Emu farming and slaughter

The emu is the second largest bird in the world, second only to the ostrich. They stand up to 2 metres tall and can weigh up to 50 kg. Their legs are very strong, and they can run in bursts of up to 48 kph.

Emus are found in most areas of the Australian mainland. They have a very varied diet, made up of berries and fruits, seeds, leaves, grasses, blossoms and insects. They have a large home range where they forage for whatever is available.

The male incubates a clutch of eggs for 8 weeks. During this time he lives on his fat reserves and loses 4-8 kg in weight. Once the chicks hatch, he protects them for up to 18 months. He leads them on their search for food and broods them under his body while they are young (1).

The industry

The first emu farm was started in 1976 in Western Australia by an aboriginal community. However, the wider commercial industry started in 1987 in that state. Other states gradually followed, with Victoria the last to legalise emu farming in 1994 (2).

The first breeding pairs were captured from the wild, which undoubtedly caused enormous stress to the animals. Later, breeding pairs were hatched in captivity and sold to people coming into the industry. According to the Code of Practice for the Husbandry of Captive-bred Emus (1999), it is now illegal to capture further wild emus, unless special Ministerial approval is given.

The biggest farm, Dromaius Enterprises in Western Australia, was incubating 16,000 eggs, running 13,000 emus on 2000 hectares of land, and slaughtering 250 birds a week (2). This company has now gone into liquidation (see below: Collapse of the industry).

The first slaughterhouse specifically set up to kill emus opened at Kwinana (WA) in 1992, with others opening in the years to follow. Emus are killed when they are between 1 and 2 years old. Their body parts are turned into (2):

Code of Practice

The Code of Practice for emus is deficient in several respects, and it isn't legally enforceable.

The Code suggests the following minimum space requirements:

Recall that emus wander over large distances and can run at high speed. For these birds the spaces provided represent considerable confinement. In the wild they spend a lot of time foraging for a variety of foods. In captivity they are presented with a uniform diet of pellets. Males in the breeding season have a strong brooding instinct, which is frustrated if their eggs are taken away.

An even greater problem is transport and slaughter of these large wild birds. As the Code of Practice states: " The duration of all journeys should be as short as possible, as transport can be a stressful experience. "

An industry newsletter stated that 5% or more emus die due to the stress of transport (3). Because there are few slaughterhouses set up for emus, they may be transported long distances.

The Code of Practice states: " Methods of slaughter suitable for large numbers of emus in licensed abattoirs are still being developed and more research on the subject is required ". Emus are already being slaughtered, even though humane methods have not yet been developed.

Declawing

The WA government allows emus' toes to be cut to prevent them scratching each other and damaging the skin that is to be made into leather. The ends of all 3 toes are cut off, preferably within 36 hours of hatching, with a hot blade machine designed to debeak chickens. The blade cuts though blood vessels and nerves, and is undoubtedly very painful (4). The national Code of Practice does not sanction toe cutting.

The reason for cutting off the toes and claws is to prevent humans being scratched during handling, and to prevent scratched to other birds during transport and displays of aggression. The point is that these wild birds are stressed by handling and confinement, and shouldn't be in captivity at all. It is no solution to cut off their toes.

Producers claim that A-grade leather can only be produced from de-clawed birds, but in spite of declawing there is a stockpile of second-grade leather for which there is no market (5).

Collapse of the industry

The emu industry is in crisis, and farmers are leaving it in droves. The expected markets for emu products haven't eventuated (6).

In Victoria, one farmer killed 1300 birds and gave their corpses to a fertiliser company. Other farmers have killed their birds for pet food, or given them away. There are fears that unwanted birds may be released back to the wild, where they could starve because they haven't learned to forage for themselves (7).

In NSW, the RSPCA investigated a case of cruelty when 1500 emus were left to starve to death after the financial collapse of an emu farm (8).

The largest emu farm in Australia, Dromaius Enterprises in WA, has been liquidated. Several emu slaughterhouses have closed, including Alberta and Pyramid Hill in Victoria (3).

Part of the reason farmers haven't got the returns they expected is that delicate emu skin is damaged during transport, and damaged skins have little value. Also the oil has been of poor quality due to lack of knowledge about the dietary requirements to produce high quality oil.

Hopefully people in the industry will realise that these wild birds should not be farmed, and will leave them in peace in their natural habitat.

References

  1. Readers Digest Services, Complete Book of Australian Birds , Readers Digest Sydney, 1988

  2. ANZFAS, Why emus and ostriches should not be farmed, Fact sheet, May 1994

  3. Southern Cross Emu Corp P/L, Emu News, Oct 1997

  4. Carryer J & Carryer S, "The de-clawing of emus by toe removal", Animals Today, Feb-April 1996 (24-25)

  5. Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Reference Committee, Commercial Utilisation of Australian Native Wildlife, Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra 1998

  6. Lawrence K, "Emus put farmers into flight", Sunday Mail, 30/11/1997

  7. Hewitt S & Imhoff V, "Breeders starve for lack of a market", Sunday Herald Sun, Nov 30 1997

  8. Anon, "1500 emus left to die on farm", The Daily Telegraph, 8 April 1998, p.9