I have two females and one male, all three are very loving towards one another and myself. They are approaching two years old. Marilyn from Redding, CT.
Yes we are in FL. Regulations also vary by city and county. Definitely recommend checking into laws before acquiring livestock as we have seen some sad outcomes when they weren't zoned for them and had to give them up.
Thanks for your question about grid size. Obviously, height is most important, and 6' is great. It is a guarantee that emus will stick their heads through the fence. They can easily stick their entire neck up to their chest through our 4" grid; our concern is how much more they can get through in a 6" grid? It also gives them more room to get their feet in to possibly launch themselves over or climb the fence. If decide to have males hatch chicks, a 6" grid will be too big for them, as the chicks can easily pass through. We saw this even with our 4" grid. Our biggest concern with a 6" grid is what it allows to come in and out. We've seen a fair share of animals squeezing through our 4" grid, and the same is happening with our neighbor's 6" grid. We watch foxes easily slip through our 4" grid regularly. So, what's our solution? We recently purchased 6 rolls of Bekaert Solidlock Pro 30 1561-6 12.5 gauge 330' High Tensile Fixed Knot Game Fence (61"tall with 6" verticals). It has graduated horizontal spacing that starts at 3". We hope this will tackle the issue of things breaching the fenceline, at least at the ground level. We will still run a single tension wire at the very top of our posts, which are slightly over 6 feet tall. We're all set to install it this spring. We had hoped to switch to the Solidlock Pro 1775-3 fence, but our existing posts weren't quite tall enough, and the extra cost to replace all of our posts would be significant. If we were to start all over, that is the fence we would choose. Hope this helps!
@@WhitetailHollowFarms thank you so much for the answer. I’m trying to decide if I want to have Emus on the farm. I may more questions in the future about feeding. And thank you for the response.
That’s a quite a bit of space for a 4 month old, I would slowly increase their space size. They can reach full speed in an acre pen and they’re still able to twist a tension up until 9 months.
Your soil looks sandy. I wonder if the dust hinders the eggs ability to breath by blocking the small pores that allow the egg to breath. Just a thought. lol what is it with birds and crocks. My geese peck at my crocks like maniacs... I got the exact same crocks. lol Great video! I got notifications on for all upcoming videos!
Awesome information! Thanks. We are up north where snow and near zero temps happen. Thinking the birds will want or e will want them in a shelter at night with a door. Thoughts?
I'm pleasantly surprised to see that all you need is a single line of wire at the right height. That is way easier to add to what I've got then having to do some sort of wire mesh or fortress. A single band of wire is so easy that I'm shocked more people don't just automatically start out with the right fencing cuz that's not difficult to do. Granted I guess if you have no fencing you're going to need to do more than one strand but come on it's not that big of a deal. If I had known this as a kid I probably would have raised them.
Experienced my first emu great escape this morning. I have 5ft fencing currently, I will put some smooth tensile wire up to make it 6. Thanks for the video I was worried I would have to redo the whole setup. Sounds like I will have to split their current pasture due to a dominant female.
Oh no! Escapes can be so stressful! Glad the video was helpful! Sounds like you have a solid plan going forward. September is when we start watching for such behavior as we are coming into our emu breeding season here in FL. We will be inspecting and reinforcing all our pastures over the coming weeks as well.
@@WhitetailHollowFarms We are in northern MI, I am a bit worried about how the eggs will handle the cold temps coming into winter if they lay between Nov-Apr🥶 . Do you have any videos on how long the season lasts and signs of mating behavior? Or do you have any reference material you would suggest? Thanks
Nice video. Alot of info. I have been thinking to start with emus since i have predators and i have chickens, ducks, geese and turks. I want the emus to protect the flock. However i have a 5 foot fence. Would it be ok to extend that with just a rope, electric fence wire or something so i dont have to invest in new fencing and bigger poles? I was just thinking to extend the poles with a plank or something. Would that be a good idea? Thanks so much :)
We never recommend moving emus on a trailer if you don’t have to, it’s very difficult to calm them down, they have high anxiety naturally. Just make your movements slow and easy. Make sure the trailer you are using has no large gaps or openings, otherwise you will have an emu climbing out. Tall wall trailers with full back door are best. limit the space they have to move on the trailer once they are in, to prevent them from running and slipping. We use a 16 foot cattle trailer with a separation gate and close it down to 8 feet with emus inside. We keep stall mats on the floor so they can’t slip and our back door is the full height of the trailer.
