- Jun 5, 2014
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It seems like emus are becoming fashionable to own again, as I have been contacted by record numbers of perspective egg and chick buyers. Many of these people have never raised or even been around an adult emu. One of the first questions that I ask any potential customer is, "how much space do you have for your pen?".
I have been amazed at the number of people who have not considered how much room an adult emu requires and planned to raise then in an "old dog or chicken pen". When I get that for an answer, I refuse to consider selling them an emu, even if they get mad or offer me more that what I would normally charge.
Emus are very large birds (duh?) and need to be able to run in order to strengthen their legs and get their exercise. They are not birds that can typically be kept in a back yard "cage" or even the typical residential back yard!. They can run at speeds in excess of 30 miles per hour and take up to 9' in a single stride! Their pens need to be very long (120' or more), although they can be narrow in design.
If you are thinking about becoming an emu owner, remember that an emu, as a rule, requires about the same space that a horse would and you would not (hopefully) think about keeping a horse cooped up in an old dog pen!
So this is a serious question. I have chickens horses goats bunnies....all that and more and I'd like to get some female emus. We have 2 acres fenced off into two fields with just regular wood fence about 5 feet or more. Would the emus be able to live on an acre? Would I need to put some chicken wire or chain link around the fence to keep them in? If I got younger ones an kept them in a chain link kennel till they were idk...20 pounds would that be bad? My chickens free range and are pretty mch just outside all the time, they do whatever they want. We have two stalls an just one horse. Could the emu use a stall as shelter? The horse is actualy a medium pony and he is friendly. Do ou think they'd be okay? He loves our goats lol