Homesteading: And then there were two
Because two is always better than one!
So, as most of you know - Gizmo the emu has spent two years doing walk-abouts around the farm with her best friend, Gonzo (a?) the goose. Then, a few months ago, Gizmo decided it was time to find love in all the wrong places, and began doing walkabouts off the farm. One night, she just didn’t come home until the next morning, sending Jill off searching for her at twilight - no luck, and then Jill worried all night long. About dawn the next morning, Gizmo appeared outside our bedroom window.
Once, she ended up on the gravel road behind the farm, and luckily, Jill was on Jade and she herded Gizmo via horseback through the forest back to the farm. As Gizmo is afraid of the forest, it was a good thing Jade has great herding instincts, yes, Lusitano horses are known for their ability to work cattle - and the dogs evidently helped a bit too. I waited on the sidelines and unfortunately, didn’t think to film the event. If she hadn’t been able to herd Gizmo successfully into the dark and scary forest, it would have been a long and risky walk around the forest and then out onto the main road that runs by our farm.
Another time, the last time, she ended up about a half mile away, and we had to walk behind her - gently herding her home. We managed to cut through people’s yards and then onto a gravel road behind our house, and once again through the forest. This time, having done it before - she was a bit more willing.
Well, enough was enough, and since then Gizmo has been relegated to a medium-sized pasture in the front of the farm. Gonza the goose visits regularly, but it's still clear that Gizmo needed a companion.
Memories of Gizmo and Gonzo fill our photo library - and maybe one day, we can perimeter fence the farm and they can wander about again:
So when Jill saw an ad for a blonde mature male emu for sale in a town nearby, she approached me. Of course, I, being the sucker for animals that I am and also a person who rarely says no to Jill, agreed that this could work out. I mean, who doesn’t need two emus?
The truth is, emus often don’t like each other. They often dislike each other at first sight, fight, and behave like total idiots toward each other. No matter what the sex. Evidently, the females can be very fickle about who they choose to consort with.
So, it was with much trepidation that we awaited the arrival of Joey, the new boyfriend. Part of the deal with buying Joey would be that they would deliver.
So, on Saturday, Joey, the blonde emu, was delivered. Joey is about five years old, sweet-tempered, loves people, has lived with ducks, geese, dogs, and goats as well as horses. As with most male emus, he is not a problem; it is the girls you have to watch out for. So we are thrilled to have found such a sweet boy.
That morning, his owners, who, intending on having a pair, ended up with two boys, showed up bright and early with Joey in a small horse trailer. Gizmo immediately began drumming, but she says hello to everyone that way.
We wrangled him out of the trailer - with his owner pushing from behind, as the ramp down from the horse trailer was scary looking. Joey set his feet and pushed back, non-aggressively but frightened. Frankly, I am not sure I want to know how they got him into the horse trailer… But as his owner pushed, the extra hands formed a human chain on either side of the trailer to deter him from going the wrong way. Suddenly, after much resistance, with one giant leap and a kick out in the air, as only Emus can do - Joey cleared the ramp, thankfully steered himself in the right direction, and was in the pasture with Gizmo.
Joey immediately settled down and began exploring his new home. He checked out the run-in shed, the pasture, and then settled down to croaking, all the while eating the green clover, which always seems to survive the frost better than the other grasses.
Gizmo gently stalked Joey - the first emu other than herself that she had ever seen, while making friendly drumming sounds. The drum sound comes from a huge air sac that she blows up like a balloon - located within her lower chest.
Between her drumming, which can be heard from a far distance, and his croaking, one need not use too much imagination to understand what a herd of dinosaurs must have sounded like.
Listen carefully at the beginning of this video, and you can hear both the drumming and croaking sounds.
From the outset, it was self-evident that these two would be compatible. There was no kicking, pulling feathers, chasing, or such like.
As they settled down, it was also clear there was a pecking order. Gizmo is top dog, and Joey stays out of her way.
However, Gonzo - well, she does exactly what she wants to do, and no one stands in her way. She will even steal treats from Joey, having met him exactly a day ago.
Emus are winter breeders, but I think it is too much to expect eggs this year.
Gizmo is a white emu - homozygous for the leucism gene. She is not only white, but has blue eyes. Joey is a blonde; he is heterozygous for the leucism gene. Half of their babies will be white, and half will be blonde. Many say that breeding a white to white will produce more deformed birds, which is a problem in captive breeding, particularly when using an incubator not designed for emu eggs. This honestly flummoxes me, as a white should be a white no matter what (same genetics). But to be on the safe side, we found a blonde male. Of note, this is supposedly the same gene that produces the buckskin and palomino colors in horses.
White emu chicks are a hot item and fetch between $500 and $700. People love the blue eyes, and the whites are a little harder to breed for.
Now, we try hard to keep our homestead in the black. And we succeed. But it is through careful selection of breeding stock and assessing market trends if one is to make even a small profit on a small farm.
In other farm news, the two peacock brothers have reunited their friendship, now that breeding season is over.
These two are heading into their third year, and this will be the year that they develop a full train.
They stayed away from each other from last May until October.
The beautiful pied one fertilized many eggs this summer. One of them is a stunning pied male, with a lot more white on him. He is in the coop with the hens and some other youngsters. Jill is considering putting him out with the older males, but it is a risk that they will chase him off.
The pied peacock above will most likely go back in with the females come May, as they produced beautiful babies.
Note that Jill tried to get the peagirls living outside of the pen once breeding season was over, but they wanted nothing to do with that plan! One ended up panicking and hurting herself. Both put themselves back into the coop and wouldn’t come out. So much for freedom - always remember that if one hasn’t been raised with it, the notion can be rather scary!
Winter came to us a bit early this year and the days are quite chilly.
In the greenhouse, the lemons are almost ready to be harvested
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Jill did get garlic bulbs planted before the cold really hit, which will be harvested next summer.
She also put in spinach, lettuce, parsley, and cilantro seeds into a raised bed, covered with hoops and plastic.
It doesn’t look like much now, but give it time.
This is what the spinach looked like early last spring.
The final update is that Jill has been experimenting with yogurt, so expect more on that in the near future.
And miniature jersey cows are still cute.
(A final note - there will not be TWO geese in our future. One is quite enough, thank you).
What I am not thankful for is that the peacocks prefer the Ram truck and the farm vehicles as their favorite perch.
Peacock poo - is rather nasty stuff!
Just wonderful! Thank you for sharing your world with us. Lyrical writing about beauty, freedom and love of nature. Plus total understanding of the plants and animals that fill your lives. Can’t wait for the next chapter.