Alternative food for rhea chicks?

[danischi24]

We have a billion baby rheas hatching at the moment & don't live in a country where ratite food is available. Many chicks lose strength in their knees & can't get up although their legs are straight. Also some have one or two legs turning out from the knee as they grow & then they splat. Any homemade feeds we can try to keep this from happening as we have about 30 being incubated & always an almost perfect hatch rate. Currently we feed turkey starter with added multivitamins & extra vit D/calcium in their water as well as fresh greens.
Here's a little guy I popped from his shell today.

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[Nicophorus]

Can you buy some mealworm, grubs, or other small insects in bulk from reptile feed stores? I would enrich their diets with some of them If you are having all those classic weakness signs in the babies.

 

[danischi24]

We'd have to breed them on a large scale basis but I'm not convinced that this is just a protein problem. I'm actually suspecting a vitamin D overdose. Anyone ever had rheas showing symptoms like this from too much D?

 

[clark-farm]

Calcium deficiency perhaps, or maybe they are slipping on somthing we had the same issue with slippage, but calcium powder mixed with there food, or curly kale.

 

[nelmsy]

I am getting some rheas and I wondered what do I need to get before they arrive

 

[clark-farm]

Ostrich grower pellets work great if u live near a feed store, the chicks love kale

 

[nelmsy]

What about chicken pellets and dog food

 

[charlindabob]

Who has fertile rhea eggs for sale?

 

[clark-farm]

The dog food contains additives and other junk that's not good for rhea. And the protein in chicken pellets is to low.

 

[casuarius]

I give Rhea and Cassowary chicks catfish or koi food for extra vitamin D. I have also fed dog food to them as a main diet for years with no problems at all. Their biggest problem with leg issues is a lack of vitamin D and exercise. Usually if a male raises them, they have no leg problems at all, but if we do it, they drop like flies. This is because the dads walk them constantly, and build their leg muscles and help keep the weight off of them. If they get too fat, their legs cant support their bodies, so if they are in confined space, I would feed them as little as possible. Very long runs (a couple hundred feet) is best for them with netting over top to keep hawks out.