Rheas, Whites and Grays, Available Soon!! Pics Inside.

Rheas, Whites and Grays, Available Soon!! Pics Inside. *Updated*

I just wanted to give a heads up notice that I'll be producing white and gray rheas from my adult trio this coming season, starting in Late March/Early April. I'll be selling eggs and chicks. Since my male and one of the females are het for white (leucistic or albino, not sure which yet), I can sell eggs that have a 50 or 66% chance at containing a white chick, but obviously these can't be completely guaranteed. It'll be 50% possible if I'm not sure which of the two females the egg came from, or 66% possible if I know it came from the het female. I'll consider them "normal" if they for sure came from the nonhet female (though even then, since the father is a het, the chicks that hatch will be 50% poss hets, if I have the genetics figured out the way I think they are). Eggs will be sold as fresh as possible. Shipping is available via Priority Mail for both eggs and chicks and will vary in amount according to how many eggs/chicks are shipped. Local pickup would be preferred though. I may be able to deliver for a small fee within a reasonable distance from zipcode 72834.

Eggs will be priced as follows:
Normal - $10 ea
50/50 (unsure) - $10 ea
25% possible white - $20 ea

Chicks 1 day to 3 weeks old:
Unsexed: Gray - $25 ea, White - $55 ea
Sex Guaranteed: Gray - $30 ea, White - $60 ea

Young birds 3 weeks to 2 months old:
Sex Guaranteed Only: Gray - $60 ea, White - $80 ea

Older than 2 months:
Contact me

You can see pictures of the adults and a chick we hatched last year in the pictures below. I've also included a link to the Rhea portion of my website for further information and more pictures. If you have any questions about anything, or just want to talk ratites, contact me at [email protected] or 479-477-0434.

Adult trio:


Females:


Freshly Laid Egg:


'04 Gray Chick:



Rhea Page

I just realized that I have the genetics on my eggs wrong. Assuming that white (albinism or leucism) in rheas is simple recessive, which I believe it is, my percentages are off. Any eggs laid by my two birds that are hets will have a 25% chance of being white. Any gray chicks produced from these birds will have a 66% chance of being a white gene carrier. I'll just say that any eggs that I don't know which of the two females laid will have a 50/50 shot at being the above, 25% chance for white.

New pricing follows:
Eggs:
Normal - $10
50/50 (Unsure) - $10
25% possible white - $20

How much would shipping be to 55707 for 1, 2 or three chicks? Thanks

Hey Rayna. Thanks for the reply. I'll have to wait until Monday before I can contact USPS and get any sort of idea about shipping. Of course, it's only going to be an extremely rough estimate, as I don't even know what I'll be shipping them in, much less the weight or anything like that. I can also ship through Delta and can give a flat rate amount for that, and actually can find that out tomorrow if you'd like to know. It'll probably be significant though. I think mammalian or bird shipments are upwards of $150 or more through them. Anyway, I'll reply back with more information when I get it.

By the way, keep in mind, I have no rheas for sale at this time. This ad is just a heads up for the future. My birds won't start breeding probably until March to April, and then babies won't be available from the first hatch until probably early May. I just want to be sure there's no confusion and people thinking I have them for sale now.

Actually, if you ship day olds (or week olds) you should be able to use a Horizon box...The same box they ship poultry in. That stays around $40-60.

Yup, I know they're not available yet...I just like planning ahead.

Are yours agressive at all? Our male was SO agressive. Do the babies hand raise easily? I miss our white female, she was so gorgeous. White w/ blue eyes and a black stripe down the back of her head. But she wasn't tame...I'd like a tame baby. We had a tame emu, and if I can get my paws on an emu chick this year I'll probably do it. I could have gotten a couple 4 week olds last year for $25 each, but my neighbor wanted them for her petting zoo/daycare.

By the way, ADORABLE pics

Hello again. Thanks for the tip on the box, now any thoughts on where I might procure a number of these at a good cost? This will be my first avian shipping, period. I've shipped many, many reptiles through both UPS and Delta, so I am familiar with live animal shipping, but I've never shipped anything bird or mammalian. So, I'd appreciate any insights you may have on how best to go about it.

I hope my bit about not having them at this time didn't come across as rude. After rereading it, it looks like it might be taken that way. It certainly wasn't meant that way though, and was supposed to be in a more general sense, not just directed at you.

Anyway, I'm glad to see you have experience with these awesome birds. And yes, male rheas aren't exactly known for their flowery personalities during the breeding season. However, I've yet to encounter anything really bad from my male. We got this trio last year right at the end of their season, in late July. He was definitely still in season, as he was still very intent on courting the girls, and one of the females laid one more egg before they both stopped for the year. At that time, I was keeping them in a smaller pen, and I did get a couple of "Hey bub" sort of looks and some feather ruffling from the male when I'd enter, but he never charged or did anything that some males have been known for. That may change now that he's had a chance to set up his territory in the new large pen, but I guess we'll just have to wait and see. I'm hoping the increased area I've given them (roughly 2 acres), will maybe stop the aggression from being a problem. Just incase though, I'll probably carry some sort of pole or stick into the pen with me during this time, incase I need to keep him far enough that his feet can't reach me...lol

As for the babies, the one we hatched last year, which came from that egg I referred to earlier, was perfect. She pipped after, I believe, exactly 39 days of incubation at 97.5F, and was totally out between the time I checked on her before going to work and the time I checked in again after getting home from work (5 hours later). She was up hobbling around within a few hours, and by the next day she was walking pretty well. We kept her inside, first in a very large Sterilite brooder, then in a large wooden cage we convered into a brooder, for probably a month to a month and a half. As you can see by the earlier pictures though, she did just fine taking her outside. She imprinted on my roommate and I very easily, and would follow us wherever. Whenever we left her alone, she'd drop these "lonely bombs" as I called them, which was a whistle that sounded like a bomb being dropped from a plane. It was just heart wrenching, lol. After she had grown to around 2' in height, we decided it was time to put her in and outside run, so that she could get used to the weather before putting her down with the adults. She stayed out there for about two weeks before a stray cat managed to get in and kill her. Needless to say...we were very upset, and I was very angry at myself for not taking that possibility into account. We'll be taking *many* more precautions with our keepers this year though, without a doubt. And, the cat got her just desserts afterwards, and I'll leave it at that

I'm convinced though that had she been able to grow into an adult, she would have been just about as tame as any emu. I guess you and I both will find out though a little later this year eh?

Speaking of emu chicks...I have 4 eggs incubating at this time. They are due to hatch around March 15. I also plan to be getting a number of more eggs from a local emu breeder, hopefully around 10 or so, to incubate as well here in another week or two. Assuming I get a decent number to hatch and can get a 1.1 pair out of them, with maybe holding one or two back in case of mortality, I'd be willing to sell you an extra or two if you were interested. Just let me know.

Anyway, I guess I'll close with a few more adorable, hopefully enticing pictures, lol. Enjoy.

Male trying his best to impress the ladies:


Me trying to convince the tamest of these three that the piece of grass I'm holding really is worth coming closer:


Same female being weird for the camera:


Same female in a very 'artsy' pose:


Freshly hatched:


Size comparison:

*growls* I just posted a huge long message, but NNNNNNOOOOOOOOOO the stupid thing errored and didn't post it. LOL. Anyway, drop me an email at [email protected] and I'll get you the peoples address to contact to get boxes. The run about $4-5 after shipping them, if you buy like 16 at a time (runs about $84, I think.) Ummm....Yeah, I'll send ya a pic of me and my emu when we had him...he was cool. Anyway, nice pics, that last one is DARLING!