jmgoyder

The emu breeder, Kip Venn, who delivered our new Emerys the other day, has given me permission to provide the following link to his website: http://www.emufarm.iinet.net.au/ Here is one of my favourite pictures from this website …

Kip gave me some very good advice and that was to spend as much time as possible with the new emus until they get used to the strangeness of human proximity, so I’ve been doing that and two of the emus will now allow me to pat them if I have a bit of food in my hand. I sit on an old tractor tyre and the biggest emu will run up to me, stare at me as if I am some sort of peculiar object, then take a bit of cabbage out of my hand, but if I say ‘hello’ – even if I say it really softly – he sprints off as if there has been an explosion!

Anyway, they are all settling in well, the only drawback being that during the evenings, nights and early mornings, they are ‘next door’ to the gang and Godfrey keeps poking his substantial beak, bill or whatever it is – I think of it as a ‘nose-in-the-air’ nose – through the fence that separates them and hissing.

Conversely, the Emerys are gentle, shy, unassuming and adorable! And it is comforting to know that when I turn my back, unlike Godfrey, they will not bite me on the bum!

Well, I know you guys were probably expecting to see cute little emus and they are definitely cute, but not so little! They were unloaded into their yard and wandered calmly and curiously around the newly trimmed wattle trees, pecking at the cabbage (they love cabbage) I had sprinkled here and there. They did look rather longingly out to the back paddock and, because they have been raised on a farm, they are not as tameable as the other Emerys were, so it is going to be a bit of a challenge but I did manage to pat a couple of them later in the afternoon so I don’t think it will take long for them to trust me. I hope so because I really want to let them free range as soon as possible because the yard, though big enough and fox proofed, is not exactly the Ritz (you can blame the pigs for that!) and the lack of grass is a problem.

This morning when I went out, I was surprised to see how much water they had drunk until I remembered falling into their pool last night! I didn’t tell Son about this but since I woke up with a black eye I had to admit what happened and, yes, he and Husband are sharing yet another laugh at my expense – not funny!

Today we have the job of clearing out the wattle branches, raking the yard and distributing lawn clippings. Son is extremely excited about these chores (do you detect a note of sarcasm?) He is angry with me, not for getting the emus but for keeping it a secret. “We’re supposed to tell each other everything,” he said. “Oh,” I said, “I didn’t know that was a rule.” I’m actually a little nervous of him telling me everything; after all he is a 17-year-old male! We’ll see if his rule has longevity, although I have to admit Son always has told us everything and, when he was much younger and first started to sprout hairs in otherwise hairless places, he would give us a daily count (think armpits please!)  Thankfully, that only lasted a few weeks!

Anyway, back to the emus. Here are a couple of pictures:

The emus are being delivered just after lunch TODAY!!! I finally admitted to Husband that it was six emu chicks and his initial look of shock and horror was immediately replaced with a huge grin, so that was a great relief. As for Son, well, he still doesn’t know but he will be milking the cows for our neighbours when they arrive so by the time he comes back it will be a fait accompli – ha! I have the perfect sentence ready for Son: “go and suck eggs, kid.” You see, I am becoming quite brave!

We now have a special yard for the emus, very big and newly fortified against the foxes, and I’ve been advised to keep them in this yard day and night for at least a couple of weeks until they reorientate themselves to their new surrounding. After that, I should be able to let them out to free range but I will have to be a bit like a bouncer in a nightclub and do the rounds regularly.

It isn’t just Son’s inevitable disapproval that interferes with my excitement. One of my friends said to me, “You do realise that they grow rather large, don’t you?”

Well, yes I do (they are the second largest bird in the world – I must find an ostrich!) Anyway, just in case you didn’t know how large they grow, this Wikipedia photo gives you a good idea. And when they are this big, those foxes will not stand a chance!

They will arrive in a couple of hours – hurray!