Emus + predators

[Nicophorus]

As a new owner of a couple Emus, can anyone share with me any of the experiences they have had with emus and predators?

I figure the young are vulnerable to pretty much anything that would go after a chicken, but what about half grown emu and adults?

Has anyone lost Juevinille Emu (lets say 3 foot high and up) to small predators like Racoons or Bobcats or Hawks (the three things I have the most around here)? Or Adults to anything?

Another thing im curious about is Emus as as flock protectors for smaller fowl. Has anyone used Emus in mixed flock with smaller fowl and seen their predation on the smaller birds go away?

 

[casuarius]

adult emus are too large for bobcats or coyote's, but smaller ones, 3 ft tall can be easily killed. Adult birds will usually chase dogs or predators during the day and try to kick them, but cant see well at night.

 

[Pops2]

Quote:
i don't know much about emu's except the birds my cousin owned, but i know a fair bit about predators cause catching them with dogs is my passion. don't bet against coyotes and bobs. both regularly take buck deer 200# and up. while single western coyotes and the small average southern bob may not stand much chance, there are larger coyotes and more pack oriented coyotes in the east and a large southern bob is a dang ferocious beast more than capable of killing animals 10X it's own size. while the risk may be less than for a chicken, the risk is still there. coincidentally bobs & coyotes are most active AT NIGHT.

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote:
The gal who owned the feedstore in my area raised Ostriches for many years. She had a Mountain lion take her Ostrich male during a thunderstorm. Right in the pen. They never heard it in the house which was only about fifty feet away.

I am certain that once the sun sets everyone is fair game, just as others have said. The only good protection would be a Dog of some sort.... And bullet proof coop for the night.
Sigh Just went through it all with a flock of guineas.... Started with 40 and am down to seven. Bad bad bad coop design....Sigh.

 

[casuarius]

Electric fence ended all of my losses, I put it around all my pens top and bottom perimeters, and the pasture fence the same way so nothing can dig under or climb over. I've even pulled coons and possums off of it the next day. I got one with some serious power, and it doesnt ground out very easy. Otherwise, a good livestock dog would possibly work. I have two Pembroke Corgi's, but they never heard anything out across the pasture.

 

[Tuppemor]

I'm curious the other way around, sort of.
How big can a fox go in terms of prey? That is (luckily) the biggest we have around here on a regular basis.
I have half grown emus and wonder when they will be out of harms way, if ever. I have goats too, nothing ever took any of them, so I should think a giant kicking bird would be too much.

 

[Pops2]

it's not just a size thing but also how fragile or submissive the prey animal is and the techniques used to kill. true canines & cats can go way up the scale in size and fight on prey. canids like fox are a little less intense but can occassionally go real big & tough. do you not have lynx, wolf & brown bear?

 

[Tuppemor]

I know, but in relation to a young goat, an emu isn't easy prey, is it?

We have lynx, brown bear, wolverine and wolf. But they are all rare here (hunted down, they are doing their very best to extinct them

). There are just about none even close to my area, so the predators we get are fox, stoat, marten, hawks, eagles and owls.

 

[Nicophorus]

After watching a video of a bobcat take down a full grown Deer, i'm gonna say they (and Lynx) could kill an adult Emu if they used the right technique (jump for the neck/head).

Suposidly Emus are taken down by large Eagles in Australia, dunno if non-Australian ones would have the hunting instincts to attack Emu that way.

Also watched a video of a fox chaseing a mountain goat kid (kid got away), so I would say young goats could be taken by Fox (and anything bigger).

 

[perchie.girl]

I think Casuarius has it.... and this is something I am going to do on my own goat/horse/chicken area. I live in a very dry climate therefore grounding doesn't happen here so i am running bipolar fence. its self grounding so even if the animal touches it on the fly he is going to get a shock.

I have Mountain Lion, Bob Cat, Desert Fox, Raccoon, Opossom, Coyote, and Feral dogs. Not to mention the overhead predators. I am more concerned with feral dogs than any of the others.