Emus are making their first-ever appearance at MontanaFair, and they have one Worden girl to thank for it.Delilah Hale has been showing 4-H animals for four years, but this year she wanted to do something no one had done before. Watch Delilah and her mom talk about the emus: Worden girl brings emus to MontanaFair for the first time"We just wanted to be different and show a different animal that nobody's ever seen here," Delilah said.She's no stranger to the show ring. Her resume already includes rabbits, poultry, a chinchilla, horses, and pigs. But adding emus required months of extra preparation.For the past six months, Delilah took the birds just about everywhere to get them ready for fair life including trips to parks and Lake Elmo, where she discovered emus can swim."We'd walk them around places to get them socialized, and then so that way fair isn't so bad for them," Delilah said. "I kind of just like kept the harnesses on them so they could get used to it. And they are still not very good at it, but they are getting better."The effort has paid off. The emus have drawn curious crowds, and their personalities have been a hit."They are definitely fun. They definitely make us laugh a lot," Delilah said.For her mom, Chantal Hale, watching it all come together has made the long hours worthwhile."It's been really rewarding. Seeing all of their hard work come to fruition and being able to get awards for those things," Chantal said.Those hours have been significant and Chantal has felt every one of them."I don't even know if I could quantify it. Honestly, every time she has to leave and I have to do her chores, I get a little overwhelmed," Chantal said.Beyond the spectacle, the family hopes fairgoers leave with a better understanding of what emus actually offer."I think that putting them in a more positive light and having people see them makes people appreciate them. And puts a different part of agriculture in the spotlight," Delilah said.For those wondering what emus are used for, Chantal has answers."You can eat them. Or their oil or their feathers. Their skin is used for leather, we have like emu boots," she said.As for what comes next, Delilah knows the realities of showing animals but letting go of these birds may be harder than most."Every year I kind of do. And these guys are going to be kind of hard to let go of," Delilah said. ...read more read less