Thanks to seeing various posts and comments in Celebrating Smallholding UK, the facebook group we run, rhea have been on our list of 'wants' since last year. And today we introduced these four to their new home. We bought them from Brian and Michelle Parker (friends of ours from back in Cornwall), having ‘reserved’ them last autumn. Rhea are fascinating and whilst not your usual smallholding animal, they are entirely suited to the smallholding environment. A trio will happily live on a half acre or less, they eat weeds as well as grass, they are (relatively) fox proof when adults, they don’t require much shelter and they are happy to stay out in all weathers!!
It is the male who incubates the eggs and the male who encourages the females to lay their eggs in the first place!! Our plans are to buy some more so we can then create an unrelated breeding trio or quartet (selling on the rest) and to then have a go at hatching our own. This won’t however be until 2020 as Rhea don’t sexually mature until their second year!
At just four weeks old, we don’t yet know what sex these are and won’t know till they are some five/six months old.. You can apparently vent sex rhea – but this is a specialist job!! In the meantime, we are going to very much enjoy watching this quartet develop and grow, and no doubt entertain us on the way!!