The newest residents of Waikerikeri Valley are a little more unusual than most - four fluffy emu chicks have just hatched on Danielle Lane’s block of land outside Alexandra.

Danielle, who was featured in our Central Home series, kept the news quiet during her first interview, not wanting to jinx the eggs.

“They were a few days overdue - 53 days of incubation - and because you can’t candle emu eggs with their dark, thick shells, I was convinced they weren’t viable. But sure enough, out popped these little dinosaurs,” she said.

Danielle has been keeping a close eye on the chicks, making sure they’re safe and warm in their indoor incubator - and being a mum already has helped.

“That first night, whenever I got up to my (own) baby, I popped into the lounge with the incubator where they were hatching to make sure we were making progress,” she said. 

“I kept coming in and popping my hand under the heat to check they were snuggled up and it was warm enough.”

The chicks are already keeping life lively. 

“They’re doing really well, starting to get adventurous and zooming around,” Danielle said.

“They definitely think Cooper [Danielle’s three-year-old] is their parent, and he’s running around everywhere, and they’re following him. It’s just the cutest.”

Emu chicks explore Danielle Lane’s Waikerikeri Valley block. Image: Supplied

Danielle has also been busy sorting out the practicalities of raising rare birds. 

She has worked with a stockfeed nutritionist to create a chick-friendly diet, and sent feathers and shells for DNA testing to confirm the chicks’ sexes.

Plus, she heard from the Rare Breeds Conservation Society of New Zealand: “Back in the late 1990s it was reported that there were 15,000 emus spread over 150 farms in New Zealand but by 2022 there were fewer than 300 emus in the whole of the country. That’s a huge drop in numbers.”

Danielle brought in the eggs herself, and for now, her two adult emus - affectionately referred to as the chicks’ “step-parents” - are getting to know the babies through a fence until the chicks are a bit bigger and more confident.

“Whenever the babies come out, Missy (the female adult emu) does her really deep mating call - this ‘boom’ - which is the most incredible sound ever. It sounds like a Bongo drum,” Danielle said.

In the coming weeks, there are plans to pop into Cooper’s kindy as well as a couple of local primary school classes to show off the new arrivals, and later this summer visitors will also be able to see the emus while picking strawberries at Tree Range Farm.

Read more: Central Home: Emus, eggs and education

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