Do you raise emus? Feeding these large birds can be challenging when you consider the cost of feed. You’d be wise to find some food alternatives to feed your emus.
Examples of foods that you can give to your emus are grains. What type of grains can emus eat?
Can emus eat grains such as corn?
Corn is a delicious and healthy treat that emus can eat. Corn, either cracked or whole kernel, is a common alternative foodstuff when raising birds, including emus, so it never hurts to have some on hand.
You, however, should not give your emus more corn than they need as too much of it can make them obese.
If corn is good for emus but too much of it is bad, how much corn should you feed your emus? What other foods can you give to your birds? Continue reading.
Table of Contents
Can Emus Eat Corn?
Corn or maize is an important grain when raising birds. Corn (cracked or whole) has a lot of carbohydrates and provides your emus with a lot of energy. Check out the nutritional information of corn in the table below:
| Nutrient | Composition |
| Protein | 3% |
| Carbohydrate | 19% |
| Fat | 1% |
| Fiber | 1% |
| Vitamins | >2% |
(Source)
As you can see, corn has a lot of carbohydrates and other nutrients important for your emus. You should, however, note that if you give your emus too much corn, it can be detrimental to the birds. Too much corn can give your birds a bloated stomach or make them obese.
Benefits of Feeding Emus with Corn
Here are some benefits of feeding your emus with corn:
- To Increase their Body Weight: If your emus look underweight, you may be giving them too many proteins and few carbohydrates. They could also be sick. After you have identified the problem, you can give your emus corn to increase their weight.
- To Keep Your Emus Busy: If you emus look bored, you can give them treats such as maize to keep them active.
- To Help Your Birds Stay Warm in the Winter: Digesting corn can help emus and other birds to stay warm at night during the winter. Keeping them active at night by eating will help your birds to survive the winter.
- Laying Emus Need Grains: When your birds are laying eggs, they need a lot of grains for energy to produce and lay eggs. Note that they also need proteins and calcium.
Since corn is important for emus, how do you feed them with it?
How to Feed Emus with Corn
Here are some ways to feed your emus with corn:
- As Treats: This means that unless you have a purpose of giving corn to your emus, you should give them as occasional treats and not regular feed.
- Give Corn to Laying Birds: If you see your emus laying eggs, give them corn treats to give them extra energy.
- Give Your Emus Corn At Night During the Winter: When it’s winter, give your emus access to a lot of maize to digest for extra heat production.
Aside from corn, what else can you give to emus? Continue reading.
Other Foods and Treat Ideas for Emus
You can give the following foods to your emus:
1. Processed Feed
If you go to feed mills and other similar stores, you can get emu-specific feed. Such feeds usually contain up to 22% crude protein as well as other needed nutrients of emus. Unless you are very experienced in raising emus and have tried a different type of feed, you should feed your emus mostly with processed feed.
2. Fruits and Vegetables
Want to give your emus healthy treats? Give them fruits and vegetables. Emus love pecking on fruits and vegetables. You can give them fruits and vegetables as green piñatas.
Healthy fruits for your emus include papayas, mangoes, kiwis, and apples. Vegetables that your emus can eat are kale, cabbage, and broccoli.
3. Seeds and Grains
You don’t have to throw away the seeds of your fruits and vegetables. Seeds of papayas, peppers, pumpkins, watermelons, and other fruits can be given to emus.
Aside from corn, you can also give grains such as barley, millet, sorghum, and wheat to your emus.
Seeds and grains have a lot of nutrients and supplementing with them are recommended when raising emus.
4. Insects and Other Little Critters
The best treat for emus is a live treat. Feeding your emus with live worms, insects, insect larvae, spiders, etc. makes them very happy and they learn to run towards you whenever you are around.
You can also use these high-value treats to reward your emus when training them to return to their cage at night.
5. Whatever They Can Find
Allow your emus to move freely in the yard and they will eat whatever they can find. They can eat insects, weed seeds, young leaves, flowers, etc. Just make sure that your yard is properly fenced to prevent your emus from escaping and getting lost.
Now you know so many types of feed for emus. What will you feed your birds with?
Related Questions and Answers
Got any other questions? Here are some answers:
1. Can Emus Eat Bread?
Just like corn, emus can eat bread, but not much of it. Bread contains a lot of carbohydrates and very few nutrients for emus, so your emus cannot grow quickly when you feed them with bread. Give bread to emus as occasional treats.
2. Should Emu Chicks Eat Corn?
You should not feed your emu chicks with corn as corn contains too many carbohydrates for the chicks.
Give your emu chicks some protein-rich treats or foods not too high in carbohydrates. They need more proteins to grow their wings and become mature.
3. Can You Feed Your Emus with Meat?
You can feed your emus with food made from both plant and animal products as they are omnivores.
As a tip, you should give them more plant products as these foods help your birds to grow quickly. When searching for food, emus can eat a wide range of animals including lizards and rats.
4. What Are the Favorite Foods of Emus?
Some of the best foods and treats that emus love are:
- Fruits
- Flowers
- Insects
- Seeds
- Grains
Emus can eat a lot of food.
5. What Type of Foods Should Emus Not Eat?
Some unsafe foods that you should not feed your emus are:
- Avocados: These fruits contain a phytotoxin popularly known as persin. Persin is toxic to emus and other birds. They are also very greasy for emus.
- Onions: A compound called thiosulfate is found in onions. This compound can bloat the stomach of your birds. Onions are unsafe for emus.
- Uncooked Beans: Emus cannot digest beans quickly. Eating uncooked beans can cause your birds to lose weight.
- Seeds of Apples and Apricots: Apple and apricot seeds have traces of cyanide. Cyanide can harm emus and other birds.
- Citrus: These fruits may be delicious and can be safe for emus, but they usually give emus a behavior of pecking their feathers.
- Chocolate and Sugars: Too many chocolates and sugars are toxic to emus.
- Fast Foods: These foods are greasy, contain too many sugars, and can be toxic to emus. They can also make your birds obese.
Remember to feed your birds only with safe foods.
Final Thoughts
Emus can eat corn and find it very nutritious and delicious. Do not give too much corn to your emus as it can make them obese. Only give corn to emus as supplemental treats or winter night feed. You can also give corn to laying emus for the added carbohydrates.