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Q: What is the absolute "best" way to get stains and "china marker" marks off the egg shells? I have used 409 and Fantastic spray cleaners and a toothbrush in the past and that gets the manure stains off really well but not the china marker stains. Help! What should I be using?
A:
Try colored chalk (dustless) instead of china marker. Write on ends where it will not wear-off as easily.
Try WD-40 (careful, it will absorb right through the shell and could leave a stain). It WILL remove china marker "marks". NEVER use on eggs you intend to eat.
Use 409 cleaner with a "denture" toothbrush. It works much better than a "regular" toothbrush.
Super hot water, dish detergent and a scotchbrite pad.
Try "Goof Off"
SOS pads
Try "Orange Blast" available at WalMart
Rubbing emu oil on our soiled eggs after blowing out works better than anything we have found. It has gotten rid of the brown spots and other spots that were on the eggs.
The best egg shell cleaner for both fertile & empty egg shells I have ever found is a product called (the green cloth). It is marketed by a company called (INXONE). Below is some info from their web site:
The Green Cloth is significantly different from any other patented cloth. Extensive and ongoing testing of the cloth demonstrates that it works on far more than 90% of all surfaces with well over 90% of all stains and soils removed from those surfaces without the use of chemicals and cleaners. The plastic used in the manufacture of the Green Cloth generates a minute amount of electricity when wet with water and under the amount of pressure commonly used when cleaning, reducing the surface tension of water significantly enough to turn it into a super universal solvent.
The Green Cloth cleans almost everything- faster and easier than traditional cleaning agents will, and it's chemical free! Made entirely out of non-toxic materials, the Green Cloth uses only plain water and can be re-washed and re-used over and over again for years. Cleaning without the harmful effects of irritating and dangerous chemicals benefits you, your family and your environment all with an amazing reduction in cost.
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Q: Why does an emu suddenly start loosing his feathers? What could be wrong? And how do treat him?
A: The main causes of feather loss in emus include poor nutrition and external parasites. I would make sure the bird is receiving a proper diet and check the skin and feathers for lice or mites. If you are uncomfortable checking the bird, then contact a local veterinarian. Thanks. Dr. Tully, DVM.
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Q: Why Are Emu Eggs Green?
A: The green pigment that causes the distinct dark-emerald-green color of emu eggs, according to Tixier (1945), as mentioned by Ramanoff and Ramanoff and reported by Dr. James Sales (PhD) from South Africa, is the methyl ester of biliverdin XIa.
To put it in simpler terms: biliverdin is a greenish pigment, in the same way that bilirubin (which the student may be more familiar with) is a reddish yellow pigment. Bilirubin is a pigment found in bile, blood and urine, and is a large molecule made up of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen atoms. So I imagine biliverdin would be something quite similar, although I don't know the actual chemical composition.
However, the REAL question the student may be asking is: why did God, or evolution (or both), make the eggs GREEN, of all colors?! What advantage could there possibly be in having green eggs? Perhaps, concealment and camouflage. Remember that emus do like retreating into scrubby underbrush and even woods, when available. So what would "blend" better in such a situation -- a nest of shiny creamy-white eggs, such as what the ostrich lays (in the white sands of the Kalahari), or a nest of leafy-green eggs? You guessed it -- the green, of course. In the forest or underbrush, any large WHITE egg would be spotted from a mile away by roving predators looking for an Egg McMuffin for breakfast.
Also remember that the male emu tends to bury or cover his eggs before he begins to incubate them (this is so they will all hatch together, even if they were all laid at different times. The eggs stay "in limbo" until the male begins to "sit", i.e. to incubate them with his body heat). Well, before he starts incubating, what does he do with the eggs? Some males will cover their eggs with sand, because that's about all that's available. But most males will use any kind of VEGETATION they can find -- leaves, sticks, grass, hay etc. They carefully lift leaves and sticks with their beaks, and drop them onto the eggs until all you see is an unobtrusive-looking pile of twigs -- not a nest of eggs.
To conclude: it's much easier to look like a leaf if you are already green. Hence the green color of emu eggs -- just another part of Nature's perfect design.
Hope this helps!
Maria Minnaar
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Q: I'm trying to find the name of the ointment used to clear cloudiness when an emu's eye gets poked. I have pygmy goats and have heard the same ointment will work with them. Any information or referral you can give will be appreciated.
A:
- Terramycin
- Chlorbiotic
- VetRx (purchased from McMurray hatchery)
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