Tooshtoosh Has Brought His Chicks

[Ursuline Chick]

I think Tooshtoosh is spoiling those chicks, he needs to man those chicks up, before he has a mess of 5 grown Emus who won't leave the house or get a job.

 

[briefvisit]

You are going to enjoy learning about emus. It's like Game of Thrones with beaks and feathers. They expend unfathomable amounts of energy beating each other up, chasing each other all over the scenery, to gain control of food sources.

Some years ago -- as I said, it's all just snippets of data -- I came across the roost of a single chick that got booted in early winter, so that (ex-) Dad could find a partner. It was just the merest fluke that I was walking through the gums, and found a roost with small fresh poops -- thus small emu. I knew which chick it was, as it was still visiting the house-clearing.
This, I gather, was one freaked-out fuzz ball of emu-ness, just half grown, sitting by itself in the darkness while the rain poured down, and the trees thrashed about in the wind.

By the same token, the chicks are already audacious/stupid enough to challenge a full-grown female, which I certainly would not do.

Fine winter afternoon: LimpyChick is here. I'm reading in the garden.

SE

 

[Ursuline Chick]

This has turned out to be so interesting and such a learning experience. I was telling my hubby about Tooshtoosh this afternoon. I love how you give updates that are truly interesting in just a short blurb.
Whenever you feel like giving an up date, I will be reading.
Thank you for taking the time to keep up this thread!

 

[Ursuline Chick]

Did he bring all 5 this time?
I fear Tooshtooth isn't going to get any this winter.

 

[briefvisit]

A parenting Dad and his chicks are, on Day One, an integral unit. And they remain that way through spring, summer, and autumn. Over that time, as the chicks grow from hatchlings to almost six feet, you see a steady increase in the chicks' confidence, expressed in a readiness to be further from Dad.

[Tooshtoosh Plus is here. I can here them cheeping]

Now, the data above is rock solid. It is Where We Are Now that is interesting. We're working, as always, on a pastiche of observations. About ten days ago, one of the chicks got literally left behind when Tooshtoosh and four of the chicks left the house-clearing. I watched this chick dash about, cheeping loudly and constantly, for almost an hour.

This episode preceded the only-three-turned-up-for-breakfast event.

And as noted, I am watching avidly because this month is Crunch Time.

 

[briefvisit]

Tooshtoosh has left with three chicks. The two left behind are cheeping and running distractedly about while being mercilessly harassed by LimpyChick

 

[Ursuline Chick]

Tooshtoosh has left with three chicks. The two left behind are cheeping and running distractedly about while being mercilessly harassed by LimpyChick

I wonder if he is ready for the chicks to be on their own? I know with my chickens, the mom will be the chicks' protector for months. They often are taught to roost with mom on one of the upper rails and still try to all get under her.
One year we had a broody with 8 chicks and another broody with 2 chicks (all the same age). The 2 would each get under one of Mom's wings at night. The 8 was a free for all until it was completely dark.

 

[briefvisit]

'I wonder if he is ready for the chicks to be on their own?' That's exactly what we want to learn. There is no doubt that sometimes the parenting goes into a second year. So, how often do the chicks get booted at the end of the first year? how often do they get parented into a second year?



'I know with my chickens, the mom will be the chicks' protector for months.'
Very different Darwinian model for emus, Ursuline. The formation of breeding-pairs may begin in late summer. The pair spends time roaming about. Then they may spend as much as ten weeks fighting to gain command of a territory. And only then do they mate; lay; and Dad begins the incubation and then parenting.

This cycle, then, allows a male a chance to breed either once a year, if he boots the chicks at the end of their first year, or once every two years, if he sticks with the chicks into a second year.

Supreme Emu

 

[briefvisit]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/planet-rothschildi.714603/

 

[briefvisit]

Tooshtoosh plus five here yesterday evening.

LimpyChick here this morning.

But we have vehicle movements -- the logging company is doing some work on my property. This is v v bad for our observations.

Let's see.

SE