|
|
|
EMU CHICKS: Two months old
At two months the chicks begin to lose the striping on their heads as they turn black. In another few weeks, they will lose all their stripes and be covered in a black down awaiting the growth of their mature, grey feathers. They are allowed to run in the fields with Dad for short periods of time. As they eat anything they find, they are susceptible to disease. The chicks have not built up an immune system to combat fungus and other germs that can infect them at this age.
|
|
|
CHICKS FIRST DAY OUT OF THE PEN (with Dad)
|
|
EMU FAMILY UPDATE
I'm sorry to report that one of
the chicks contracted an infection and died within two days of first symptoms.
Fortunately the other four
escaped it and when they were about four months old they were sold to ideal
homes. Two
went to a B & B Petting Zoo in Pennsylvania and the other two to
a private home with a private menagerie much like Stonefield Farm.
DECEMBER 2000 UPDATE:
Early in the month four eggs were found at a far point in the pasture. I brought the eggs and Punch and Judy to their pen and locked them in. Judy is laying much earlier this year and the weather is very cold. Five or six more eggs have been layed but because Punch is not covering them yet, they have frozen and spoiled. We are in for a long, cold, snowy winter and unless Punch starts sitting and Judy continues to lay eggs, we will not have any chicks this year.
