Boy with autism says emus taught him about love

Zak offered to incubate and hatch the birds for a local farm owner

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.

• 'I hatched emus in my bedroom in Bicester'

"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."

Claire said the emus had imprinted on Zak

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."

Zak learnt a lot from hatching the emus, Claire said

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."