Emu breeding model

In midsummer, EMUs are paired, and one pair occupies about 30 km ㎡. After the cold weather, the hormones of male emus changed, and their appetite decreased. They began to build nests on the ground with branches, leaves, bark and grass. Emu seldom walk alone, either in pairs or in groups of three or five. The mature period of EMU is as long as 3 years. An adult female bird lays eggs only from June 165438+ 10 to April of the following year, with 7- 15 eggs each time, and the responsibility for incubating eggs is borne by the male bird. During the whole incubation period, males hardly eat or drink for two and a half months, showing strong "fatherly love". They rely entirely on consuming their own body fat to maintain their lives until the little emu hatched. After each incubation, the male will lose a lot of weight, and the chicken will still be taken care of by his father for nearly 2 months after incubation.

Male and female emus mate once every day or two. After mating, the emu will lay dark green eggs. The eggshell is very thick and weighs about a kilo. After laying about 7 eggs, the male emu began to sit on the eggs and hatch. From then on, the male emu didn't eat or drink, and only stood up 10 times a day when he needed to turn eggs. For about 8 weeks, it feeds on body fat and only drinks a little morning dew every day. During this time, the males will not leave the nest. The chicks will follow their father for two years after birth.

After the male emu begins to hatch eggs, the female emu continues to lay eggs, but no longer mates with it. The female emu usually lays 8 to 10 eggs, and sometimes 10-25 eggs. Emu, like many other Australian birds, is not loyal to monogamy. Every time a male begins to hatch an egg, the female will mate with other males. Up to half of a brood of chicks are the products of females and other males.

Some females will stay in the nest until the chicks hatch, but most will leave the nest soon after laying eggs and often nest elsewhere; If the weather is fine, a female emu can lay three nests of eggs. In the northern tropics, the seasons are opposite to those in Australia. The rainy season is in summer, and the EMUs will mate before the rainy season. According to reliable reports, if the rainy season comes late, the mating of EMU will be delayed.

Although there are male emus sticking to their nests, emu eggs are often stolen, especially giant lizards; It is estimated that four out of every five emus hatched can grow safely into adulthood.

Emu is an early chick. The newly hatched bird is very active and can leave the nest in a few days. At first, he was about 25 cm tall and had brown stripes. After 3 months, the stripes faded and disappeared. Emu dad raised them for at least six months.

Male emus tend to adopt any stray chicks as long as they are not older than their own children. The little emu grows very fast (up to a pound a week), and it grows into a big bird after 12- 14 months. Many of them continued to live with their parents for six months, then separated and began to raise the second generation. Wild emus can live for 10 years, and domestic emus can live for more than 20 years.