Emu Farming is basically a business plan that involves managing, caring, and breeding of the emu birds in order to get meat, oil, eggs, skin, and feathers from them. These products are of great economic importance and provide high value.
Emu bird farming is famous in different parts of the world such as Australia, America, and India. In India starting and running an Emu Farm is a lucrative business model that generates high revenue. As per the reports, emu farming is about 20% to 30% more profitable business plan than other poultry-based business models. India is currently one of the leading countries in Emu Farming.
There are various economic and social aspects related to raising emu birds which we will be discussing in the article below. Also, we have listed the procedure on how you can start your own Emu farming business in India.
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Introduction To Emu Birds
Emu birds are ratite relatives of Ostrich, these birds are used for commercial purposes for their high economic value. They are adapted to varied climatic conditions and are not hard to manage or take care of. Emu farming has done some significant development over time and it also makes a pretty good business idea.
The birds are known to be the second-largest bird in the world. They belong to the ratite group of birds that are categorized on the basis of their poorly developed wings, which means they can not fly.
The life span of emu birds is from ten to twenty years. Their body is covered with fluffy feathers that are used for commercial purposes.
Why Choose Emu Farming?
The popularity of Emu bird Farming in India is increasing significantly. The business idea is of great value and provides a lot of potential for growth and financial success. The products that are collected from the emu birds are their skin, eggs, meat, and feathers. All of these products that are collected from them hold great economic value.
The fat that is collected from the Emu bird is really good in taste and contains low cholesterol. The cost for maintaining the emu bird is not high at all, they can be maintained without any high maintenance and they can easily adapt themselves to varied climatic changes.
Apart from environmental climatic changes, they can also survive agro-climatic changes. Also, the emu farming business idea does not need you to have any professional knowledge and could be acquired with the help of basic management skills.
How to Start Emu Farming In India?
Starting an Emu farm in India is definitely a great idea. The idea will not need you to invest a lot of money and can be acquired within limited sources. There are a few basic things that you are going to need to set up an Emu farm. Like commercial land and some knowledge about managing and breeding of poultry animals.
Below you will find the step by step procedure of setting up an emu farm:
Commercial Land
The land is the prime and the most basic necessity of a business. The emu farming business is going to need you a commercial land big enough for the breeding and management of the emu birds.
The commercial land that you will be using for farming must have some basic facilities, such as, your farm should have enough supply of fresh and clean water, as well as it should have transport facilities and market place to make basic things available. Apart from this make sure there’s a veterinary doctor’s clinic approachable within the farm area for the time of emergency.
Management of the emu birds
As mentioned before, it is not very difficult to take care of the emu birds as they are highly adjustable. They can adapt to varied climatic and agricultural conditions. Although there are a few things that need to be taken care of, they are as follows:
Healthy Diet: Every organism needs a proper diet for growth and nourishment, and for emu birds, a variety of ingredients are necessary for proper proportions. Emu birds consume grains like corn, wheat, barley, oats, etc, and some oilseeds such as soybean seeds. They provide the birds with required protein and dietery energy.
Apart from this, the emu birds also need some vitamins and minerals such as calcium and phosphorus.
Daily Monitoring: As you set up the farm for the emu birds, you should monitor their activities daily. While doing your regular check out, you should ensure that all the emu birds are feeling physically fit, they all have enough food and water and also monitor their growth. Also, check their shelter predators and pests.
Cleaning Houses: Cleaning of the shelter and its outer area is not only necessary for hygiene purposes, but it is also important considering medical reasons. Regular cleaning will help in the prevention of diseases.
Fencing and Pens: The fencing of the farm should be in such a way that the emu birds have enough space for them to move and feel spacious. For the proper accommodation of the emu birds, the preferred parameters are 6’tall chain link or 2″ x 4″ no-climb fencing.
Supplying Veterinary Care: The health plays the most important part of living beings’ life and it is crucial to ensure that your emu birds are in good health for your emu farming business in India. You should also arrange regular veterinary visits by the professional so that you can diagnose the medical issue at an early age.
Keeping Records: Records will help you in determining the behavior of birds. Just keep account of everything they do like their eating habits, breeding, bowel movements, eggs laid, hatching growth rate, etc.
Growth Management
The growth of the emu birds should be regulated from the very first stage. A newly born emu chick will weigh around 350 grams to 400 grams. At this stage, they require proper heat for their growth. All these chicks should be paired in groups and kept in a container with paddy husk. It is also important to keep the chicks inside the incubator for 2 to 3 days as soon as they are born.
Apart from this, you can also set a brooder for the grouped chicks where you can adjust the temperature accordingly. The brooder will need you to provide a temperature of 900 F for the first 10 days then slightly decrease it to 850 F for another few weeks.
The area where the chicks are kept should be equipped with food and water containers. To ensure that the chicks can not reach the light source, keep it 10 feet apart. You will need at least 40 watts of bulb for the brooder that will be sufficient to cover 100 square feet area.
As the chicks grow, you need to extend the area of their living to accommodate their moving. For about 40 emu chicks you are going to need an area of 30 square feet to 40 square feet. Remember, emu chicks are big in size so they will need a larger area.
Breeding
At the early stage, keep the male and females separated and as the emu chicks reach their breeding stage which is at about 18 to 24 months of age. The ratio of both males and females should be 1:1 and adequate space should be provided to them for mating. The recommended area is 2500 square feet.
At this stage, you should take care of the diet of emu birds and provide them with highly nutritious foods. Their food should contain a high amount of vitamins and minerals weeks before their mating. This will enhance the fertility of female emu birds and also make the eggs laid by them healthier. You can add some privacy elements to the shelter where emu birds are kept by adding some shrubs and bushes around the area.
In the first year, the maximum number of eggs produced by the emu bird is 15, but this will gradually increase every year. The incubation period for emu birds eggs are 52 days, it means that it will take a total of 52 days for the chicks to hatch out of the egg. At this stage you need to be careful about several factors like temperature, diet, environmental conditions, etc, this will ensure that the chick is healthy.
Caring And Management
The caring and management of the emu birds are not that difficult. Emu bird farming is easy because of the adaptive and adjustable nature of the emu birds. But those are not the only factors that needs to be taken care of, like the health conditions. Emu birds get affected by various diseases such as coccidiosis, lice, rhinitis aspergillosis, ascarid infestations, candidiasis, and salmonella.
Also, they can develop various leg abnormalities, fertility issues, intestinal infections, etc. These issues need to be addressed at a very early stage and should be handled immediately.
Conclusion
Emu farming in India definitely makes a pretty good business plan due to the varied uses of emu birds. Also along with the emu farming you can also think to start rabbit farming in India that will be a huge business in the coming future. The emu birds are highly commercial and hold a lot of economic value. It makes a highly lucrative business plan. All you need to do is follow the guide as mentioned above and it will help you in starting your own emu farm in India.
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