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The Healing Properties of

Emus

by Victoria Varga

Emus, Ostriches, and Rheas – all flightless “running birds” - belong to the same class: “Aves”. Emus resemble ostriches somewhat in appearance, but are significantly smaller and more easily managed. Ostriches have a reputation of aggressive and comparatively difficult manageability.

Emu young are striped, and with a shorter neck than an Ostrich, and most find that Emu are more esthetically pleasing to the eye. As well as being more docile, peaceful, and even timid, compared to ostriches, this brown and bluish tinged bird has become increasingly popularized lately for many reasons .

Emus have been taking the exotic world by storm in the last ten years. These exotic birds are native to Australia unlike their African cousins the Ostrich, and their South American counterpart, the Rhea. But all have in common similar appearances and physiology, and belong to a group known as ‘Ratites’.

 

Emus are raised today commercially for meat, feathers, fertilized eggs, unfertilized eggs (which are hand painted and turned into beautiful, valuable ornamental treasures), waste shells, and their hides. Growth in the current North American industry resides mainly in breeding stock.

Canadian statistics approximate the numbers of farms currently raising Emus (1996 Agricultural Census first recording Ratites) at 86 registered breeders, with a count of 61,308 birds total for all of Canada. Certainly this number has stabilized since 1996, and the continued and growing demand  specifically for Emu-oil products, has established the Emu industry and given it a stronghold, where so many other types of exotic farming has perhaps declined in popularity.

Ratite ranching has become popular in the past few years, where production of red-poultry has been a successful venture all over North America, since the 1970’s. And although Emu have been successfully raised for meat along with the larger Ostrich, Emu breeders have now discovered what has been known for centuries in the Outback of Australia. The healing properties of the oil-derivative from the fat of the Emu has become more widely popularized on a global scale for successful treatment of many skin and pain related ailments. This magical oil has been used for hundreds of years by the Australian Aboriginal people, and is a relatively new discovery in the Western world.

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