No, you need a very minimum 5 foot fence with tensile wire run around the top at the 6 foot mark. make sure you run just regular tensile wire and not barbwire, they will cut themselves on barbwire. They are likely to wrap themselves up in loose Hotwire at head height as well. Around the ground would be alright.
There is a lot of debate on this ... In our experience, No. We have adult females that have laid in the past that we know were being bred by our dominant male. Since we have added more females that have come of age, our dominant male isn't breeding the older ones, and they are not laying this year. The younger females are laying consistently every 3 days.
All our emus are with our goats (we don't have any sheep) and we have never had any issues. We do introduce new goat kids slowly with the adult emus so they know they belong there and not to stomp them. They are very much a guardian animal and will chase down anything that doesn't belong in their pasture.
Yes, our emus live with our goats. Feeding can sometimes be a challenge as far as keeping the goats out of the emu feeders; bloat is a concern for us if the goats get too much of the emu feed. However, the emus don't seem to care for the alfalfa pellets we feed the goats, so that hasn't been an issue. We don't have sheep, so we can't speak on first-hand knowledge, but as long as they are appropriately introduced, we are not aware of any reason they can't be together.
Two years later. Just not getting a farm and going to get emu. Thank you so much for these videos.
Love the fencing idea. Especially when people can only get their hands on shorter fencing. It allows you to add an extra foot/feet if needed.
Great video! This video explains the necessity of good sturdy fencing at the right height for Emus. Very informative.
I have two females and one male, all three are very loving towards one another and myself. They are approaching two years old. Marilyn from Redding, CT.
This is the most informative emu channel I have found. Thankyou.
Glad you think so! We've got more exciting emu content coming soon!
Next time we're in Florida we are coming to see the emu's. I love them
We offer tours of the farm and visits with our emus for a fee outside of our event days. PM us for pricing, if you are interested.
Good job, informative and entertaining.
Y'all in Florida? Me too!
State laws and regulations for homesteading/farming I hope are easier than some other states
Yes we are in FL. Regulations also vary by city and county. Definitely recommend checking into laws before acquiring livestock as we have seen some sad outcomes when they weren't zoned for them and had to give them up.
Thanks for the videos. I can get 6’ 330’ mesh fence with 6” grid. Do you think the 6” grid would be an issue?
Thanks for your question about grid size. Obviously, height is most important, and 6' is great.
It is a guarantee that emus will stick their heads through the fence. They can easily stick their entire neck up to their chest through our 4" grid; our concern is how much more they can get through in a 6" grid? It also gives them more room to get their feet in to possibly launch themselves over or climb the fence.
If decide to have males hatch chicks, a 6" grid will be too big for them, as the chicks can easily pass through. We saw this even with our 4" grid. Our biggest concern with a 6" grid is what it allows to come in and out. We've seen a fair share of animals squeezing through our 4" grid, and the same is happening with our neighbor's 6" grid. We watch foxes easily slip through our 4" grid regularly.
So, what's our solution? We recently purchased 6 rolls of Bekaert Solidlock Pro 30 1561-6 12.5 gauge 330' High Tensile Fixed Knot Game Fence (61"tall with 6" verticals). It has graduated horizontal spacing that starts at 3". We hope this will tackle the issue of things breaching the fenceline, at least at the ground level. We will still run a single tension wire at the very top of our posts, which are slightly over 6 feet tall. We're all set to install it this spring. We had hoped to switch to the Solidlock Pro 1775-3 fence, but our existing posts weren't quite tall enough, and the extra cost to replace all of our posts would be significant. If we were to start all over, that is the fence we would choose.
Hope this helps!
@@WhitetailHollowFarms thank you so much for the answer. I’m trying to decide if I want to have Emus on the farm. I may more questions in the future about feeding. And thank you for the response.
Super informative, thanks!
Glad it was helpful!
My 4 month olds are going to an acre tomorrow I’m so excited
That’s a quite a bit of space for a 4 month old, I would slowly increase their space size. They can reach full speed in an acre pen and they’re still able to twist a tension up until 9 months.
Your soil looks sandy. I wonder if the dust hinders the eggs ability to breath by blocking the small pores that allow the egg to breath. Just a thought. lol what is it with birds and crocks. My geese peck at my crocks like maniacs... I got the exact same crocks. lol Great video! I got notifications on for all upcoming videos!
I've never seen anything like that with dust inhibiting eggs. Usually it's grease that does it.
Awesome information! Thanks. We are up north where snow and near zero temps happen. Thinking the birds will want or e will want them in a shelter at night with a door. Thoughts?
