Wolf.17 Posted August 18 Share Posted August 18 A nine-year-old boy with autism has said hatching emus from eggs has taught him about love. Zak, from Bicester, offered to incubate and hatch the birds when a local farm owner said he wanted emus on his farm. The emus, named Nip and Pip, now live on the Buckinghamshire farm with owner Charlie Taylor. Zak said incubating and hatching the emus gave him an insight into what it feels like to be a parent. "They have taught me about love and how it feels to be a parent," said Zakk. "And you'll do anything for your children, even if it's life or death." And the attachment, according to Zak's mum Claire, goes both ways. "They have imprinted on him," she said. "When they were in the eggs, about two weeks before they hatched, the eggs started to rock slightly whenever Zak started whistling." Mr Taylor said Zak put him through "a fairly intense interview" before handing over the emus. "We've been though pretty much everything," he said. "I've passed, which is good news." Claire said Zak was motivated by "special interests" as a result of his autism. She said he "didn't cope" in school, but had learnt a lot by hatching the emus. "We've done maths, looking at the temperature and the humidity, we've been charting the changes in the weights, we've looked at the law about the fact that legally he is allowed to do it, all about the science of how eggs develop, we studied Australia where the emus are originally from," she said. "Through his emus he's learnt so much over the last few months." https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czjyn1xx8m0o Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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