A female emu is called a hen, as are many other female birds. Female emus are typically larger than the males, standing up to 6.5 feet in height and weighing up to 100 pounds.
If the chick is male, the phallus will show as a little gray or whitish stem with a white tip. A female will have a pink or purple to bluish triangular shaped clitoris similar in shape to a rosebud.
A newly hatched baby emu called a chick is 9.8 inches tall. Newborn chicks have a layer of downy feathers and their eyes are open. During the first several months after the chicks hatch, the father emu fiercely defends the nest and young against any threats.
Are emus related to ostriches? Emus and ostriches do not seem to be obviously genetically related, but they are from the same family of flightless birds called the Ratites. The Ratites include Kiwis, cassowaries, ostriches, rheas and emus.
Males sometimes make calls, which sound like "e-moo" and can be heard over long distances. Females make resonant, booming sounds. In arid Australia, emus will travel hundreds of miles to find another source of food or water.
In conclusion, as long as a female emu is supplied with sperm on a weekly basis, she will be fertile but, when copulations stop, she will stop laying soon after. Male fertility appears to fall towards the end of the laying season and it can be affected by egg incubation at any time of the season.
While a female can lay eggs that were fertilized by several males, it is more common that a single male will mate with a female and then watch over the eggs while they incubate and hatch. Emu eggs are very large, measuring about six inches in length and weighing up to two pounds, making them about...
Emus mate for life; the male incubates 7 to 10 dark green eggs, 13 cm (5 inches) long, in a ground nest for about 60 days. The striped young soon run with the adults. In small flocks, emus forage for fruits and insects but may also damage crops.
The Emu is Australia's tallest native bird. Emus can't fly! Australia is the only country in the world where you will find an Emu in the wild. The nest of an Emu can be up to 1.5 metres wide.
Current breeding practices
Currently to breed ostriches and emus males and females are housed together so that they will breed with one another naturally. In the wild, male emus sit on eggs for the entire incubation period (56 days), as well as care for hatchlings until they are 18 months old.
Fast Facts. The name 'emu' is not an Aboriginal word. It may have been derived from an Arabic word for large bird and later adopted by early Portuguese explorers and applied to cassowaries in eastern Indonesia.
Contributor's comments: I also remember it from primary school in the 50's on the Central Coast NSW. "Emu" would refer to the resemblance to an emu while walking bending over, "pecking"/picking up the rubbish off the ground.
The cassowary is a large, flightless bird most closely related to the emu. Although the emu is taller, the cassowary is the heaviest bird in Australia and the second heaviest in the world after its cousin, the ostrich.
Captive emus also become attracted to humans. Pat Sauer of the American Emu Association said: “There can be problems when an emu falls in love with you.
Male emus may also fight, but we've found many of our females to choose more than one male and the extra males get along fine with each other. If you allow your male emu to set on the nest, sometimes the females will lay another clutch for the other male.
The emu has the reputation of being one of the least intelligent birds among a few emu experts, including a Canadian scientist and a former emu breeder. They aren't as bright as crows but are more so than turkeys, and yet they can be easily fooled.
Emus are known for warding off unwanted predators. There have been cases of emus stomping bobcats, opossums, snakes, and neighborhood cats to the ground.
The emu was a valuable source of food for the Aboriginal people and was also used in ceremonies and medicine.
A group of emus is called a mob.
Emus spend most of their time alone since they are solitary animals. However, they form very large mobs during migratory seasons, when they are in search of better food sources.
An emu raised by humans will naturally be more friendly and docile. If you want a friendlier bird, buy a male emu: they are known to be a bit tamer than females. If you hatch baby emus, they will imprint on you and follow you around like ducklings.
Immediately after the sunset, the emu lie down to sleep, although it may rise up to eight times during the night for the purpose of defecation and feeding. On an average, the emu will awaken every one and half to two hours.
It is surmised that the bird sleeps only lightly on the tarsus, providing every opportunity of reaction in an emergency, as once the deep sleep attitude is reached the Emu seems insensible to the reception of noise or visual stimuli.
Eggs are laid every 3 or 4 days, with an average of 30 eggs laid per season. Some may produce up to 50 eggs per season. The incubation period for emu eggs is 46 to 56 days with an average of 50 days. Length of incubation is greatly influenced by temperature.
COOKING TIPS The USDA recommends emu and ostrich be treated like beef in terms of internal cooking temperatures. Emu and ostrich are both true red meats and are categorized as such by the USDA. Since emu and ostrich both have little fat, overcooking the meats may cause them to become dry and a bit tough.
Emu eggs are rich and creamy; very similar to a duck egg. Eat them any way you would a regular egg: omelettes, scrambled, over easy, frittatas, pancakes and more! They are very light and fluffy in texture.