5 weeks old
It’s been another week~ and I swear he grows an inch or more a day! He still doesn’t have a name~ this week we are trying “Peck”~ I’m not too sure about that one but it seems to be sticking so far….and “Out of the way Peck!” is hollered at him at least three or four times a day. (Old movie buffs will recognize the line from Legend~ a great movie!)
After several suggestions that there is such a thing as a “bird diaper” I tried it. Sounded like a great idea. But~ like many great ideas…….I could not pull it off. Turns out those diapers are designed to fit on birds with stiff tail feathers~ emu have no tail feathers that I can see~ or at least Peck does not. I thought “I can do it anyway!” so I got out the costume scraps and some velcro. It looked good~ I was pleased…………..putting it ON the emu was another story entirely.
Did you know Emu can MUSK~ kind of like a skunk?
No? Neither did I!!!!!!! But it turns out if you attempt to hold down a young emu and force a lovingly crafted vinyl diaper lined with Bounty towels between his legs and over his butt…………he will struggle~ Kick~ Squal~ and when that all fails to put you off the intention of diapering his little tushy……..he will suddenly smell REALLY BAD! Not only the emu will smell really bad……but so will YOU~ YOUR KITCHEN~ YOUR DOG~ Pretty much everything you own will stink. And it doesn’t wash off…….you have to wait for it to wear off………………
The emu house is not really progressing. I’m just so busy all the time! But the weather was nice this week so I set Peck and the turkeys out in the dog kennel all day and gave my kitchen a break! The Turkeys love being in the dog kennel~ Peck threw such a fit! Slamming himself into the fencing until he cut his foot up on a small loose wire at the bottom ~ I was honestly afraid he was going to break his neck sticking it through the links and thrashing about. I got some tarps and old sheets and pinned them to the lower three feet of the kennel so he can’t see out. That seems to have worked……..but it sure is an ugly monstrosity in my yard now~ covered with tarps and old sheets on the top and the sides! And it wasn’t easy to do~ Took me half a day to jury rig an Emu day play pen! ~ gee I wonder why I don’t have time to build an emu house?
Peck still spends the nights in the kitchen (and rainy days like today) and the turkeys spend the nights in the brooder~ but I’m GOING to get the emu/turkey house built…..SOON! I hope the rain takes a break long enough for me to work on it some today!
Being outside with the Turkeys has been a new learning experience for Peck.
Turns out the “What’s in YOUR mouth??” game is only fun if Peck is the one snatching food out of So-chee’s mouth~ when the Turkeys play that game after the turnip greens in Pecks mouth he does not seem amused!
I also learned this week that the Emu does not like the Turkey food OR the Emu food~ but the Turkeys sure like the Emu food! And everyone loves the Dog Food! Poor So-Chee. She is a such a good sport…………..
Mostly……….
So-chee likes to go for walks around the property with Peck~ and we take several walks around the house a day. She doesn’t mind Peck chasing after her generally believing he is a dog. He insists on being within eye sight of either So-chee, me or my son~
It’s convenient that he insists on being close to us~ he runs so fast that if he didn’t insist on being right with us we would not be able to take him for these little walks to stretch his legs! But I know that won’t last forever~ Hopefully we will have the perimeter fencing finished before he outgrows that convenient trait!
Seems that So-chee is willing to share the house and her people. Even willing to share the dog food and to share the dog treats she is eating when Peck snatches them out of her mouth…….. But that football is a whole other story!
(That’s a sulcatta tortoise named Ramsey in the pic with So-Chee, Peck and the football)
She doesn’t get nasty with him over it~ but CLEARLY he is not to touch the football. If he pecks at it she snatches it and runs across the yard~ which is nice……gives Peck a good bit of exercise chasing her! They both enjoy playing Fetch with my youngest son Will~ he throws the ball and they both take off like a shot~ So-chee is always faster……but when those legs get a little longer she may not be anymore!
(That’s my sister in the background)
And after a good hard run the both lay down, pant and wait for their turn of the pets and scratches.
“Whose a Good Dog?”
“So-chee’s a good dog! And Pecks not a bad dog either!”
LOL!
I think we may be “the weird neighbors”
I love seeing the tutu on it. BTW is it a girl or boy? I love the photos. Thank you for the updates. I am so enjoying it. Don't forget this little one "played dead" when you got his feet wet so why not hyperventilate when he has to act like a mear "animal"? I would say you got your hands full.
How long did it take to get the smell off of everything? So how many birds do you have now? Last time I heard you replaced the ones you lost with....what 50+? The turkeys are cute. What are you going to do when a full grown emu wants to sleep in your kitchen???? 
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