The first decision you have to make as an emu farmer is what your goals are regarding bird production. That decision will affect your choices in facilities and fencing. For example, if you choose to purchase chicks and run a grow-out facility, you have no need for breeder pens or chick runs.

Your first question is do I want to keep up with genetics? If you do, you will want to run breeders in pairs rather than group pens.

Land requirements for emu are minimal. If you are diversifying your farming operation to include emu, you probably already have the basis of the operation.

Emus can be successfully raised in small pens or large pastures – or a combination of the two. We have kept 50 Pairs in 100ft x 100ft are i.e. 10000 sq ft.

Breeder Pens – 20ftx45ft is adequate. The pens can be laid out in rows; it’s a matter of personal preference on the part of the farmer. Having breeder pens is necessary if you plan on keeping up with genetics, fertility rates or selling livestock. This size pen is large enough to run a pair.

Colony pens – Stocked with 50 pairs of emu per ½ acre. No way to keep up with genetics, laying or fertility records. However, it is a more natural environment for the birds and some farmers run colony pens during the summer, moving the breeders back into smaller pens when breeding season approaches.

Grow out pens - chicks 2 or 3 months and up of a similar size are kept anywhere from 20 to 50 birds per acre until they are ready to transport to a processing facility.

Chick runs - depending on where your farm is located, chicks from the brooder to 2 or 3 months of age are usually kept in smaller pens with shelter. We keep ours in 5’x10’ inside pens during the winters. The outside runs are 80’ long.

Notes on choosing a site:

Good drainage is essential for control of bacteria and insects.

Sloping land is not a problem for emus.

Sharp and big stones should be removed from the land to avoid accidents.

Fencing should be of chain link, 2-inch by 2-inch non-climb wire. Although you will find that many emu ranchers use 6 feet, I prefer an 8 feet fence height. I have seen upset emus jump chest high on a 6’ fence. Healthy emus can and will get out of a 4’ fence.

Do not use barbed wire fence, even a few strands to “finish off” the height! Emu tend to rub against the fence and this will tear up their hides, hurt them and decrease the value of the leather in slaughter birds.

Another thing to remember is that your fence should not have any areas where the bird could stick its head or foot through to get caught. Chicks can be fenced in using chicken wire.

When laying out your pens some things to consider:

• Would an alleyway be beneficial later when moving birds?
• Can I move the birds from one pen to another easily? (Example, can the chicks be herded from their runs directly into a grow out pen or will I have to catch and carry them?)
• Can I get the mower/other equipment in through the gates I have planned?
• Should I build a ramp to help in loading birds?
• If I expand my operation later, will I be able to run water/electricity where needed easily or will I have to dig up pens?

Depending on your climate and budget, there are many options for you to consider when choosing shelter for your birds. Chicks under 3 months of age require more protection from the elements than older birds. Given the choice, after they hit the 3-month mark, most emus would prefer to sleep outside under a tree, next to a hay bale or along the fence than “inside” even a 2-sided structure unless the weather is very cold.

We use cement sheets to make a shelter for them. The length of the shelter can be 100’x 12’. The shelter should be made in such a way that they get maximum protection from the sun.

Chicks under 3 months need more shelter during winter months. Many people have successfully converted greenhouses for use as a chick barn. We use a chick barn with 5’x10’ pens leading out to 80’ runs. During the day, if the weather is not too cold, the chicks have access to the outside. We close them up inside at night. We do not put more than 10 chicks in a pen. We have learned the hard way that if we do, one dies. They huddle together under the heat lamps and one will inevitably smother. (And it is always the largest, prettiest one that dies!)

| Traits | | What Age Should Buy | | Purchase Checklist | | Free Birds? |

Traits

There are two groups of traits you should consider when choosing livestock, Genetic and Environmental. Sometimes it is difficult to separate genetic and environmental problems.

Genetic traits include rate of weight gain, body weight, egg weight, sexual maturity rate, temperament, egg production, chick endurance (will it survive), color of feathers, and whether or not the bird will have red toenails. (Just joking, if you see an emu with red toenails, she's been to the beauty shop).

Environmental traits are those traits which can be affected by the environment in which the bird is raised, such as egg production, fertility, chick endurance (whether it will survive), etc.

