Thread

[Pyxis]

Can you guys tell me all about emus? I've always wanted a couple. Right now, my chicken flock is experiencing Mareks. I'm not sure if I can continue raising chickens. Can emus get Mareks? Are Emus fun to have? Are they loud? Are they expensive to keep? Do they take lots of space? What can you do with emus? Would you recommend it? How much are emu eggs? Are emus nice to small children? Thanks! (I'd love pics of emu chicks or developing emu eggs)

Emus cannot get Marek's

I love my emus. They are friendly, goofy, awesome birds. But they're big - they take up a lot of space. I'd say you want to fence in at least an acre for a pair. Some breeders do pens for breeding season that are 20' by 100' but these birds are so big I find that to be small for them, in my opinion.

They're expensive - any big animal is going to be. Mine cost me at least $500 a year in feed, and that's not including extra veggies and stuff, that's just their pellets. Plus you need to factor in the costs of getting started - building a shelter for them, fencing which is not cheap since it needs to be at least six feet tall, etc. And they need to be vaccinated like horses, every six months, for WEE, EEE, and West Nile. I order the vaccines from Jefferspet and they cost $28 a pop, not counting the overnight shipping, so that's $60+ every six months on that.

I wouldn't want small children in with emus, not because the emus are going to be aggressive, but because they are big, and like to run, and are spazzy, and could easily knock down and injure a child while running, totally accidentally.

Emus are a meat animal, mostly. Mine of course are not meat animals and are pets and help protect my other birds, but as livestock that's their main purpose. During the breeding season you can sell eggs or hatch them and sell chicks. A general price for emu eggs is about $50, and the going price for Standard colored chicks seems to be about $150.

They aren't what I would call loud, but chicks and juveniles whistle, and adult males grunts and females boom, so they do make some noise.

 

[AltonaAcres]

Ok! Thanks for your insight. We have an acre already fenced in with 9' fencing, it just needs some patching up. Can they live with chickens? Where do you buy emu pellets? Also, do you need to vaccinate, or is that just what you do? How much time do you spend on your emus? Do they need a certain amount of human socialization daily?

 

[AltonaAcres]

Also, is it hard to find equipment/food/etc. for emus, as not many people raise them?

 

[Pyxis]

Ok! Thanks for your insight. We have an acre already fenced in with 9' fencing, it just needs some patching up. Can they live with chickens? Where do you buy emu pellets? Also, do you need to vaccinate, or is that just what you do? How much time do you spend on your emus? Do they need a certain amount of human socialization daily?

Mine live with my chickens, ducks, and geese no problem. You do need to vaccinate them, unless you want to risk losing your flock to a totally preventable disease. No one is forcing you to vaccinate, but you really should.

I buy my emu pellets from a local feed store that carries Poulin Grain. Poulin Grain makes a ratite feed, so they order it in for me. Mazuri makes ratite feed too, so technically any feed store that carries Purina should be able to order it in, but I tried that with Tractor Supply and they just never got it in for me, so your mileage on that may vary. Whether it's hard or not for you to find food for them will depend on your area. It may be hard, or you may have a local feed store that can easily order things in for you, like I do.

If you want them to be friendly, you do need to spend time with them as chicks, handling them and playing with them.

 

[sseabass]

O

Hi Emu lovers.
Ayleth is hatching his clutch. Today we heard cheeping. I decided to let Ayleth hatch them and then if he leaves the nest once he has a few hatched, then I’ll put the rest of the eggs in my incubator. Since he’s been setting on them since the first egg or maybe second egg was laid, I’m thinking they are going to hatch every few days apart. But, these two hatched on either same day or only 1 day apart.

been feel pretty down at the possibility of any of my emu eggs hatching. day 39 no wiggle etc.... but i bought these "sketchy" fertile guinea hen eggs a while ago. only 5 outta 12 even candled but i came in at lunch and one hatched. couldn't figure out what was peeping. won't say i've been neglectful of these eggs but the emu get 10x the attention. so cautiously optimistic

 

[sseabass]

Hi Matt. I’ve been so crazy anxious about my emu eggs for over a week. Here is a table I found and I’ll attach it for you. It helped me relax a bit
I wasn’t sure when the first egg was laid but I figured this first hatched on day 61! But then I was guessing about the date to begin.
So don’t give up. Also when I checked them towards the end, I never heard a cheep or saw a wiggle.

 

[sseabass]

 

[N F C]

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Such a cute little one! Congrats!

 

[Pyxis]

View attachment 1707237 View attachment 1707237 Hi Matt. I’ve been so crazy anxious about my emu eggs for over a week. Here is a table I found and I’ll attach it for you. It helped me relax a bit
I wasn’t sure when the first egg was laid but I figured this first hatched on day 61! But then I was guessing about the date to begin.
So don’t give up. Also when I checked them towards the end, I never heard a cheep or saw a wiggle.

Isn't that book awesome? Some of the info is a bit dated, but there's lots of good stuff in there.

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[Redhead Rae]

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Will an emu accept the babies finished in the incubator? I know there is a short time window if you have a staggered hatch with broody eggs.