How to Care for Baby Emus

Once your emu chicks have hatched, you need to closely monitor their behavior and move them to the proper environment. Emu chicks need warmth and exercise to develop into healthy adult emus. Quality feed and a clean pen goes a long way to help raise healthy, strong emus.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• Brooder box
• Chick pen
• Feed
• Water
• Grow-out pen
• Breeder pen

1. Allow your emu chicks 3 to 5 days from the time they hatch to start eating. Once they begin eating, they can be moved from the brooder box to a chick run. Chicks need a 20-percent-protein starter chick feed 3 or 4 times a day.
2. Keep the temperature around 65 degrees Fahrenheit in the indoor area of the chick pen and put straw down on the floor. Pens should be approximately 5 by 10 feet.
3. Change the straw in the chick pen frequently to avoid bacteria growth and to keep insects from overwhelming the area.
4. Encourage chicks to spend time in the sun in an attached outdoor chick run, which can be up to 80 feet long.
5. Move chicks to grow-out pens when they are approximately 3 months old. Chicks need a 20% emu grower, and feed should be available at all times.
6. Switch emus at 12 months to a breeder pen. Their feed should also be switched to a high-quality emu maintenance feed.

Tips & Warnings

• It is very important to also keep fresh water available to the emu chicks at all times.
• Don't provide water in deep water pans because the emu chicks can easily drown.
• Don't put more than 10 chicks in a pen together until they are about 3 months old and transferred to a grow-out pen. Chicks can smother each other by huddling together in large numbers.