MCGREGOR, Minn. — If you’ve ever been to McGregor, Minnesota, you may have stopped at the Dairy Queen for dinner or a treat. What will have likely made your visit quite memorable, though, is if you happened to see the crew of emus out back.

Katie Boyd is a third-generation ice cream expert. 

“I’ve been running this place with my twin sister. My parents own it and we took it over from our grandparents,” Katie Boyd said, standing at the counter of the McGregor Dairy Queen. “This is the original crew at their grand opening in 1966. We’ve got my grandma and my grandpa,” Katie said, pointing to a photo on the wall.

And, for about half that time, quite the crew has been enjoying French fries, behind the DQ, too.

“Burt is standing behind me there and Eva is sitting by the fence there and Ernie is down the other way,” Jeff Boyd said, talking about the three emus in his care. 

Jeff, Katie’s uncle, is this tall trio’s main caretaker.

“You gotta explain the whole story, you know… ‘They’re emus. My grandpa has hatched and raised them, and we’ve just had them here for years and it’s just very cool,’” Katie said.

Kenneth Boyd, passed away in 2018, but his family is making sure his passion isn’t forgotten.

“That’s what I’ve told people. I’ve said we’re trying to keep his legacy here and his tradition alive,” Jeff said.

A tradition with a lot of variety.

“We’ve had buffalo here. We’ve had European fallows, Woodlander sheep,” Jeff said.

So, next time you’re in McGregor, consider stopping to see the soft-feathered, flightless birds. Just don’t forget the fries. 

“They love French fries. Bread. Grass. Pretty much anything you can give them,” Katie said.

“I hope he’s proud of all of us. We try to keep it going,” Jeff said.

If you’d like to visit the emus this winter, Jeff said they occasionally spend time inside a structure when temperatures really dip down; however, they’re a hardy bunch and often spend time outside as well.

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