Example: Emu’s need a good balanced ration that is formulated to meet their needs. Birds that are raised on a good ration will reach their genetic potential. A chick that is raised on a diet of cracked corn will not. I have had people call me up wanting to know why their 2 or 3 year old emus that they bought at a flea market and raised on cracked corn are not laying, because animals that are starving to death don’t reproduce. Do I sound harsh? Good.

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What Age Should I Buy?

When choosing stock, visit several farms, look at the birds, and ask questions. Do not be in a hurry. One decision you will have to make is what age bird to purchase.

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Purchase Checklist

ID method

• Micro chipped
• Leg Band
• Neck tag
• other

Quality of Birds

• Legs should be straight, not bowed. In older birds the backs of the legs should be rough. A sign of inbreeding is smooth legs.
• Neck straight, not curved or twisted into unnatural positions
• Back straight. A hump-backed bird has difficulty breeding, dresses out to less meat and is undesirable in the genetic pool
• Toes normal and straight. (Please note - many farmers are now clipping the two outside toes at hatch. This is so when the birds reach slaughter weight the hides are not damaged.)
• Eyes clear and bright (note: a bird with a healed eye injury can still breed, but one with cataracts will be adding that tendency to the gene pool. Question the farmer as to why the blindness occurred.
• Responsive and Alert: (note: during breeding season some adult males will "freeze" when being handled and can even be mistaken for being blind.)
• Parents unrelated - read up on inbreeding and out-crossing to find out why this is often undesirable.
• Straight Run Chicks or Sex Guaranteed?*

*If you are purchasing straight run chicks they are not tagged or sexed. While the parents may be unrelated, you will have no way of knowing that the chicks you eventually pair up are unrelated. In other words, you may be pairing up brothers and sisters. While straight run chicks are cheaper, it would be a good idea to purchase the male and female chicks from two different farms.

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Free Birds?

There are not many free birds left as the market demand is increasing.

If you have the opportunity to acquire free birds, consider this:

• Why is the farmer giving these away?
  1. He didn't research the market and does not want to sell farm to fork.
  2. Illness or death in family, unable to continue farming operations
  3. Got them at a flea market or free, does not know what to do with them.
• Have the birds been fed a diet that enabled them to reach their genetic potential?
• What will I do with these birds if they are sterile? Am I prepared to have them slaughtered in order to market the products?
• If these are being taken as slaughter birds, what kind of money will I spend in getting them up to slaughter weight?

As we said on our Farming Information page, emu farming is currently a farm to fork operation. This is not for everyone. Unfortunately, some people get into emu farming without researching the market. Consequently, when they finally do learn the facts they decide it is not for them. If they are unable to sell their birds, they may slaughter them or give them away. If you have the capital to invest in bringing free birds up to slaughter weight, processing and turning them into product, you can make some money. If the birds have been well cared for and are known to be good layers, it would probably be worth your while to take them as breeding stock. Just research carefully and don't get in over your head.

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Feed your emus correctly and they will reach their genetic potential. Don't feed them correctly and they won't, Simple as that.

I know that it is difficult to get emu feed in many areas of the country. A lot of farmers mix their own feed, and this is fine if they know what they are doing.

Feed Conversion Ration: this refers to feed efficiency during the growth stage, in other words, how many kg of feed does it take to make one kg of weight gain. It should be noted that emus experience "growth spurts" which will affect the conversion rate. By one year of age, the ratio of 6:1 is average, higher than that indicates a problem. Please keep in mind that there are growth spurts between 2 to 7 months which will give much higher FCR's (4:1, 3:1 or even 2:1)

Adult emus on a good, balanced ration will eat around 500-600 gm of feed per day, averaged out over the year. Growing chicks and coming 2's may consume 900 gm per day, averaged out over a year.

Chicks: 0 to 8 weeks

Chicks need a 20% protein emu chick starter. Do not feed a higher protein than this or you will have a problem with splayed legs! Feed free choice and several times per day. Chicks this age should not need more than 900 gm per day of a good nutritionally balanced feed.

Chicks: 2 Months to 14 Months

At around 8 weeks the chicks should be moved to a 20% Emu Grower and fed free choice. The birds will be going through growth spurts and the amount they eat will vary but average out to 900 gm and under per day, provided you have a good nutritionally balanced feed. Some emu breeders move the birds to an 18% Grower feed at around 6 months. At fourteen months the birds that have not been pulled for the breeding program are sent to slaughter.

Yearlings for the Breeding program: 12 months to 24 months

Emu that are pulled from the grow out pens and slated for use in a breeding program should be moved to a 16% or 18% emu maintenance feed and fed free choice.

