UK woman gifted mystery egg, accidentally becomes mum to baby emu named Kevin
A woman who incubated an emu’s egg bought on eBay was astonished when it hatched – and now the bird thinks she’s its mother.
Charlotte Harrison was given the $40 egg as a present in November and used online advice to look after it for 47 days.
Using a home incubating kit, the mum-of-three weighed and turned the egg daily and learnt how to ‘squeak and whistle like an emu’ from YouTube videos.
Last week, she spent four hours ‘coaxing’ the chick as he hatched – and tells how ‘Kevin’ the emu now follows her around her three-bedroom home in Bordon, Hampshire, because he ‘thinks she’s his mum’.
“We had no idea if Kevin would hatch, but I’ve done my reading and was meticulous about giving him the best chance.
“Having coaxed him through the birth, I feel so protective of Kevin. I think it’s because I nurtured him through incubation to hatching and the process has similarities to pregnancy.
“The feeling’s mutual, he dotes on me and follows me around the house as though I’m his mother.”
Charlotte has three children – Ellie, four, Rhys, 19 months, and four-month-old Molly.
She said she wants to keep Kevin as a pet.
But the mum admits he will have to be transferred to a nearby paddock when he nears his full height of 6ft and 10st.
Charlotte added: “He’s only been with us for a week but he already feels like part of the family.”
In the past Charlotte hatched chickens in her £20 home incubator, which was also bought from eBay.
In October, she realised emu eggs are also available on the site for £25 – plus £5 postage.
She said: “I did some reading and realised you don’t need a licence to own an emu in this country.
“I suggested hatching our own to (partner) Darren and he laughed it off, but then my dad actually bought me one.”
The mum tells how the ‘hand-sized’ egg – which weighed 715g – was sent from an emu farm in Dorset and arrived in a polystyrene box on November 17.
Charlotte found online articles advising how the egg needed to be treated.
“Everyone who came to the house was fascinated,” she recalled. “We had no idea if what I was doing was working, all I could do was hope.”
In mid-December, on day 36 of the process, Charlotte removed the egg from the incubator and rested it on a towel.
Then, she made squeaking noises to imitate an emu, as per what she’d seen in YouTube videos.
She said: “At first I felt silly making high pitched noises and thought there was no way it would work.
“But then I heard movement from within the shell. I was over the moon – it was the first sign that the incubation had worked and there was an emu in the egg,” she said.
“I realised Kevin had begun to hatch.
“I was so nervous about getting it wrong but I’d joined an emu breeding Facebook group and advice there told me I should encourage it by making noises.
“So I sat there for four hours making squeaks and whistles to coax him out.”
Finally, Kevin hatched.
Charlotte says: “I felt a huge surge of protection and care when Kevin hatched.
“I couldn’t believe we’d done it – all from an eBay purchase.
“Emus are such placid, lovely animals. When I sit down on the sofa, Kevin likes to curl up in the arch of my foot."
Now, Charlotte feeds him carrots and chicken feed.
He also ‘plays’ with the children’s toys, which include teddy bears and plastic horses.
