Sunday, August 3, 2008

Hoodoo the Emu like U Du........


Are you ready for this one? Introducing the latest additions at Wrensong! Now if I could just come up with some names for them.....any suggestions? There is a boy and a girl. :) And yes, I was given a emu "health class" to be able to tell one from the other. Let's just surmise it to say they don't enjoy exposing the area that shows what they are....








Another wild hair followed to fruition, I contacted a wonderful woman named Julie. Julie just happened to have a pen full of emu babies and welcomed me down to her farm to learn more about emus. (thank you to Julie for the emu chick pics)





















I met all of her adults, with names like Guy and Dollie, Uno, Lightning, Pinky, Jill and Baby. Some liked interaction with people, like get the backs of their necks stroked to where they were closing their eyes in gratitude. Others, I think would just as soon you remove yourself to another planet. Emus are not like any other bird/poultry as far as their care. Granted they ARE a Ratite but I thought they would be like a large chicken only with a bit more personality!



If any of you are thinking you might like to add a few emus to your family I definitely suggest studying up. They can be great pets given the right start (lots of handling and not being by adult birds) and getting the knowledge from a reputable emu breeder is worth more than any amount of money. I just happened to luck into one of the best!



Julie raises emu for their oil, and it's therapeutic value. She has arthritis and says it really makes a difference. She has decided to retire from raising them as it's getting to be to hard physically caring for them. I was very fortunate to get her last two babies she will be raising. I'm also fortunate that she thought I was worthy of having her last two babies as pets. She is very picky, wants her emus to have the best of care, and a forever home when it comes to pets. So many like other livestock wind up in auctions being purchased by people who don't know how to properly feed and care for emus.

I actually hired our fencing company that has installed all our post/pole and non-climb to install the "emu paddock" and coerced my sig. other Guerdon and one of his friends to build a shelter, which they did in the pouring down rain. THAT wasn't MY fault, I tried to talk him into doing it earlier but he waited until two days before I was picking them up. We still have to add some plywood to the lower section but at least they have a dry place to lay and it gives them shade when we do have our couple of days of summer. One of the things about emus, is they can get scared of unusual things, especially things that are taller than they are. Julie said some of her adults were really flustered about the equipment that was installing roofing on neighboring houses. Well, all that came to mind for me was the poultry, no, none of them are taller than the emu chicks.....hey! how 'bout that llama and donkey!

They didn't get TOO excited when Rena (the llama) decided to check them out, and actually seemed fairly calm about her looking at them after awhile.


Jasmine, the donkey, on the other hand isn't quite sure what to make of the emus (I'm sure the feeling is mutual) and she has kept her distance.
These baby emu are just the sweetest, they get all excited when they see you coming and enjoy having the backs of the necks, the chests and backs stroked. It does make it hard to not get blurry pictures though as they want to be as close to your as possible!
I'll finish this post with a couple final photos of the youngsters......


12 comments:

Michelle said...

Okay, now I now you really do have a a problem. "Fauna Collectors Anonymous," anyone?

Gone2theDawgs said...

I SWEAR this is it! :) Other than finding some girls for the turkey boys.....they REALLY need some girls of their own kind....but that's another post! :)

shadow mountain jacobs farm said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
shadow mountain jacobs farm said...

Oh Tammy, I love looking at all your animals. Now all you need to round out your collection is one of those half zebra and half donkeys like you sent me a piture of (a zonkey). I am enjoying your new blog so keep up the good work. Now all you have to do is work overtime the rest of your life to pay for their feed to keep them happy. :-) I'm sure they all appreciate you very much.

Gone2theDawgs said...

Well, Mary,....there is a zebra jack that lives in Sultan I could introduce Jasmine to.....:) What else could I possibly be working for except the health and happiness of my "family"??? :)

goatgirl said...

Those are so cute. At one point my husband was talking about getting emus. You must read the children's books Edward the Emu and Edwina the Emu. You will love them.

Nancy K. said...

Too cute! I love that your making pets of them and that they are friendly. I'm also quite impressed by the 5 gallon bucket feeder!

What a beautiful donkey!!!

Can you tell me how you get the links list that shows the latest entry on the various links? I REALLY like that! It would save me having to click on everyone's link, trying to find which one's have new posts...

Jenny Holden said...

Noooo, nightmare! Emu are the only animals that I have a irrational dislike of. Spiders: fine, snakes: kept em as pets for years, slugs: no problem... emus... eeek!

My very first work experience in a zoo was when I was 14. The emus were notorious to the extent that one of them was known as Lucifer!

I got pinned against a fence by him and given a good kicking until I managed to give him a good bash with a bucket and leg it out of there. I'm afraid I've never quite forgiven them; there's something about the way they look at me that's freaky!!

Gone2theDawgs said...

Goatgirl, I'll definitely have to order up those books!
Nancy, the 5 gal feeder came from the breeder, it IS a clever idea. I'll pass the compliment onto Jasmine (the donkey) she appreciates being appreciated! :) When I started my blog, and I put the other blogs in my "dashboard" they automatically did that....I'm not saavy enough to figure something like that out!
Jenny, thanks for your concern! I met this breeders adult birds, and hope to keep my babies friendly like some of hers.....if they should happen to turn mean, you know what they say..."Emu, the other red meat".....

Carolina Trekker said...

We were visiting an animal farm near Myrtle Beach, SC and an Emu on the other side of the fence followed my husband everywhere he went (it helped he had a bag of feed.) The Emu made the most delightful noise in its throat,,a loud gulp/glugg/washing machine noise. He was entertaining! We had a good laugh.

Laughing Orca Ranch said...

Boy, you really do have a zoo going on there, eh?

Emus scare me. I'm not scared of too make creatures, but I'm scared of emus.
Our zoo, the Rio Grande zoo, has a pair of Emus and they are named Edward and Edwina. They are kind of cute, from far away. hehe

I know someone that uses Emu and Ostrich eggs to create Pysanki. Do you have plans to do that, too? This gal who does it makes a pretty good living from selling her finished egg artwork.

Will you be using the eggs at all? One egg is supposed to be like 9-12chicken eggs. That would be a fabulous omelet for a family! :)

By the way, your donkey looks more like a mule. What makes her a donkey?
I've never seen pinto donkeys before either. She's gorgeous!

Gone2theDawgs said...

Hi Twinville, I don't know what I'll be doing with the eggs yet....
Jasmine is a reg. Large Standard Spotted Ass (donkey) :) There is actually a registration for the spotted donks: http://www.spottedass.com/ I'll have to add that to my links. :) Donkeys can procreate, mules are sterile (cross between a horse and a donkey).