Life in a Zoo The Real Thing: Daisy the Deer and the Emu Chicks

Later in our zoo days we began to breed emus. We had the incubators and all the equipment to hatch eggs for other breeders.  

After the chicks hatch, they spent about a week in the hatchery. Then we took them to the chick barn.  This was a specially built building with four stalls inside it.  The first stall was for the tiny babies. When they reached a certain size, we transferred them to the next stall. It was important to keep the emu chicks separated by size, because the bigger ones could trample and hurt the smaller ones.By the time they were about three months old, they were big enough to stay outside, so we moved them from the barn.   

Life in a Zoo the Fictional Version: The Emus

A breeder pair of emus in their pen.

Towards the end of our zoo days, we began breeding emus. These are giant birds related to ostriches that come from Australia. Emus are a bit smaller than ostriches. They are about six feet tall and weigh roughly 130 pounds each.