Emu Eggs - Some Facts

Now, Emu industry is quite, because everyone is concentrating on collecting eggs, and monitoring their hatcheries. This is the Egg Laying season, and several of them already have chicks in their Hatcheries. Let's look into some interesting facts about Emu Eggs.

Laying Cycle:

• Emu birds lay eggs in a cycle of 5 or 6 eggs in a month. 
• After each cycle, there will be a gap of one week.
• Gap between two eggs is 72-74 hours (3 days).
• Emu Eggs weighs 400grams to 700 grams in general. 
• Average weight is 550 grams.
• In an average, there will be 4-6 cycles every season. (5x4=20eggs min; 6x6=36eggs max)
• Eggs will be laid in evenings or in early mornings. You can collect them around 6.30 pm to 7.30 pm. 

Egg Types:

• Each egg from a pair will be of same size and same weight, most of the times.
• Eggs are in dark green color with thick shell.
• Eggs are sometime in light green (whitish) color, which shows that some nutrients are missing, especially calcium. Add calcium supplements to the feed.
• Sometimes, you will get shell-less eggs -  eggs with just thick white membrane. This is caused by serious calcium deficiency. Add seashells powder to the feed.
• Eggs rarely formed a double-yoke. Double yoke eggs weigh almost 900grams to 1200 grams. These are useless, they never hatch. Better use it for "Big Family Omlette or Party Omlette"

Egg Handling:

• Egg handling does decide the hatchability of the Eggs.
• Egg has to be collected shortly after the laying. Do not leave it in open yard for too long.
• Egg has to be cleaned before storing. Clean it with a Warm water, and then use an antiseptic liquid with a cotton to clean it. This is to prevent bacterias.
• Store the eggs in below normal temperature, say 22-26 degree celcius. If you couldn't maintain at that temperature, use a dark place to store it. A earthern pot is also useful.
• While storing the eggs, keep them in horizontal state. Do not keep them upwards.
• Use it within 7 days of storage (in a dark room condition). If you are storing at 22-26 degrees, you can keep it for upto 3 weeks (I have tested and the hatchability is 80%).
• While transporting from location to another location, use a thermocol box, which has been designed to carry the eggs. Otherwise, road conditions may prove fatal for the eggs.

Egg Buying:

• Eggs are sold to Hatcheries, where people do not have their own incubators.
• Do not buy eggs from a distance of not more than 3-hours travelling time. 
• To ensure the air bag is intact inside the egg, use a warm water to test the eggs. If the air bag is intact, the Egg will float. Otherwise, it will sink.
• Visit the farm atleast once, where the eggs are coming from. Teach them the above mentioned Egg-handling habits.

I would appreciate people can feedback on the Egg prices in their region, as a response to this post.