The emu pen is one of the first things you notice when you drive into the roadhouse about 220 kilometres south of Alice Springs.
While you may only see one or two emus wandering the fence line, it's now a flurry of activity, since eleven chicks hatched in the last few weeks.
Carer Jan Rolston says the males are proving to be particularly good parents to the chicks that are about 30 centimetres tall with black and white stripes. "The males had been sitting on the eggs for several months, so it was certainly big news around the place when they all hatched. "They're certainly very protective especially when the chicks arrive, it's difficult to get close. "They'll fluff up their chest feathers and have a go at you if they get half a chance."
Ms Rolston says the father emu are protective with good reason. "To be honest, there have been one or two that have disappeared and we presume that might have been hawks. But we're feeling quite proud of ourselves that we've got them this far."
So where is Erlunda?
[ most of this was pinched off the NT Country Hour today......but aren't the emu chicks cute?]
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