An emu farm?

This weekend Liz and I were invited to visit an emu farm, run by one of the students currently in new-hire communication training with another trainer. We were both surprised to hear that there was such a thing in India, so we readily agreed to go...even though we had to leave at 6:30 AM to get there!! (Ugh! I haven't been up that early since I got moved off of the morning shift!) The farm was located about 2 hours away from Chennai, a bit across the boarder in the state of Andhra Pradesh, with only a smallish town nearby. It was a big occasion because it was the second anniversary of the farm and it seems as if they had really done quite a bit with the land in that time. Besides the emus, they also raise turkeys & cows as well as several fields of corn and rice. The place seemed quite scientifically run-we weren't even able to enter the hatchery because it was a sterile environment. [It has to be since the eggs can each run upwards of Rs. 1500 (~US$35)]. We were, however, able to go into the pens and pet the adult birds, which were a bit softer than they looked. After our tour of the farm, they treated us to a nice lunch (Andhra food is generally spicier than that in Tamil Nadu!) and we headed for home to find our own animals crying for dinner. :)