Breeders: 24 months and up

During the "off-season" we feed the breeders the same 16% emu maintenance feed we give the yearlings mentioned above. At the end of breeding season the emus will start to eat voraciously for about a month to 45 days. When breeding season ends varies from one hen to the next, so you may have some still eating breeder feed while the next pen over is on maintenance.

Prior to egg production the breeders are moved to a 21% Emu Breeder ration. We try to start the higher protein feed at least one month before breeding season starts, which is nearly two months before egg production starts. For us in India, we start feeding breeder feed no later than the first of September. During breeding season, the amount of feed consumed drops sharply - from 900 gm per day to 450 gm.

Fresh clean water helps in the digestion of feed. Adult emus need about a 5 liter of water per bird per day. Watering troughs come in many different styles, but we like this one. Because it is up off the ground, there is little chance of fecal contamination.

It was converted from a feed trough by putting a standard sized kitchen drain set in one end with a pipe pointing out to one side. To clean the watering trough, we reach into it and "pull the plug" so to speak. The water runs out and we can scrub it down quickly. This eliminates the need to dip out buckets of water or turn the trough over to clean it. Water trough cleaning day is very popular with the emus, they love to splash!

When watering chicks younger than 3 months, use something shallow enough that the chicks won't drown. If the chick falls in, will it be shallow enough that it can lift up it's head?

The quickest way to make friends with an emu is to pull out the garden hose. They love showers and will let you stand there hosing them down for hours. For that reason, many farmers use a sprinkling system to give them a little shower during the hot days of summer.

What I am going to say here does not agree with what many feed experts say. We are told to feed a set amount each day, twice a day and to provide clean fresh water daily. The idea behind this is to be able to measure the amount of feed taken in daily, and to allow the birds to clean up the feed so none of it gets stale.

Many people say that the free feeding method should be adopted. It means that one should put the feed in top load feeders which allow the new feed to drop down as old feed is consumed.

We feel that free feed method increases the consumption of the feed per bird per day which is not at all economical for the farmer. So we recommend our farmers to give fixed feed twice a day.

Management of Chicks

Emu chicks weigh about 370 to 450 g (about 67% of egg weight) depending on the size of egg. First 48-72 hours, emu chicks are restricted to incubator for quick absorption of the yolk and proper drying (Rao, 2004). Like chicken Emu needs brooding during their early life. Clean and disinfect brooding shed thoroughly well in advance of receiving chicks, spread litter (paddy husk) cover new gunny bags or burlap over the litter. Arrange a set of brooder for about 25-40 chicks giving 4 sq ft per chick for first 3 weeks. Provide brooding temperature of 90 0F at first 10 days and 85 0F till 3-4 weeks. Proper temperature makes the brood successful. Provide sufficient (5) water mugs of a liter capacity and equal number of feeder troughs under the brooder. A chick guard must be 2.5 feet height to avoid jumping and straying of chicks. Provide 24 hours of one foot candle light i.e 40 watt bulb for every 100 sft area. Offer small pieces of carrot to the emu chicks since the birds readily catch and also are attracted. After 3 weeks of age, slowly extend the brooder area by widening the chick guard circle and later remove it by the time chicks attain 6 weeks. Feed starter mash for the first 14 weeks or till attaining standard body weight of 10 kg. Ensure proper floor space for the birds housed as these birds require run space for their healthy life. 30 ft run space is required; hence floor space of 40ft x 30ft is required for about 40 chicks if out door space is provided. Floor must be easily drained and free from dampness. Periodical body weights on 10% of birds will give a scope for correction of management defects.

Ostrich facilities differ from emu in which the chicks can be exposed to ranging outside during day time as early as 8 weeks age to adapt to fiber digestion. At 4 months of age chicks are fairly hardy can be ranged outside with less danger of intestinal obstruction problem. Up to 3 months age bird require floor space about 0.3-1.5 and 5-10 square meters as shelter and run.

