Splayed leg?

[Fuzzybird1]

Thanks for letting me know.

 

[Tame Emu Guy]

It’s appropriate to support E.S. in this position, Fuzzybird. The subjects of fences and splayed legs have been staples of concern for years on this thread. Certainly, do all that you can.

What comes to my mind is:
# a captive bird has a much safer environment, which gives a bird its best chance. (There’s no such thing as a weak bird in the wild.)
# while such a captive bird is ambulatory and clearly without pain, hope springs eternal.
# the moment that it can no longer walk, and there is no real hope of effective treatment, it’s hard to argue that it is living tolerably well.

Good luck! Keep us posted.

Supreme Emu
Western Australia

 

[Fuzzybird1]

Thanks all, for the info, advice, and support. After considering all this, I think I probably will just let her be until it gets to the point where she is not having quality of life. I am not looking forward to what seems to be inevitable. I guess this is nature and I'll just have to do my best with it. I'm worried about the other chick being raised alone as they do enjoy each other so much. I doubt I'll be able to find another companion for him until next spring. Will he be o.k. alone?

 

[Tame Emu Guy]

Yeh, Fuzzybird, he’ll be okay alone for a while. Captive birds can live for fifteen or twenty years, so there is time to ‘catch up.’

(Are there other critters in the lone emu’s environment? That seems to help too.)

It’s a heart-break carousel, Fuzzybird, this ‘nature thing.’ The simple brutal odds are that you will lose chicks regularly, and grown birds too at times.

I find it particularly hard because my ‘attrition rate’ – ‘my’ birds are tame-wild, not captive – is so very much higher.

S.E.

 

[Fuzzybird1]

S.E., there are other animals around. He shares a fence line with horses and a llama. We hope when we get more 6 ft fencing up and as he gets bigger that they may even be able to be together. We'll see. I have a miniature potbellied pig that spends several hrs a day in the emu pen. There are free range peacocks here as well that often like to hang by the emus so there is other animal life about him. Still, the way the two emus are bonded and interact isn't comparable to what he may get from the other creatures. I guess we will all just have to deal with whatever comes to be.

 

[ES Emus]

It is possible that your bird could have some other form of leg deformity and not the worst-case spalyed leg. With our experience with splayed legs, the downward progression was very rapid, you could see a difference daily for the worse. It is possible that you may just have a bird with a deformity, that may survive with nothing more than a bad limp... we have our fingers crossed for you and your bird.

 

[Tame Emu Guy]

Morning, Fuzzybird!

Here’s a positive thought:

emus aren’t a mate-for-life species. So, there's a fair chance that the remaining bird will later bond with a ‘replacement’ bird.

Supremely Cold Emu
Rocky Gully
Western Australia

 

[Fuzzybird1]

Thanks ES and Mark for the positive thoughts. As long as she can run there is an element of hope. ES, in your experience how long was it before they couldn't stand?

 

[ES Emus]

Thanks ES and Mark for the positive thoughts. As long as she can run there is an element of hope. ES, in your experience how long was it before they couldn't stand?

it was a matter of just a couple of weeks, like I said earlier, you could see a difference for the worse almost every morning, Last night, I noticed that the right foot of our latest rescued bird is slightly turned out and it walks with a slight limp, but he is otherwise healthy, so ( hopefully) your bird may be just have a similar leg abnormality...

 

[ES Emus]

Unfortunately, I feel that some chicks are doomed before they even hatch because they are products of severe inbreeding and/or their parents did not receive the proper nutritional intake during the breeding season and despite the best of care and intentions, there is no hope for them. Other birds develop spayed legs from being raised on or allowed on slippery surfaces or failure to receive their daily exercise (running). I really believe that, because of their cuteness, some owners tend to dwell more on cuddling the chicks than exercising them. I am a very firm believer that, as soon as they can walk, they need to start their exercise regime, and increase their exercise daily to develop strong legs. As long as the sun is shining, we have our chicks outside every day. Emus are unlike any other birds that we have ever raised when it comes to (proper) leg development.