Family share home with TV-watching emu

Meet the family who live with an emu – in the Essex suburbs. From washing in the bath to joining in at mealtimes, Beaky loves to be a part of home life. When the six Newby children sit down to watch television, their feathered ‘big sister’ will barge into the living room to watch her favorite shows – wildlife programs, naturally.

But her size (90kg, or 14st) and diet (large portions of broccoli and cauliflower) mean it’s better at night for this Essex bird to be banished to a summerhouse in the garden. ‘Beaky was given to me as an egg as a Christmas present by my wife two-and-a-half years ago,’ said Iain Newby, 44, who owns a rescue facility for dangerous animals. I made a makeshift emu egg incubator out of the back of an old budgie incubator and a seed tray.

I didn’t really think it would work – but, to my astonishment, Beaky hatched.’ Mr Newby put the chick in one of the children’s old playpens but, after a few months, she found she could jump out. She started running about with the children and playing with their toys, and is now very much a part of the family, who live in Little Wakering, near Southend.

Because they all grew up together, Mr Newby’s children – Jack, seven, Harry, six, Bryce, five, George, three, Peter, two, and Joe, ten months – all feel that Beaky is like a sister to them. Beaky eats 6kg (1st) of corn a week and plenty more in fruit and vegetables – plus anything else the children throw her way. ‘She will eat just about anything if allowed to – keys, drill bits, sponges,’ said Mr Newby. Despite their size, emus are no longer classified as dangerous animals by law and anyone is free to buy one and raise it in the UK.