Big Birds A Family Business Friendly, Flightless Emus Have Commercial Potential

First you sense the sound.

It’s not obvious, but pulsating, like an electrified heartbeat, or maybe a bassoonist blowing a series of low-pitched tunes.

Then there’s the creature itself.

Adults stand 6 feet tall, weigh up to 150 pounds and look something like a mound of moldy leaves with spindly, reptilian legs, and the neck and head of a friendly cartoon critter. Look closely and the top-notches come in a variety of hairdos, from punk to Shirley Temple curly to reggae-style dreadlocks.

Welcome to the world of emus.

Interest in the fascinating landbound birds is taking flight because of their developing commercial potential. The meat tastes like beef but has one-third the cholesterol and is 97 percent fat free. Their natural oils are used as healing salves, body treatment creams plus hair shampoos and conditioners. Hides are valued for fashion leather. Even their eggs, toenails and feathers are recycled as jewelry, crafts and fishing flies.

But emus represent more than just potential profits.

“We were taken with the birds themselves,” explains Keith Walker, who with his family operates High Cascades Emus, one of southern Oregon’s larger emu ranches. “They’re so personable you like to be with them.”

Walker and his wife, BoNell, with their daughter and son-in-law Kay and Bob Craig, have 15 breeding pairs, 40 yearlings and, this time of year, chicks in and emerging from their shells. Hens lay anywhere from 20 to 60 eggs per season, which lasts from October through April or May.

The Walkers bought two pairs of emu yearlings three years ago after their curiosity was piqued. At the time, Walker owned a business that manufactured livestock equipment, including corrals, stalls and equestrian barns. One customer ordered some contraptions that didn’t seem suited for horses or other livestock.

“As he was describing what he wanted, I said, `What is this for?’ He said, `Emus.’ I didn’t even know what an emu was.”

With his wife and daughter, Walker soon learned.

Unlike ostriches, their Australian cousin, emus are curious and friendly. Being inside a pen full of emu yearlings is like visiting a kids’ day-care center. Emu youngsters like to get close. They vie for attention and, when they can get away with it, untie shoelaces and try to pick pockets.

The Walkers and Craigs have fun with their birds, but it is a business.

The Walkers’ operation is off Oregon Highway 140, 8 miles south of Fish Lake. A network of corrals and barns formerly occupied by racing horses has been converted for breeding pairs of emus.

Keith Walker, an officer of the Oregon Emu Association, says the state group has about 125 members, and wants more.

“We need so many more breeders to even start to get into the commercial market,” says Walker of plans to eventually market the meat. “We need to double or triple the number of breeders we have.”