Emu chick raising

[Chickem707]

So I’ve been doing a lot of research on emus, but there’s some things I can’t really find.
Do emu chicks need heat? Up to what age?
If i get some chicks and they grow up with me, are they likely to be a bit more friendly?
What does everyone feed their emus? (Adult & chick)
Any other advice you think I would find helpful is appreciated, thanks

 

[R2elk]

So I’ve been doing a lot of research on emus, but there’s some things I can’t really find.
Do emu chicks need heat? Up to what age?
If i get some chicks and they grow up with me, are they likely to be a bit more friendly?
What does everyone feed their emus? (Adult & chick)
Any other advice you think I would find helpful is appreciated, thanks

@Pyxis

 

[Kalifornsky]

Yes, you need a heat lamp for the babies up until maybe 1-2 months. If they're being kept in an outside enclosure, they will need a heat lamp for longer if it's cold out.

Hand-raising chicks makes them far more likely to be affectionate than if you purchase them young. After hand-raising 3 chicks, all of them are super affectionate a year later. Meanwhile, the two chicks I bought at around 1 month old are timid of me 1 year later. The younger you purchase them, the better!

The babies were fed crushed corn-based emu grower. To teach them to drink, you can float some greens on the water and they'll peck at it.

If you have any other questions I'll try to help best I can!

 

[Chickem707]

Yes, you need a heat lamp for the babies up until maybe 1-2 months. If they're being kept in an outside enclosure, they will need a heat lamp for longer if it's cold out.

Hand-raising chicks makes them far more likely to be affectionate than if you purchase them young. After hand-raising 3 chicks, all of them are super affectionate a year later. Meanwhile, the two chicks I bought at around 1 month old are timid of me 1 year later. The younger you purchase them, the better!

The babies were fed crushed corn-based emu grower. To teach them to drink, you can float some greens on the water and they'll peck at it.

If you have any other questions I'll try to help best I can!

Thank you so much! If you don’t mind answering two dumb questions, then what is a season? I read females lay 20-50 eggs a season. Is that a year? And how do people ship them? Surely the eggs would break, as I can’t seem to find polystyrene emu egg cases anywhere. Thanks

 

[Kalifornsky]

The coldest time of the year is the emu's breeding season and when they start to lay eggs. Northern hemisphere winters in the US (Dec-Feb) and southern hemisphere winters in Australia (April-June). 20-50 eggs sounds right per season, and I've read as the female emu ages she will lay more eggs. I've also successfully shipped plenty of eggs using lots of bubble wrap and packing material. Since the season is winding down, it will be more difficult to find eggs at this time.