Hi.

I am new to the forum, so if I do anything I'm not supposed to do, I apologize in advance. I might need serious help and a friend suggested I post here.

I live in Eastern Canada. The weather, here, at this time of the year, is extremely rough. We've just had a week where the windchill factor has been hovering between -30°C (-22°C) and -46°C (-50°F). Two days ago, my local SPCA was alerted to the fact that a bunch of animals were freezing and starving to death on some property. What they discovered was over 700 hundred severely neglected animals. No, it's not a typo. There really are over 700 animals on the property. A large portion of them are birds, four being emus.

Now, I'm a horse person and I know very little about birds, but because I have a few free stalls and I am the only one in this immediate area who has large enough installations, I was asked to take in the emus, should they be pulled out. A team of vets is supposed to examine each of the animals, starting tomorrow, to decide if euthanasia or rescue is appropriate. It looks like, if the emus are given a green light, they'll come here for a while, until things get sorted out and they can be moved to a long term foster home.

Like I said, I am not a bird person. I do have chicken and quail and ducks that I enjoy very much, but emus? I haven't the slightest idea what to do with them, so forgive me if my questions seem stupid. I really don't know the first thing about them!

I have no idea of the sex of these birds. I researched a bit and, from what I understand, examination of the genitalia is our best option. I hope to God the vets know how to do that. Are there other things I could look for, like the shape of the beak or some physical characteristic?

My horse stalls are 10' x 12'. How realistic is it to jam all four of them in there for a week or so, until we figure out what to do with them? I realize that is not an acceptable housing set up, but at this point, getting the birds out of that hell hole and into a safe place is the most important thing. On the other hand, I really don't want them to hurt each other. I believe they are living separately, right now, although I'm not 100% sure.

My feed store does not carry ratite feed and I live in a very small area in which there are no other feed stores. I read somewhere that ratite feed could be replaced my game finisher feed, which I can get. Is it something that would be an option, even if just until I can locate ratite feed somewhere? If not, what would my other options be? Could I supplement with grain of some sort?

We need to catch these birds, load them onto a horse trailer and then unload them here. I have no clue how to do that. I realize they are normally not agressive animals, but I have no idea how socialized they are and they will no doubt be very stressed about the whole thing. I would prefer not to be clawed to death in the process. So how the heck does one catch and lead an emu without getting killed?

I would appreciate any and all help. I really want to do what's best for these birds, even if what I have to offer them is far from ideal. Please don't yell at me. Believe me, no matter how crappy their temporary living arrangements will be here, it's still a heck of a lot better than the situation they are in right now. It is the worse neglect situation the SPCA officers have seen in their career.

Thank you in advance for your help and understanding.

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