Can you move an emu nest?

[Critter Keeper]

Our male started sitting on a nest of eggs earlier in the week and he is out in the pasture. We have a flash flood watch with 2-4 inches expected tonight. Will he be ok or should I try to move him and the nest? I'm a newbie to emu's I doubt if I could get him to move even if I took the eggs! How do you get them to nest where you want them to?

Cindy

[Jenn]

Could you raise the nest? Put some blocks and stuff under it so it won't be floooded? I moved a turkey and her eggs to a better place and she left the eggs and went back to the old spot. Lost the eggs.

[Jan in CO]

I agree with Jen. I had emus for a while and tried to move a nest, with no results, so I would try to do whatever I could to keep it in the same area and raise it up so the water doesn't affect it. Good luck! I still have a few eggs I blew out years ago. Jan in Co

[Critter Keeper]

Thanks for the advice! The nest is on the edge of the pasture next to the fence. It's on a slope but i'm still not sure the water won't pool under him around the eggs. Guess I may have to check it out after the rain starts and go fom there. I'm not sure I could get him to relocate even though he's a nice bird. GRRR! I will update on it.

Cindy

[65284]

I wouldn't try to move or disturb him he may well move the eggs back or abandon the nest. Dig a small shallow diversion ditch on the upslope side a foot or so above and around the sides the nest. Think an inverted U with the closed end uphill. It doesn't need to be very deep or wide a shovel width wide and 3 or 4 inches deep, stack the removed dirt on the upslope side of the ditch. I have succesfully done this several times and unless it rains a flood it will probably save the eggs.

[Freya]

Any chance you could also add a few sand bags around him?

[SDjulieinSC]

Just being curious.....where in SC are you? I'm in the Spartanburg area. We are looking at the same rain/flood watch here.
Hope your big daddy and his eggs do well.....maybe one will float to me!

[KIT.S]

We take the first 20 or so eggs and incubate them in our freezer-sized incubator, then let He-mu incubate the rest. We get 3 times as many chicks, he still gets to do his thing, and that's not too many for She-mu to lay - they're supposed to lay about 40. She'll quit laying, though, when he starts setting, so taking them away first keeps her going.
Maybe you could just take this batch and hope she continues to lay, if he just started setting.
It cost my son about $150 to build the incubator, but it holds 7 dozen chicken or duck eggs (or millions of quail!) or about 2 dozen emus and is completely automatic. This year he's planning on building an automatic turner for the emus. It uses the regular turners for the smaller eggs.
Kit