High Cascade Emu Ranch

Like other birds, Emus grow up very fast, and are full grown by 5-6 months old! The stripes they're born with help to camouflage them and fade within three months. Males are the dominent parent from the time the eggs are layed until the chicks are on their own at about 7 months old. The female leaves shortly after laying eggs--though some will stay until the eggs hatch--and will often lay other clutches of eggs with up to two other males during the breeding seasion. The male incubates and turns the eggs up to 10 times a day and will rarely eat or stand up for the 8 weeks of incubation, surviving on stored body fat. After the chicks hatch, the male protects the brood and teaches the chicks how to find food. Chicks will stay with the family group for about two years or until they find a mate to start a family with whey they are sexually mature, which is about 18 months old. For more information about Emus, Wiki has a wonderful source here: Wiki:Emu I've uploaded two other pictures today and I hope you'll visit them too! Thanks to all of you who have visited and have left comments and favorites! I try to go to all of your pages within a day or two and is a highlight for me to see your beautiful photography! :)

In the wild, male emus take the responsibility of keeping the eggs warm, turning them, and protecting the clutch of 10-20 eggs from predators. He will rarely eat or even stand for the next 43-50 days until the chicks hatch. At emu ranches, eggs are usually collected and put into a special incubator which performs several important functions. It keeps the eggs at a precise temperature (96.5-97 degrees), it blows fresh air over the porous eggs, provides a slowly evolving humidity, and rolls the eggs in both directions many times during the day. It has taken years to develop excellent incubators like this one that can do what a male emu does without even thinking about it! :D If you would like to know more about hatching emu eggs, I found a wonderful article here: The Poultry Site: Incubation of Ratites

Emus are so huge, strange and imposing that most people just stare at their intense face and enormous body! However, emu feet are just as incredible!! They don't even look real, do they?! Like their faces, one look at their feet will have you thinking DINOSAUR!! Did you know that all birds have scales on their legs and feet just like reptiles?! Emus have really big scales and they have three massive toes on each foot! Look at that enormous claw on their middle toe!! It's not hard to imagine the Velociraptor in this ancient bird's ancestry! In fact, the structure of dinosaur leg bones and joints are identical to emus and other ratites! Ratite toe counts: emus, rheas and cassowaries have 3 toes, kiwis have 4 toes, and ostriches have only 2! Emus are capable of running up to 30-31 (50kph) mles per hour and run at a comfortable speed of about 28 (45kph) miles per hour. They use their feet for defense and have extremely strong legs, able to rip wire fencing! The claws on their feet are used for combat and can inflict serious damage if they feel threatened or are protecting their territory. However, emus are almost always very docile and curious, but not dangerous.

There are many people who come right out and say that emus and other ratites are not even birds because they differ in so many weird ways. Even their feathers are weird. Normal bird feathers "zip" together and keep their shape because the tiny vanes in each feather have interlocking barbs. Ratite feathers don't have this feature. This makes their feathers much softer, almost like strange hair. Here's another weird thing: emu feather shafts have TWO feathers attached, not just one! Amazing!! Emu feathers are wonderful for many different uses, including the feather duster below. They are used in jewelry, hair extensions, flower arrangements, fishing lures, and of course, hat accents! Did you know that Australians enjoy putting an emu feather in a hat and calling it a kangeroo feather?! :D They love to try to get tourists to believe them, and the funny thing is, there are lots of people who actually believe it! :D :D If you would like to know more about emu feathers, I found a very nice page here: Red Oak Farm: Learning About Emu Feathers

Emus are fascinating to watch. They look strange, they act strange, and they even look odd when they are resting! At full rest they resemble a goose...sort of! And if you look at the picture below, you'll see their extra weird position, which is sort of like our version of sitting! (sorry about the fence, there wasn't much I could do about it! :D) Emus do not sleep through the night like many birds but instead take many naps in this sitting position, which is easy and fast to stand from if they are alarmed. It's very interesting to watch an emu stand from a laying position. First they rise to a sitting position, and then they stand up! It reminds me of how a camel stands! I found a short video of an emu moving around from a sitting position and then standing up and running. Great fun to see! "Baby emu sits down and eats " I've uploaded two other pictures today and I hope you'll visit them too! Thanks to all of you who have visited and have left comments and favorites! I try to go to all of your pages within a day or two and is a highlight for me to see your beautiful photography! :)