Eddington’s Emus, Oscar & Clarence: Where Are They Now?

One year ago, we shared with you the very cool story of two gigantic birds, Emus named Oscar and Clarence. I was curious as to how they were doing and what they were up to, so I reached out to their owner for an update.

Read More: Did You Know Eddington Has Emus? Meet Clarence And Oscar

Jennifer Robertson lives on the town line of Brewer and Eddington. She has quite a collection of animals on her property, including chickens, ducks, geese, goats, rabbits, and dogs.

One particular pair of large birds has captured the most attention in recent years; a pair of Emus, named Oscar and Clarence

While native to Australia, there are a few Emu birds that now call Maine home. Robertson says she got this pair from a farm in Farmington.

She says she originally thought she had two males, so she named them Oscar and Clarence. After a couple of years, she realized that Oscar was a female.

There's no ordinance in Eddington and no requirement for a permit or anything of that sort to be able to keep large fowl like Emu at this time, but Robertson says that could change in the future.

She says she set up a special pen on her property for the big birds, to keep them contained, and safe. The Animal Control Officer has been out to inspect the enclosure. But these birds are as smart as they are large. While they check the fence frequently, Clarence still managed to escape last year.

"He found a hole that I didn't think he could get out of. Unfortunately, Clarence got out last summer and in the process, he got hurt. I nursed him for 4 weeks, but his injuries were too severe and we ended up putting him down."

It was definitely a blow for Robertson.

“He was my friendliest out of the bunch. But Oscar now allows me to pet and scratch her."

And something positive did come out of Oscar and Clarence's union: a pair of eggs.

"I was able to hatch 2 chicks last year and we kept them. So now we have Oscar, Jordan, Isaiah.”

“It takes 60 days to hatch an emu chick. They are born about a foot tall. These guys were hatched about a year old. They are not quite a year old yet.”

"The babies are still in their silly baby phase so sometimes allow pettings and other times run in circles and zoom off. They are not full grown so are not out with Oscar at this time.”

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“They tolerate our winters well. We give them a run in the house and on cold days and they get extra straw to sleep in.”

“As a baby when very first hatched I feed carrots and kale chopped for the first week. After that, I slowly add emu pellets and rabbit pellets to their food.”

Robertson says just like with Clarence and Oscar, she's not really sure what the sex of the baby birds is yet.

“Won't know for sure until fall. It takes an emu 2 years before they lay their first egg.”

And she's not certain yet what she'll do if this new pair produces eggs of their own.

“I may hatch some but probably will find other homes for them.’

The new bird babies have meant a bit of expansion, Robertson says.

"I have 2 pens now. Oscar has hers and we have one for the babies.[The} Goal is to introduce them. They can see each other and talk to each other. You can see Oscar from the road the babies [are] in front of her so you can't really see them."

Robertson isn't stopping with just the birds, she's hoping to add more animals to her menagerie.

“[The] plan was to try and have baby goats this spring but that did not work out so hopefully mid-summer we will get a few.”

“We are hoping to do some petting zoos this summer. So people can meet the animals.”

So next time you're driving through the Brewer/Eddington area, keep an eye out for these unusual residents!