Emu (Dromaius Novaehollandiae) are a fairly large specie of bird. They belong to the Ratite family which includes Ostrich, Rhea, Cassowary, and Kiwi. The name Ratite means ‘keel less" which comes from the fact that this family of birds does not have the strip of cartilage that normally resides on top of the breast bone of most birds. This cartilage is where the breast muscle attaches to. Therefore Ratites have no ‘breast meat'.Emu are native to the continent of Australia. They live fairly nomadic lives, except those that are raised on farms to supply the various product markets.
Emu stand from 5 to 6 feet in height and can weigh up to 150 lbs when mature. Emus normally attain their full height within 12 months. Emus have been known to live in excess of 30 years.
Females often start laying eggs when they are 2-3 years old. When fully mature productive females may lay in excess of 60 eggs a year but the average is 25-30. The normally dark green eggs are laid every 3 days (on average) during the winter and early spring months. Eggs average about 500-700 grams (1.1 to 1.5 lbs), but it is not unheard of to have eggs less than 300 grams (.6 lbs) or larger than 1000 (2.2 lbs). When fertile, it takes about 2 months to hatch an emu egg.
Males do the majority of the hatching and rearing of the chicks, as the females tend to live very nomadic lives. Females often are the more aggressive of the species, which is why it is most common to see emus kept in pairs, although trios (1 male and 2 females) are not uncommon when the females have been raised together.
Emu in the United States are primarily from zoo stock since Australia named the emu it's national bird in 1942 and stopped exportation of live animals. Emu are raised for their many products. Emu meat is a very lean red meat and is prized by many people who are health conscious. Emu leather is a fine grained soft leather that is often used in the fashion industry. Emu eggs, because of their large size and natural color are highly prized by crafters, known as ‘eggers' who decorate eggs. Some of these artisans who carve the eggs prefer emu because 3 distinct colors can be obtained when carving an emu egg. The dark outter green, a middle ‘teal' color and the inner white of the shell all can be used to generate interesting designs. Emu oil is obtained from the fat of the bird. When properly refined it has been shown thru research to be useful in helping medicines penetrate thru the skin. Emu oil has also been shown to thicken the skin (helping with the major cause of wrinkles) and contains the Omega fatty acids that are accredited with helping ease arthritis pain.
