Splayed leg?

[ES Emus]

She runs around like a nut everyday, but how do you know about weight? With my sheep you should always be able to feel a little bump of backbone, if their back is flat they're too fat, what should I be feeling for on my emu? It takes her about a month to eat her 50 pound bag of pellets and she has fresh fruit and spinach everyday she also eats her pasture grass and clover. One more question she eats purina emu grower which says she should eat it until 10 months and then go on to mazuri emu maintenance but when i read the bag tags on both foods the analysis is almost the same with the exception of more fiber in the maintenance. Is it hurting her to still be eating the grower, she doesn't like the maintenance. Thanks so much for your expertise!

It is actually pretty difficult for an adult emu that has the ability to exercise to become overweight. Your bird is being fed a variety of foodstuffs (which is a very good thing!) and the amount of pellets that it receives is right in line. Adult emus will average around two pounds of food intake a day. I am surprised that your maintenance feed has the same protein percentage as your grower, usually it is lower. If everything else is similar, the fiber difference should be easily made up by the ability to graze plus the spinach and fruit that it receives. We switch off to a maintenance feed, primarily because it is about four dollars a 50# bag cheaper than the grower/finisher and that adds up. When we switch over, we just gradually mix the maintenance feed pellets in with the grower/finisher feed and after slowly increasing the ratio over the course of a couple of weeks , the birds have adjusted to the maintenance diet.

 

[Ellamumu]

Thanks ES for all the info, I have a farm full of sheep, goats, horses etc... and have had farmys my whole life but this is my first emu and I am kind of obsessed with her LOL. I was surprised the foods had the same protein too the purina says 17.3 % and the mazuri is 17%, anyway thanks, I'm sure I'll have more questions in the future.

 

[ES Emus]

Thanks ES for all the info, I have a farm full of sheep, goats, horses etc... and have had farmys my whole life but this is my first emu and I am kind of obsessed with her LOL. I was surprised the foods had the same protein too the purina says 17.3 % and the mazuri is 17%, anyway thanks, I'm sure I'll have more questions in the future.

no problem!

 

[casuarius]

Leg issues are something that took me years to figure out, and finally my friend whom is a doctor found the problem. Its due to vitamin D deficiency, which causes a condition called Rickets. There are no feeds I have found that has enough in it. Calcium, Phosphorus, and Magnesium are also lacking in most feeds. The best feed I have found that has a good amount of all, (particularly vitamin D) is called poultry conditioner by Manna Pro: http://www.mannapro.com/products/poultry/conditioner/ Most tractor supplies carry this, but sadly it only comes in small bags for about $7/bag. The only problem with it is weight gain if the chicks are not in a large enough area to run, which is the next issue for their legs going bad. Ratite chicks need plenty of room to run, if they are kept in small brooders for too long like other birds, their legs will splay, or bow. You can also buy vitamin D3 drops to add to their food, which is a good supplement.

 

[Tame Emu Guy]

Sincere thanks for this information, Casuarius. Knowledge like this validates the BYC project.

S.E.

 

[Fuzzybird1]

So I thought I would let you know that we put down our young emu, Gertrude, yesterday. Her leg was at 90 degrees when we left town for a week. When we returned it was actually pointing behind her. It stuck so far out to the side that she had to visibly shift her weight from side to side to move. She no longer could run and play like she use to. I promised myself that I wouldn't let this get to the point where she couldn't stand. She obviously was suffering so we took her in to a vet who humanely put her down. Our other emu is very upset. We are doing our best to be with him a lot and keep other animals near him. We gave him a wardrobe mirror at Calla's suggestion which does offer him a little comfort. He likes to look at the bird in the mirror and gently pecks it. I hope he doesn't break it and injure himself or eat a piece of glass! (another worry!) This whole thing has been just heartbreaking. I hope I can find him a companion before too long.

Thanks, all, for the advice and support.

 

[ES Emus]

sorry Fuzzy, I know from experience that is a hard thing to go through...

 

[Fuzzybird1]

Thanks, ES. It really is.