Do’s:

Never make over crowd in the pen, first few days provide sanitized water and anti-stress agents

• Clean the waters daily, otherwise automatic waters are preferable
• Monitor the birds daily for their comfort, feed intake, water intake, litter condition etc for making immediate corrections if any.
• Ensure proper mineral and vitamins in the feed for healthy growth of chicks and to avoid leg deformities.
• Spraddle condition of legs that are seen commonly can be managed by holding the legs together during the first 72 hours of chicks. This can be done particularly in the incubator
• Practice all- in -all -out rearing to maintain better biosecurity
  

Don’ts:

• Never handle the birds during hot hours. Birds easily excite, hence calm and quite environment in the pen is required
• Birds easily grab any item, so avoid certain objects like nails, pebbles etc in the vicinity of birds
• Avoid unauthorized persons, material into the farm. Proper biosecurity must be ensured
• Never keep the birds on smooth and paddy husk spread surface as the young chicks easily excite, run and break their legs due to slipperiness.
  

Grower management

As Emu chicks grow, they require a bigger size of waters and feeders and increased floor space. Identify sexes and rear them separately. If necessary, place sufficient paddy husk in the pen to manage the litter in good and dry condition. Feed the birds on grower mash till birds attain 34 weeks age or 25 kg body weight. Offer greens about 10% of diet particularly different kinds of leaf meals for making the birds eat adopt to fibrous diets. Provide clean water all the time and offer feed as much as they want. Ensure dry litter condition through out the grower stage. If necessary add required quantity of paddy husk to the pen. Provide 40ft x 100 ft space for 40 birds if out door space is considered. Floor must be easily drained and avoid dampness. Restrain the younger birds by securing the body by side ways and hold the body firmly. Sub adults and adults can be secured by holding the wing by side way and held the bird by grabbing both the wings and place by dragging closely to a persons legs. Never allow bird to kick. Bird can kick side ways and front ways. Hence, better securing and firm holding is necessary to avoid harming the bird as well as person.

Ostrich requires larger facilities for better exercise. Floor space requirements 2-2.5, 3.5-4.0 and 5 square meters per bird are required at 4-6, 7-14 and over 14 months age respectively. Run space is also required at 50-400 square meters per bird depending on age.

Do’s:

• Monitor flock at least once daily for alertness of birds, feeding and watering troughs.
• Notice leg deformities, droppings. Identify and isolate ailing birds
• Practice all- in –all- out system. Never keep in the vicinity of the adult birds.
  

Don’ts:

• Never keep the sharp objects, pebbles in the vicinity of the birds. Birds are mischievous and grab any thing that comes in their vicinity.
• Never handle or disturb the birds for restraining or vaccination during the hot weather conditions.
• Provide cool and clean water through out the day.
  

Fattening/ finishing stage:

Growing emu need to be fattened to improve body weight (40kg) and FCR (5:1) at the time of marketing for table purpose. Offer finisher ration from 35 weeks age to slaughter or up to 12-18 months age. Bird yield 53% dressed meat and 3-4 liters of fat. Inclusion of vegetable fat at 3-5% in Emu diet will fetch better FCR and net returns since the birds at this age utilizes fat in an efficient way compared to the chicks of young age of less than 15 weeks. The sub-adults kept for breeding purpose need to be fed on maintenance feed specifically made for this purpose from 35th week age to sexual maturity by 18-24 months.

Do’s:

• Offer fresh required feed balance in respect of all the dietary nutrients for Emu birds.
• Ensure proper floor space 100 sq ft per bird in terms of shelter and run.
• Fencing must be at a height of 8 ft made of chain link 2 x 2 inches to avoid jumping out of the pen
• House separately male and female birds to avoid fighting
  

Don’ts:

• Do not store feed for more than a month. Such feed is vulnerable to damage the nutrients. Further avoid toxins in feed.
• Do not mix the fresh bird stock with the existing one
• Never change feed abruptly
  

Breeder management

Emu birds attain sexual maturity by 18- 24 months age. Choose Colony or Pen mating. Keep sex ratio of male to female 1:1. In case of pen mating pairing should be done based on the compatibility. During mating, offer floor space about 900 sq ft (45x20) per pair. Trees and shrubs may be provided for privacy and to induce mating. Offer breeder diet well in advance i.e. 3- 4 weeks prior to breeding schedule, and fortify with minerals & vitamins to ensure better fertility and hatchability in birds. Semen collection and artificial insemination was successful in emu so that the cost of male maintenance could be minimized (Martin, 2002). Its implementation needs skill. Soon after breeding season, separate the sexes and house them in flock and feed on maintenance ration. Normally adult bird consumes 1 kg feed /day but during breeding season feed intake will be drastically reduced hence intake of nutrients must be ensured.

