Once upon a time… my now husband surprised me with two emus. An unrelated, potential breeding pair. This was after two failed, sad, expensive hatching attempts on shipped eggs from Texas.
Willy - female
Goose - male
After being raised in the house for as long as possible. (My daughter slept and cuddled with them every night. With diapers on their butts of course…) They then grew up with a large, growing flock of other birds in a one acre section of our property. This is my “bird area”.
A lot of aerial predators would take my chickens. Almost pluck them off one day/bird at a time. But as the emus grew, their size would ward off some of the sky jerks.
They don’t particularly care about or for the chickens, but they get along very well. The turkeys on the other hand love the emus. Almost like they thought they were similar in a way.
I started to notice the changes as they matured. Their fluffy, crazy hairdos started to fade and show the gorgeous blue hues on their heads.
In Septemberish of this year the drumming and booming started. You could hear Willy while in the house an acre away. The sound is amazing to hear. Goose would just grunt. Almost like he’s coughing in emu noises. They started to display in October and that’s when I had a sneaky suspicion I could get those emerald eggs this winter…
Of course a female turkey is not far away. Cookie Monster follows the emus everywhere.
My suspicions were on target! Last Saturday December 4th I found an egg in their bed
the noises I made were pretty ridiculous. But was excited since we weren’t sure if there would be eggs this season. They’re both under 2 years old. I’m going to guess they’re comfortable and mature enough to do the deed.
Then got home from work yesterday (Friday December 10th) and found another.
But now there is a dilemma… I don’t have a good incubator. Have the good ol’ yellow top that works “ok”. It’s now sanitized and warming up. 2nd Thermometer is calibrated and checked.
I decided against skipping my mortgage payment and buying a Brinsea cabinet or a Sportsman. Being a responsible adult sucks sometimes!
There are no turners for this incubator that can turn emu eggs, but just purchased a roller turner that I might be able to modify. Maybe. My schedule does not allow hand turning, as everyone in the house is gone from 7am to 5pm.
This is supposed to be delivered to my work Tuesday, which means the eggs can go in Tuesday evening.
It was 6 days between each egg. Maybe she’ll speed it up and could put another in? Who knows! But just going to give it a shot. Wouldn’t mind some babies running around
To be continued…
Willy - female
Goose - male
After being raised in the house for as long as possible. (My daughter slept and cuddled with them every night. With diapers on their butts of course…) They then grew up with a large, growing flock of other birds in a one acre section of our property. This is my “bird area”.
A lot of aerial predators would take my chickens. Almost pluck them off one day/bird at a time. But as the emus grew, their size would ward off some of the sky jerks.
They don’t particularly care about or for the chickens, but they get along very well. The turkeys on the other hand love the emus. Almost like they thought they were similar in a way.
I started to notice the changes as they matured. Their fluffy, crazy hairdos started to fade and show the gorgeous blue hues on their heads.
In Septemberish of this year the drumming and booming started. You could hear Willy while in the house an acre away. The sound is amazing to hear. Goose would just grunt. Almost like he’s coughing in emu noises. They started to display in October and that’s when I had a sneaky suspicion I could get those emerald eggs this winter…
Of course a female turkey is not far away. Cookie Monster follows the emus everywhere.
My suspicions were on target! Last Saturday December 4th I found an egg in their bed
the noises I made were pretty ridiculous. But was excited since we weren’t sure if there would be eggs this season. They’re both under 2 years old. I’m going to guess they’re comfortable and mature enough to do the deed.Then got home from work yesterday (Friday December 10th) and found another.
But now there is a dilemma… I don’t have a good incubator. Have the good ol’ yellow top that works “ok”. It’s now sanitized and warming up. 2nd Thermometer is calibrated and checked.
I decided against skipping my mortgage payment and buying a Brinsea cabinet or a Sportsman. Being a responsible adult sucks sometimes!
There are no turners for this incubator that can turn emu eggs, but just purchased a roller turner that I might be able to modify. Maybe. My schedule does not allow hand turning, as everyone in the house is gone from 7am to 5pm.
This is supposed to be delivered to my work Tuesday, which means the eggs can go in Tuesday evening.
It was 6 days between each egg. Maybe she’ll speed it up and could put another in? Who knows! But just going to give it a shot. Wouldn’t mind some babies running around
To be continued…
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