INFRASTRUCTURE REQUIRED FOR RAISING EMUS
 Chicks from hatch to 2/3 months
They should be housed at night with a heater – depending on the weather – until they are about 8 weeks of age. At this time if the weather is warm enough, the heater can be removed but they should still be indoors at night. A room that is 3m by 3m will comfortably house 25 chicks. They should have an outside run that is at least 20m long. The rooms should have some sort of floor covering – ideally rubber mats that can be easily removed and cleaned daily.
Protection from predators is a consideration depending on where your farm is located. Eagles and owls can easily take small birds.
Grow-out camps
Grow-out camps should be as large as possible. Twenty-five birds for example should be in a camp that is no smaller than 40m by 60m. Fences should be 1.8m high and constructed of either Bonnox game fencing or diamond mesh. It is necessary to keep predators and dogs out and keep the birds in.
Open camps should have some sort of shade and protection from long rainy periods – nothing fancy.
Feed
Ostrich feed is currently used for emus and will be until the research project that the South African Emu Association is running with the University of Pretoria is completed at the end of 2005. A starter crumble/mash is used until they are about 8 weeks old; and then they are gradually switched to a grower pellet.
They should be switched to a breeding ration at the age of 16 months until they stop laying.
Breeding
At the age of 18 months onwards (starting in April or May) the birds will start breeding. The female lays an egg (dark green) every third day. If left in the camp in a nest, the male will eventually do the incubation. During this period the birds do not eat. The male will not leave the nest – not even to drink. You will find that all of the birds go off their food for a period of about two months – this is natural. The length of incubation is about 54 days and the male raises the chicks – the females show no interest at all. Most farmers incubate their eggs artificially.
Diseases
We are not aware of any diseases that affect emus.
General information
- The emu are generally very docile. They tend to be intensely curious creatures. Emu chicks hatch from eggs ranging in size from 400 to 900 grams in weight, with the average being near 550 grams.
- Upon hatching, the chicks will stand nearly 10 inches tall and have a yellowish-white and black striping used to camouflage them in the wild.
- At three months, the chicks have grown to 24 inches and transform then to a black head and then black body stage as their feather grow in.
- Within 6 months, the chick will attain the black, tan and brown feather coloring of the adult. They begin to fill out in weight.
- The adults have a soft downy feathering – no vein runs through the center of each double-feathered quill. Often parts of the head, neck and beak can display a radiant blue coloring.
- Many female emus can lay eggs before they are 2 years old, whereas males attain sexual maturity between 3 and 4 years of age.
- Adult emu can produce offspring well past the age of 35 years. Emus generally lay between 20 and 40 eggs per season.
- While courting, the female emu will make a tympani like sound from her air sac. The male makes a grunting sound similar to that of a wild boar.
- Commercial incubation time is 49 – 52 days and the percentage of eggs hatched is usually between 70 to 80% in normal sanitation and handling care situations.
|