First egg is laid around two and half year age. Eggs will be laid during October to March particularly cooler days of the year. The time of egg laying is around 5.30PM to 7.00PM. Eggs can be collected twice daily to avoid damage in the pen. Normally a hen lays about 15 eggs during first year cycle in subsequent years the egg production increases till it can reach about 30-40 eggs. On an average a hen lays 25 eggs per year. Egg weighs about 475-650 g with an average egg weight of 560 g in a year. Egg appears greenish look like tough marble. The intensity of colour varies from light, medium to dark green. The surface varies from rough to smooth. Majority of eggs (42%) are medium green with rough surface.

Feed the breeder ration with sufficient calcium (2.7%) for ensuring proper calcification of egg with strength. Feeding excess calcium to the breeding bird before laying will upset the egg production and also impairs the male fertility (Scheideler, 1997). Provide extra calcium in the form of grit or calcite powder by placing in a separate trough.

Collect eggs frequently from the pen. If eggs are soiled, clean with sand paper and mop up with cotton. Store the eggs in a cooler room providing 60 0F. Never store eggs for more than 10 days to ensure better hatchability. Eggs stored at room temperature can be set every 3 to 4 days for good hatchability.

Incubation and Hatching

There are few reports available on incubation and hatching of emu and ostrich eggs (Davis, 2003; Rao, 2004). Set the fertile eggs after adjusting to room temperature and place in a horizontal or in slant arranged row-wise in a tray. Keep ready egg incubator by cleaning and disinfecting thoroughly well in advance and switch on the machine for setting the correct incubating temperature i.e dry bulb temperature about 96-97 0 F and wet bulb temperature about 78-80 0F (about 30-40% RH). Place carefully the egg tray in a setter once the incubator is ready with set temperature and relative humidity and place identification slip for date of set and pedigree if required. Fumigate the incubator with 20g potassium permanganate + 40 ml formaline for every 100 cft of incubator space. Turn the eggs every one hour till the 48 th day of incubation. From 49 th day onwards stop turning the eggs and watch for pipping. By 52 nd day the incubation period ends. The chicks need drying. Hold the chicks for at least 24 to 72 hours in the hatcher compartment for reducing the down and to become healthy chicks. Normally hatchability will be 70% or more. There are many reasons for low hatchability. Proper breeder nutrition ensures the healthy chicks.

Ostrich eggs are to be set broad end up. Incubation period is 39-44 days average 42 days. Incubation temperature is 97-98.4 0F (dry bulb) with relative humidity of 20-30% (67-73 0F wet bulb) and increase the relative humidity to 30-40% after the hatch for better drying (Davis, 2005).

Feeding

Emu and ostrich need balanced diet for their proper growth and reproduction. So far the nutrient requirements of these birds were not worked out. Based on the literature (Scheideler, 1997; Mannion et al., 1999; Angel, 2003; Aganga et al., 2003, Rao, 2004, Reddy, 2004; Kocan and Crewford, 2005) and also author’s experience in feeding emu at Acharya N.G.Ranga Agricultural University certain nutrient requirements were suggested (Table 1 and 3). Feed can be prepared by using common poultry feed ingredients (Table 2). Feed alone accounts for 60-70% of the production cost, hence least cost rations will improve the margin of returns over feeding. In commercial farms, feed intake per emu breeding pair per annum varied from 394-632 kg with a mean of 527kg. Cost of feed was Rs.6.50 and 7.50 during non-breeding and breeding season respectively (Rao, 2004).

Healthcare and management

Ratite birds are generally sturdy and live long (80% livability). Mortality and health problems in emu and ostrich are mainly in chicks and juveniles. These include starvation, malnutrition, intestinal obstruction, leg abnormalities, coli infections and clostridial infections. The main causes were improper brooding or nutrition, stress, improper handling and genetic disorders. Other diseases reported were rhinitis, candidiasis, salmonella, aspergillosis, coccidiosis, lice and ascarid infestations (Davis, 2005). Ivermectin can be given to prevent external and internal worms at 1 month interval beginning at 1 month age (Jefferey, 2001).

In emu enteritis and viral eastern equine encephalomyelitis (EEE) were reported (Jefferey, 2001). In India so far few outbreaks of Ranikhet disease were recorded based on gross lesions but were not confirmed. However, the birds vaccinated for R.D at the age of 1 (lasota), 4 (lasota booster) weeks; 8, 15 and 40 weeks by mukteswar strain gave better immunity (Reddy, 2004).