Nice, helps a lot knowing I don't have to refence everything, can just add a bit... how about that egg giveaway? 😁😁😍
Part 3 is out now with details on how to enter!
Didn’t know about fence height. That’s interesting
They will EASILY clear a 4' fence...
I'm pleasantly surprised to see that all you need is a single line of wire at the right height. That is way easier to add to what I've got then having to do some sort of wire mesh or fortress. A single band of wire is so easy that I'm shocked more people don't just automatically start out with the right fencing cuz that's not difficult to do. Granted I guess if you have no fencing you're going to need to do more than one strand but come on it's not that big of a deal. If I had known this as a kid I probably would have raised them.
Experienced my first emu great escape this morning. I have 5ft fencing currently, I will put some smooth tensile wire up to make it 6. Thanks for the video I was worried I would have to redo the whole setup. Sounds like I will have to split their current pasture due to a dominant female.
Oh no! Escapes can be so stressful! Glad the video was helpful! Sounds like you have a solid plan going forward. September is when we start watching for such behavior as we are coming into our emu breeding season here in FL. We will be inspecting and reinforcing all our pastures over the coming weeks as well.
@@WhitetailHollowFarms We are in northern MI, I am a bit worried about how the eggs will handle the cold temps coming into winter if they lay between Nov-Apr🥶 . Do you have any videos on how long the season lasts and signs of mating behavior? Or do you have any reference material you would suggest? Thanks
Nice video. Alot of info. I have been thinking to start with emus since i have predators and i have chickens, ducks, geese and turks. I want the emus to protect the flock. However i have a 5 foot fence. Would it be ok to extend that with just a rope, electric fence wire or something so i dont have to invest in new fencing and bigger poles? I was just thinking to extend the poles with a plank or something. Would that be a good idea? Thanks so much :)
How do you deal with the eggs once they lay? As far as selling them or raising them, how do you deal with extras
I am a complete newbie who stumbled by. Sorry for the naïve question - why are emus farmed? For meat? Eggs? Pets?
Great question! All of the above really. They make great guardians as well!
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Do you have any advice for transporting emus? A way to calm them down to load on a trailer.
We never recommend moving emus on a trailer if you don’t have to, it’s very difficult to calm them down, they have high anxiety naturally. Just make your movements slow and easy. Make sure the trailer you are using has no large gaps or openings, otherwise you will have an emu climbing out. Tall wall trailers with full back door are best. limit the space they have to move on the trailer once they are in, to prevent them from running and slipping. We use a 16 foot cattle trailer with a separation gate and close it down to 8 feet with emus inside. We keep stall mats on the floor so they can’t slip and our back door is the full height of the trailer.
Do they tear up the grass? Pick at the ground?
They don't tear up the ground like a chicken does no. But they will pick at stuff on the ground.
Will 4 ft fence with hot wire on top work
No, you need a very minimum 5 foot fence with tensile wire run around the top at the 6 foot mark. make sure you run just regular tensile wire and not barbwire, they will cut themselves on barbwire. They are likely to wrap themselves up in loose Hotwire at head height as well. Around the ground would be alright.
Do you keep your Emu's with cattle
Yes we do! they are kept with mini and full-size jersey cattle.
Do female emus lay no matter what, like chickens?
There is a lot of debate on this ... In our experience, No. We have adult females that have laid in the past that we know were being bred by our dominant male. Since we have added more females that have come of age, our dominant male isn't breeding the older ones, and they are not laying this year. The younger females are laying consistently every 3 days.
I was told by a breeder you can keep emus with your goats and sheep. Is that true or definitely not?
All our emus are with our goats (we don't have any sheep) and we have never had any issues. We do introduce new goat kids slowly with the adult emus so they know they belong there and not to stomp them. They are very much a guardian animal and will chase down anything that doesn't belong in their pasture.
@@WhitetailHollowFarms Great to know! With the coyotes around here, I need something in the pasture to keep the animals safe.
Cooking emu
What if the male will not sit on the eggs 😊
That's why we have incubators. 😉
They can live with goats? How about sheep
Yes, our emus live with our goats. Feeding can sometimes be a challenge as far as keeping the goats out of the emu feeders; bloat is a concern for us if the goats get too much of the emu feed. However, the emus don't seem to care for the alfalfa pellets we feed the goats, so that hasn't been an issue. We don't have sheep, so we can't speak on first-hand knowledge, but as long as they are appropriately introduced, we are not aware of any reason they can't be together.