Six little emus are on the way, food?

[emududecalvin]

Hey guys, I'm new to BYC. I have hatched one emu before but it died while hatching. I now have six eggs that should be hatching in about a week. But, I do not know what to feed them, my grandma feeds her emus goat food. I don't really have a ton of money to go buy a lot of custom mixes food and I'm in Jarrell Texas which is near Georgetown and not a lot of feed stores. I have a tractor supply up the road that sells several types of chick food for chickens but not ratites. what food can I feed them that won't break the bank?

 

[Raptor65]

This is what I use:

Feed​

Crude Protein​

Crude Fat​

Crude Fiber​

Calcium​

Phosphorus​

Salt​

Lysine​

Methionine​

Chicken Layer​

16.00%​

2.70%​

4.00%​

2.50%​

0.40%​

0.25%​

0.70%​

0.20%​

Rabbit Pellets​

17.00%​

1.90%​

20.00%​

0.90%​

0.25%​

0.48%​

​

Chick Starter​

23.00%​

2.00%​

4.00%​

0.50%​

0.50%​

0.15%​

1.00%​

0.30%​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Starter Mix​

18.67%​

2.20%​

9.33%​

1.30%​

0.38%​

0.29%​

0.85%​

0.25%​

Feed Mix​

16.50%​

2.30%​

12.00%​

1.70%​

0.33%​

0.36%​

0.70%​

0.20%​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Difference (Starter Mix)​

2.33%​

0.30%​

2.33%​

0.08%​

0.02%​

1.31%​

0.25%​

0.45%​

Difference (Feed Mix)​

0.50%​

0.30%​

1.00%​

0.55%​

0.33%​

0.29%​

0.14%​

0.16%​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Mazuri Ratite Starter​

21.00%​

2.50%​

7.00%​

1.22%​

0.40%​

1.60%​

1.10%​

0.70%​

Mazuri Emu Feed​

17.00%​

2.00%​

11.00%​

1.15%​

0.65%​

0.65%​

0.84%​

0.36%​

The top three lines are the store bought feeds, the Starter Mix is those three mixed together evenly and ground to the same consistency as the chick starter, the Feed Mix is just the unground Layer and Rabbit pellets.
The next few lines is the difference between the mixed feed and the Mazuri feeds, with the nutritional data for the Mazuri feeds on the bottom.

Right now Gerry is on the feed mix which costs $20 for 100 pounds of feed every 2-3 months, the Starter mix was $30 for 150 pounds every 3-4 months.

 

[emududecalvin]

Thank you so much, this makes feeding so much less complicated than what I thought.

 

[Calla]

Emududecalvin, it's not the feed, but testing your patience lol and looking after your new Babies.
Good luck,
Calla

 

[Tame Emu Guy]

Emududecalvin,

Hmmm . . . I suppose that in the longer run you could grow stuff that your emus like, to supplement their diet. They like silverbeet, for example, and silverbeet grows like billy oh once you get it started.

Supreme Emu

 

[yinepu]

For the first week I usually mix a little chick starter with fresh greens (from the grocery store.. stuff like kale, collard greens and such) with a little shredded carrot and apple as a treat.. after the first week I start adding rabbit pellets and layer pellets to their greens.
After they move outside I let them forage and cut their feeding to mostly a mix of half and half layer pellets and rabbit pellets for the first year.

Just remember they will need lots of calcium.. which is why the layer feed is really good for them along with greens that are high in calcium.

 

[Tame Emu Guy]

Yinepu, I recall the picture of your chicks eating that mixture. Sure seems like a good idea.

Can someone chime in on the you-need-to-teach-hatchlings-to-peck issue, please?


One of the next questions will be: 'What treats should I give my adorable chicks?'

Supreme Emu ruckons keep most of your treat-money in a jar, for when you need a vet; but otherwise, any sort of cheap bulk fruit would do: apple, sultanas, currants. I always try to offer them one by one, or those greedy birds will just gobble up the whole handful.

S.E.