Slow Start to Winter Means a Slow Start to Egg Season

Although Penny will always say "It's better then a 40 degree day" no one in our family is particularly fond of the colder weather, what it does bring us however is the much anticipated emu egg season. The emus are seasonal layers with our usual egg season running from May until September, although some years we will find eggs in April and some years they will lay into October. Then there are years like this year where the emus took their time kicking into egg production with us only finding a few throughout May and them really only just getting going now in the middle of June.

Even after 30 years in the business of farming the emus we are still learning more about these birds both in their wonderful products oil, meat, feathers, eggs and their habits and lifestyles. One of their wild instincts we would love to explore further is the egg laying season as we are sure that the egg season is related to the weather patterns, causing them to lay more or less eggs and for a longer or shorter period with the intent of having a good season for their chicks when they hatch.

Although this is not a proven idea this year we were starting to get nervous for the season to come with the slow start and low numbers, particularly when we also hadn't had much rain throughout Autumn. We have since had some lovely rain and there is beautiful fresh grass coming up, the temperature is also fairly warm for this time of the year which is helping the grass grow but could be part of the reason for the slow start (although it has been far more pleasant when collecting the eggs at sunrise).

So while they were in no hurry to get started we are getting around 20 eggs a day and have been able to supply a few egg connoisseurs with some fresh eggs for eating. We will wait to see what the rest of the season brings and look forward to July when we have the chicks hatching for another year.