Emu

EMU PENS AND SHELTER
  • Land requirements for emu are minimal. Emus can be successfully raised in small pens or large pastures or a combination of the two.
  • Different types of emu pens are
  • Chick runs: Chicks from the brooder to 2 or 3 months of age are kept in smaller pens with shelter. The outside runs are 80 feet long.
  • Grow out pens : Chicks of 2 or 3 months and up of a similar size are kept anywhere from 20 to 50 birds per 10,000 sq. feet until they are ready to transport to a processing facility.
  • Colony pens: Stocked in groups of up to 50 pairs. An enclosure with the size of ½ acre (22,000 sq. ft.) is sufficient to hold 100 birds with the sex ratio of 1: 2 to 1:3. In this system of housing there is no possibility of maintaining independent production records. However, it is a more natural environment for the birds. Some farmers run colony pens during non-laying season and move the breeders back into smaller pens when breeding season approaches.
  • Breeder Pens: An area of 20 feet x 45 feet is adequate. The pens can be laid out in rows. Having breeder pens is necessary for maintaining the production and fertility records for genetic selection. This size of the pen is large enough to run a pair.

Emu Shelter

  • Chicks under 3 months of age require more protection from the elements than older birds. Emus after 3 months of age prefer to sleep outside under a tree or along the fence than inside the shelter unless the weather is very cold.
  • Sheet made of asbestos, GI, aluminium are the common roofing materials used.
  • The chick pens of 5 feet x10’ feet attached with a run of 80 feet long is sufficient.
  • For juveniles and adults, the shelter size can be 100 feet x 12 feet. The shelter should be made in such a way that they get maximum protection from the sun.

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Fig. 22. 7. Emu pen and run (Photo 1)

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Fig. 22. 8. Emu pen and run (Photo 2)

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Fig. 22. 9. Trees for natural shelter in the pens

Last modified: Tuesday, 8 May 2012, 4:11 AM