We’ve had Helen for about a year now, and she is a little over two years old. She’s getting along well with our other rescued emu, Elmo.

This summer, Elmo started sitting on a green bucket inside their house. At first, I couldn’t figure out what he was doing, but then I realized that male emus incubate the eggs, not the females. Also, when female emus lay eggs, they’re an emerald green color. I think he was mistaking the green bucket for a green egg. He wouldn’t get off the bucket, stopped eating, and was barely drinking. I was worried, especially since it was such a hot summer.

One day, I waited for him to get off the bucket to get a drink, then ran in and grabbed the bucket. He saw me and started chasing me around the yard with his neck stretched out and his legs kicking like Bruce Lee. I managed to evade him and put the bucket away. After that, he started eating and drinking again, and all was good.

About a month ago, I noticed Helen off in the distance while Elmo was acting protective. When I went over to check, I saw what looked like large stones on the ground near Helen. Upon closer inspection, I realized they were dark green, oversized eggs! Unfortunately, they were cold to the touch. Elmo would sit on a bucket but not on the real eggs. That’s okay—we don’t need more emus anyway.

I checked the eggs and confirmed they weren’t fertile. Since she had just laid them, I decided to make two giant quiches using one egg. It was the best quiche I’ve ever had! I shared some of the other eggs with a chef, a few friends, and the workers helping build our vet clinic. One of the workers’ wives got really excited, saying emu eggs are hard to come by and delicious.

Cris ate one slice of the quiche and said it was good but admitted she couldn’t eat Helen’s eggs because she “knew her personally.” I thought that was funny, but I understand her point.