From the Chick Brooder to the Adult Mob: What We Feed Our Emus

From the Chick Brooder to the Adult Mob: What We Feed Our Emus

"What do emus eat?" "What are you feeding your emus?" "I just brought home my first chicks, what do I feed them?"

We hear some version of that question multiple times a week, from people buying chicks from us and in just about every emu group we're part of. It makes sense. Most folks bringing home their first emu have never fed anything quite like it, and the answers they get back are all over the map.

So here's ours. We've raised hundreds of emu chicks here over the past decade, and right now we're feeding 17 adults. The routine we use today didn't show up fully formed. It came from years of watching, adjusting, reading feed tags in the aisle, and doing math on what we could actually keep buying. Here's what goes into the scoops at each stage, and why we're so particular about the names on the bags.

Our emu feed at a glance

  • Chicks: Two scoops NatureCrest Layer (mini pellet) to one scoop NatureCrest Rabbit, plus Rooster Booster per the label for birds under six months.
  • Around four to six months: Replace the Layer with NatureCrest Multi-Species when the birds are large enough to swallow a standard-size pellet.
  • Juveniles and adults: Two scoops NatureCrest Multi-Species to one scoop NatureCrest Rabbit.

For the base mixes, we use a standard 3-quart livestock feed scoop.

 

Emu chicks eating from a feed dish at Whitetail Hollow Farms

Our emu chicks at the feeder. We use the smaller NatureCrest Layer mini pellet while they are little.

 

What goes into our chick feed

Our emu chicks start on two 3-quart livestock scoops of Tucker Milling NatureCrest Layer Feed to one 3-quart scoop of Tucker Milling NatureCrest Rabbit Feed.

The Layer, Multi-Species, and Rabbit feeds in our mixes are all Tucker Milling NatureCrest products. We are particular about what goes in the feeders, and that is a big part of why we've stuck with them.

Within that line, we picked the Layer for the chicks for a practical reason: it's a mini pellet. Little emu chicks do better with a pellet they can pick up and swallow, and that's easy to miss if you just hear "layer and rabbit pellets" and grab whatever's on the shelf. Not every layer feed is a mini pellet, and the formulas vary from brand to brand, so the specific feed matters here.

For birds under six months, we also add Rooster Booster Poultry Booster pellets. The label doses it by weight, one of the enclosed ⅓-ounce scoops per pound of feed, so every time we mix up a new batch, we weigh it and add the right number of scoops. It's an extra step, but eyeballing a supplement for fast-growing chicks isn't a habit we want to get into.

Then we watch. Are they eating? Drinking? Growing like they should? Walking right? Young emus grow fast, and their legs tell you a lot, so this isn't the stage where we experiment.

In our early years, we offered the chicks kale because "everyone" said emu chicks had to have it. Ours didn't agree. Most of them ignored it, and the ones that didn't picked it up, gave it a considering look, and spit it back out. So we stopped trying. And guess what? They did just fine without it. Given the choice, they'd take another scoop of their feed over kale every time. Greens, scratch, and treats aren't the foundation of our chick diet. Good feed and clean water are.

When they're ready for the bigger pellet

Somewhere around four to six months, our chicks can handle the larger NatureCrest Multi-Species pellet. That's when we swap out the Layer portion of the mix for Multi-Species. The Rabbit Feed stays right where it is.

We don't switch them on a certain day because the calendar says so. We look at the birds in front of us and make the change when they're ready for it.

From there, our juveniles and adults all eat the same thing: two 3-quart scoops of NatureCrest Multi-Species Feed to one 3-quart scoop of NatureCrest Rabbit Feed. Same NatureCrest line, still soy-free and corn-free, just a bigger pellet. And again, the exact names matter. A different brand of multi-species or rabbit pellet can come with a different ingredient list and a different analysis, even if the bag looks about the same.

 

Adult emus eating at a raised feeder at Whitetail Hollow Farms

Adult emus at the feeder. Their mix is two scoops NatureCrest Multi-Species to one scoop NatureCrest Rabbit.

 

What feeding 17 adult emus actually looks like

It's one thing to pick a feed that sounds good. It's another to keep it in the feeders week after week.

Our feed store is an hour's drive each way, and our adults go through about three bags of Multi-Species and one bag of Rabbit Feed every week. That's not a quick run to town when you're low. Every so often, the store is out of exactly what we need, and scrambling to find a replacement for a feed you've built your whole routine around isn't fun. So we stock extra. When you're this particular about brand and formula, "we'll just grab something else" isn't much of a backup plan.

Storage is its own project in the Panhandle. Between the humidity, the summer heat, and every ant and rodent within a mile who'd love a free meal, feed doesn't get to sit around in open bags. We keep unopened bags in the shipping container and a separate bin for each feed near the spot where we feed the emus at night. When a bin is empty, we bring over another bag in the farm cart and open it then. That usually happens about every other day.

The emus pick at whatever's growing in their pens, and that's fine. But we don't leave their nutrition up to what the weeds are doing that month. We want to know what's in their feeders, keep their water clean, and notice right away when a bird starts eating or acting differently.

Why dog food isn't in our mix

We get asked about dog food fairly often, so here's where we stand: we don't feed dog food to our emus, and we don't recommend it. Period.

Dog food isn't a livestock feed, and it definitely isn't designed for ratites. It's formulated for dogs. "High protein" on the bag might sound like a selling point, but it's one number on a food that was never meant for an emu in the first place.

This matters most with chicks. Texas A&M AgriLife Extension's emu production guide reports an association between diets above 25% protein, including dog food and catfish chow, and growth problems in young emus. If your emu snags a piece of kibble off the porch, don't panic. Just don't put it in the feeder.

We're not against extras, either. If we could find a steady source of organic black oil sunflower seeds, we'd probably work some into our mix. We just haven't found one we can count on, so for now they're not in there. That's really the whole story of our feed routine: it's built around what we can source, trust, and keep buying, not just what sounds good on paper.

Before you bring an emu home

Feed is one of the things we want people thinking through before they bring an emu home, not after. Where will you buy the feed? What's in it? Will you still be able to get it next month, and what's your plan when the store runs out? What will that chick eat as a juvenile, and then as an adult? An emu is a long-term commitment, and the feed bill, the feed runs, and the daily chores come with it.

What we've shared here is our own routine after more than a decade with these birds. We can't promise it'll work the same with different brands, different supplements, or every bird's situation. What we can do is tell you exactly what we do and why we pay attention to the details. That's a lot more useful than a list of ingredients with no ages, amounts, or plan attached.

 

Adult emu mob in its pen at Whitetail Hollow Farms

Part of our adult mob here at Whitetail Hollow Farms.

 

Where we do our reading

When we're weighing a change to how we feed, these are a few of the sources we go back to:

We'll keep sharing what we're actually doing with our emus as it happens, including what we change, what we stop doing, and what the birds vote down (looking at you, kale). Want those first? Join our farm email list.

If an emu isn't eating well, is growing poorly, or has trouble walking, please get help from a veterinarian experienced with birds or ratites. This article describes our farm routine; it isn't veterinary advice.

Looking for the brooder gear, feeders, and everyday supplies we use around the farm? Visit our Amazon Storefront. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases, at no extra cost to you.

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