Although emu farming is a fairly new industry, great strides have been made into turning a once hobby farm animal into a highly productive and profitable business venture. Farming with livestock usually demands a high capital investment, and a lot of space, to make it profitable and productive. Emu farming on the other hand is low maintenance, and minimal space, and less capital investment is required.
The emu bird is a hardy animal, which adapts easily to varying circumstances. In their home habitat in the Australian Outback, they are used to climate extremes, with extremely hot summers, and cold winters. There is little rainfall, and at times minimal foraging ground. Emus have few natural enemies, especially when fully grown.
EMU Australia Outback Hi
Emu farming has a variety of revenue creating potential markets:
• The selling of young chicks and/or fertile emu eggs
• The selling of slaughter-ready / breeder emu birds
• Emu meat
• Emu feathers
• Emu skin
• Emu dung as fertilizer
• Infertile emu eggs for those interested in egg carving
Emu farming can be a profitable venture in small or large-scale. The venture can be a low input farming industry, where the birds are left to flock together in large camps, and where they fend for themselves most of the time. Minimal feed is given additionally, mainly in dry seasons when foraging is scarce, or to fatten the emu birds a few months prior to slaughter. Emus are allowed to make nests, brood the eggs and raise their own young. This method generally works well in the following circumstances:
• Low initial investment is available
• Large areas are available, with adequate foraging ground. (Emu birds eat mainly grasses, roots and leaves, with berries, fruit and insects making another, smaller portion of their diet.)
• Minimal labor is available
• Emu farming will remain a small-scale enterprise
The second method of emu farming is far more intensive. It requires more capital outlay, and requires more labor. Emus are kept in smaller pens, and are fed nutritionally balanced feed every day. They forage minimally. Breeding emu birds are kept in separate cages from growing slaughter birds. The emu eggs are removed from the nests daily, and incubated artificially. The chicks are raised in rearing pens, and are not placed with the parents.
Emu farming on this intensive scale is beneficial if:
• Naturally growing feed is limited
• Higher initial capital outlay is available, especially for the purchase of feed
• Farming is to be on a large-scale
• Additional labor is available
• An incubator is available
The benefits of this intensive emu farming method are immense:
• More eggs are laid, and more chicks are hatched and raised
• Unproductive or less productive emu birds can be singled out, and removed from the breeding program
• The emu birds generally have a thicker layer of fat, and are larger
• Production is thus less costly per kg (lb.) of fat and meat produced, than with the free-roaming method.
• Chick survival rate is higher when raised away from the parents
Whichever method you choose for beginning your emu farming venture, you will find it to be a profitable business that has a lot of growth potential, and high profitability as well.
Why You Should Enter The Emu Farming Industry
For more information on emu farming, check out this ebook entitled "How to Start An Emu Farm".
Alan B. Stables is a freelance writer on alternative agriculture, has organized alternative agriculture events and has also been a guest speaker in Brazil, China, Egypt, Italy, Latvia and Spain, on how to market agricultural produce for maximum returns.
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