craftyhunnypie Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 Need advice on Rhea please. I know Tasha had some, so would like a bit of advice. Very interested in trying to hatch some. Could I use an Rcom 20 or would I need a different incy? Is it 30 days incubation period? How do you house them? How often do they lay? Do they require some sort of nest? What do they eat & how high a fence will I need? Are they hardy in Winter? What do you do with the eggs? Are the birds as big as an Emu? Lots of questions - sorry! Debating about hatching my own or buying in chicks. Emma.x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwing Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 As well as me having had two my friend breeds these so I have a bit of info you can hatch in an rcom provided the lid will go on but bear in mind that the eggs wont all hatch so you could be left with one chick as not many eggs will fit in that space, something like a Octagon 40 may be higher inside and could take four eggs probably, my friend has a Brinsea cabinet incubator for hers Hatching is tricky, its about 37 days I think, my friend quite often has to make a hole in the egg and pull the head and neck of the chick through the internal membrane as they dont seem to hatch terribly easily Chicks are not very strong but are up and about quickly, they can eat bedding so rubber matting and newspaper is best initially but they make a heck of a mess - worse than ducks! We kept ours under heat for 10 weeks, they ate chick crumb (non medicated) then chick pellets until about 3 months old when they went on to rhea pellets although I do believe that rhea growers pellets are available rhea pellets are expensive at £13+ a sack and our two ate up to 5kg a day when they were going through growth spurts they drink loads but are stupid with water so something they cant knock down or drown in but big enough to hold plenty of water is needed We kept ours in a stable till 9 months old but the ideal would be out in the day and in at night from 6 months or younger if kept behind electric fence or in a fox proof pen - netting is a no-no they will get easily tangled in it as they are flighty Once old enough to stay out they prefer to sleep outside but some straw on the ground in their nesting spot would be appreciated Our fences are 5ft but one of our two cleared that easily on the night of the fox attack so I'd say 6ft of strong fencing is needed - a local garden centre keeps theirs behind 6ft heras fencing They are bigger than Emu My friend drills holes in the eggs that she doesnt hatch and sells the shells for crafts, the inside is like a normal egg and makes a heck of an omlette While ours were growing up they were very cute but once grown we quickly realised that we would have had our hands full with them, they are incredibly strong and flighty, they lash out and the males can get nasty at breeding time We were prime examples of not doing enough research, my friend made it all looks so easy! when one of our rhea was killed by a fox we rehomed the other one and it took three of us to load it in to the trailer - I am under no doubt that these were the wrong pets for us and it would only have been a matter of time before one of us was hurt There is a rhea forum, its not widely used but has some useful info on, I can pm you the details if you like? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craftyhunnypie Posted July 10, 2011 Author Share Posted July 10, 2011 Heck - that is a real eye opener, thanks so much Tasha! I think we would be like you to be honest. They sound a bit expensive to feed & keep, plus a bit dodgy! I don't think they would be great pets for for us either. I think I'd be scared. This has proved very useful info. We will research other animals too. Pigs are a definite - lots of research already done there. We would also love goats & alpacas. Your houdinis have worried us though. This is going to be a comical learning curve. I think we are going to pass on Rhea though, unfortunately. Thanks again, Emma.x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwing Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 Llamas are nice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 We've avoided goats and Tamworth pigs because of the problems with escaping - never even considered rhea and watched Tash's adventures..........and now we'll avoid them as well Having said that one of the lambs took a leap off the compost heap, over a 4' fence, and into the veggie plots area the other day and the cows decided to take out a fence post complete with gate attached .........they didn't go through the gateway though or we could have found them wandering up the main road Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 ....and the cows decided to take out a fence post complete with gate attached .........they didn't go through the gateway though or we could have found them wandering up the main road How on earth did hey manage that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 We think they must have been play fighting and shoving each other Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craftyhunnypie Posted July 15, 2011 Author Share Posted July 15, 2011 We've had enough problems at this house with chooks escaping, so we are used to Houdini's! Have researched a huuuuge lot about the pigs, so I really do know what I need to keep them in. Lots of advice from fellow pig keepers & friends who have looked after pigs in the past. We much prefer Alpacas to Llamas. A friend I had Mr. Spongebob from has Llamas - I'm just not keen on them. Being a keen knitter, I really want Alpacas for the wool. I'm knitting with Alpaca at the moment - beautiful, but was expensive. We still want goats. Going to ask someone we are visiting about his, as they never escape! Emma.x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
izzys-hens Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 I dont no anything apart it ate my whole bag of food when i went to the domestic fowl trust, and then it looked at me like well haven't you got any more. It took the bag and anything, the big bird Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
