STRICTLY BUSINESS: CURIOUS AND GRACEFUL BIRDS TAKE SPOTLIGHT

Emus are curious and friendly, but dumb as a radish.

Missourians are suddenly becoming interested in emus, large birds native to Australia, as alternative livestock.

Southern Methodist University of Dallas recently conducted a census of emus in the United States, and found there was some 400,000.

Not bad, considering the U.S. population started from four or five eggs that were brought to the United States. The emu is the national bird of Australia, and that country forbids their export.

Some U.S. growers of the bird agree emus are not the smartest livestock.

"We have trouble getting some of the birds to come in out of the weather," said Mark Whitaker, a member of the Southeast Missouri Emu Association, who operates an emu ranch near Burfordsville.

"They have itty-bitty brains, so they can't be real smart," said Randy Hasenclevel, president of the Iowa Emu Association. "But, many of them will come in out of the rain."

So what's the attraction of raising the big birds?

Meat, leather, feathers and oils, said Carolyn Verplanke of West Plains. Greg and Carolyn Verplanke gave up a dairy operation to go into emu ranching.

"About 95 to 97 percent of the emu can be used in various products," Carolyn Verplanke. "The meat is delicious, the feathers are used in feather-dusters, the skin is used in the manufacture of boots and wallets and the oil is used in cosmetics and as rubs for sprains.

A couple of recent emu seminars in Southeast Missouri -- at West Plains and Jackson -- reveal some of the reasons for the sudden interest. Following are some commonly asked questions and answers presented at the seminars.

Who buys emus? Farmers interested in livestock alternatives, exotic animal breeders, entrepreneurs.

What is the market like? The breeder market is booming.

How large are emus? An adult emu will weigh between 85 and 125 pounds, and stand 5 to 6 feet tall.

How much do adult emus eat? Up to 1 1/2 pounds of feed a day. Most estimates place the cost of feeding an adult emu at $150 to $180 a year.

What size pen does an emu require? Successful breeding has been reported in pen sizes ranging from 25-by-40 feet to 25-by-100 feet, and larger.

When do emus start laying eggs? Emus usually start laying during their second or third season. The laying season is October through May.

How many eggs can one hen lay during the season? The average is 25 to 30, but some hens have laid as many as 60 eggs. Some never lay eggs.

How long is the incubation period? The incubation process is 48 to 52 days.

What vaccinations are recommended? Farmers start to vaccinate for Eastern-Western Equine Encephalitis (EEE-WEE), a fatal mosquito-born disease.

New on the business scene

"A Step At A Time" preschool is under new ownership.

Mark and Tonya Merritt have purchased the business, in a 1,400-square-foot structure at 1003 Perryville Road.

The school, previously owned by Gene and Michelle Dewrock, is licensed for 41 students, ages 2 through 12.

Tonya Merritt has several years experience in operating a preschool. She worked in a preschool operation 14 years and has been a teacher 21 years.

The school will be open Monday through Friday from 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Elsewhere:

METROPOLIS, Ill. -- Massac Memorial Hospital has added two spacious operating rooms, two smaller "exploratory and procedure" rooms, a new emergency services unit and registration area to its facilities.

The hospital held a grand opening of its $2.2 million, 10,000-square-foot expansion last weekend.

As services move from the old building into the new addition, the vacated space will be converted into new or expanded services.

Massac Memorial is licensed for 57 beds. The hospital totals about 800 emergency room visits a month, and another 1,000 patient visits per month for outpatient services.

To float, or not to float

Gamblers started pulling the levers in Missouri last weekend.

The Missouri Gaming Commission tested the 3,973 slot machines on board the state's five riverboat casinos for last Friday's start.

Slot machines and other games of chance, such as roulette, were approved by Missouri voters last month. The vote became official on Friday, noted commission spokesman Harold Bailey.

With addition of slot machines at Missouri casinos, the December gaming report for Illinois could be an interesting one at the Alton Belle and the East St. Louis Casino Queen.

The November reports show the Queen with gross winnings of $11 million, based on more than 334,000 visits to the casino during the month, an average of 12,045 a day.

More than 65 percent of the winnings were realized from slot machines, with about 35 percent from table games like blackjack, craps and roulette.

The percentage of slot winners were even greater at the Alton Belle, about 80 percent.

With more than 1,500 slot machines now available on the Admiral, which does not have to float and is across the river from East St. Louis, it will be interesting to see if visits and percentages of slot winnings change on the two Illinois boats.

Another 980 slots are on the Casino St. Charles, docked on the Missouri River west of St. Louis.

Illinois riverboat owners in the Rockford and Galena areas say they need dockside gambling to compete with Iowa's new gambling laws, which were adopted to help Iowa boats compete with Illinois.

Iowa originally limited bets to $5 and each customer's total losses to $200, sending many high-stakes gamblers to the Illinois boats. Three boats left Iowa for other states.

Then, in March, Iowa lawmakers repealed those limits. And while they were at it, they largely repealed the law requiring their boats to actually cruise the Mississippi River.

That meant Iowa riverboats could spend most of their time docked, with customers coming and going at will, while Illinois boats had to continue cruising.

Drops in revenue and passengers have been experienced at Rockford and Galena.

Receipts at Casino Rock Island dropped from $3.5 million in March to $2.7 million in May, when the President riverboat in Davenport, Iowa, began following the new rules. They dropped an additional $700,000 in June, according to the Illinois Gaming Board.

The President, meanwhile, has raked in $33 million since July 1, up from $11 million during the same period last year, according to the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission.

A new riverboat opened in Dubuque, Iowa, competing against Illinois' Silver Eagle, near Galena. The Dubuque boat has since taken in about $10 million, beating the Silver Eagle by $1 million, even though the Silver Eagle holds twice as many passengers.

The riverboats in Alton and East St. Louis may see similar results eventually.

Other boat notes:

Boyd Gaming Corp., which has been selected by the City of Cape Girardeau, to operate a riverboat gambling casino here, is owner of one of the largest Christmas trees in the Mid-South.

The Boyd company, which operates Sam's Town Hotel & Gambling Hall in Tunica County, Miss., the largest casino-entertainment complex in the Mid-South, unveiled its 48-foot balsam fir last weekend.

A number of children from the Make-A-Wish Foundation of the Mid-South flipped the switches to turn on 10,000 Christmas tree lights.

The tree, in front of Sam's Town in Tunica County, was shipped into Mississippi from St. Montello, Wis.

"The tree is so large that transportation was by an 18-wheeler semi-tractor-trailer truck," said Joe Fuscaldo, vice president and general manager at Sam's Town.

Earlier in the year, Sam's town donated $50,000 to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The mission of the foundation is to ensure that wishes are granted to children with terminal illnesses or life-threatening medical conditions.

Players International Riverboat Casino at Metropolis, Ill., had more than 100,000 visitors during November.

According to the latest report of the Illinois Gaming Board, Players averaged 3,832 visitors a day, with 102,410 visitors in November.

Based on gross receipts for the month, more than two-thirds of the visitors played slots. The winnings total shows $2.1 million at table games and $4.3 million from slots.

The city of Metropolis received $385,506 for its share of revenues for the month.

Statewide, a total of 1.9 million admissions were recorded on the state's nine boats, with an average loss of $47 per admission. The state received a total of $15.5 million for its share of revenues.