Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

permaculture - Re: What to do with an emu?

permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: permaculture

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: "Sally K. Canning" <laughingsheep@pvtnetworks.net>
  • To: "permaculture" <permaculture@franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: What to do with an emu?
  • Date: Sat, 9 Dec 2000 07:23:19 -0700


Hi Mikal- I"ve had some experience with emu. I'll just share what I know.
First, I love birds, all kinds of birds. I bought the birds to put in the
freezer after I learned about them a bit. However, like many, I grew
attached. But, no so much attached as what I found out about cost of
processing.. Where I live, it was going to cost me $300/bird to process.
Or, I could have the birds hauled several hundred miles to a processing
plant and sell them for $65/bird.

You're right about the emu boom. what happened was that there was no
processing outlet for people to take the birds to. And, a grower couldn't
process them themselves and sell the produce. I'm not sure where you are,
but the Emu Associations are addressing this issue nationwide.

The birds are wonderful pets. They are extremely entertaining, especially
when you get them to play. Just to have a breeding pair, only, would be an
adventure. They eat lots of thing- baby ducks, chicks, frogs, snakes, small
dogs, cats............yes. You have to be careful with other animals such as
lambs, dogs, pigs, other birds you've raised, etc because if the emus don't
like them, which in the beginning they may not, they will chase, run down
and stomp/kick. They have claws on their foot that will kill efficiently.
They can also kick you very hard. Depending on how 'gentle' this pair is is
going to determine what happens in the proximity of your home. I had no
problem with my 6 birds kicking, as I had raised them with considerable
handling. They didn't give me any trouble- but they sure gave my dogs a
run for their money. Eventually, the chase ended in a game for them all-
the dogs loved it. But, I lost some ducks, chickens, two geese (who argued
with anyone).

They will jump fences, logs, anything, given the opportunity, so you do need
to raise your fence. They won't cause any trouble really except they will
spook horses (and the horse may go through a fence trying to escape this
crazy (?) animal) and scare people in their homes. Most of your trouble,
when they get
out, will be getting them back. They don't herd well, but do have a short
term memory
as to where the hole is. Their memory only lasts about an hour. So, if
they get out and you finally surround them the next day, they won't remember
the hole. You'll have to have some help, or lure them with feed (not real
successful) or pen them whereever you can and put them in a trailer. I will
tell you, you can put them in a trailer, but you'll need quite a few people
helping and some tall obstacles leading into the trailer. This is an
entertaining challenge for the owner!

I gave my emus to a retired couple who wanted to watch the birds. They do
cost, although a 50# sack should be able to be found for about $9. The pair
should go through about 200#/month.

The female will lay the eggs, and the male will incubate. They are
beautiful, entertaining, comical and very curious. Anytime you are doing
something in the barn they will come help. They are good company, and
people will think twice before going into their pen or pasture without your
permission (guard emu?).

HOpe this helps. Sally
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mikal Jakubal" <mjakubal@asis.com>
To: "permaculture" <permaculture@franklin.oit.unc.edu>
Sent: Friday, December 08, 2000 11:17 PM
Subject: What to do with an emu?


> Does anyone have any experience with emus in a Pc setting? Emus are a
> popular get rich quick scheme around here. Lots of people try them only to
> find out it's actually more work than they want to do, or the birds become
> pets and the owners don't want to butcher them. So, now and again there
are
> free emus. (Sometimes they're just let loose, and you hear these "found
> emu--please claim" ads on the radio.) I have the, um, opportunity to get a
> breeding pair for free. Foolishly, I'm going to go look at them tomorrow.
>
> But what the heck good are they if they're not eaten? My critters are for
> companionship or useful tasks they perform while alive (ducks eating
slugs,
> etc.). I could never kill something that big. They'd be fun to have
roaming
> around (I guess...), but I'm wondering how they'd earn their keep on my
> place. I envision having to build extra strong fences to keep them off the
> road, then shelling out money for truckloads of food every month.
>
> My next stop this evening is a Web search for basic emu info, but if
anyone
> knows how they might fit into Pc, I'd love to hear it!
>
> Mikal
>
> ---
> You are currently subscribed to permaculture as:
laughingsheep@pvtnetworks.net
> To unsubscribe send a blank email to
leave-permaculture@franklin.oit.unc.edu
> Get the list FAQ at:
http://www.ibiblio.org/ecolandtech/documents/permaculture.faq
>






Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page