Ostriches are farmed commercially for meat, leather and feathers in several countries, but their specific behavioural needs make intensive confinement particularly challenging for welfare.
Ostrich welfare in farming is primarily challenged by the tension between the extensive space requirements of this large, fast-running bird and commercial production pressures. Ostriches kept at inadequate density show aggression, feather pecking and stress behaviours. Handling for health checks, feather plucking and veterinary procedures is highly stressful for animals that respond to confinement with powerful and potentially injurious escape attempts. The feather industry — where feathers are plucked from live birds — causes acute distress during restraint. Welfare assessment for farmed ostriches must account for species-specific needs that differ fundamentally from domesticated poultry, including spatial requirements and stress sensitivity to human approach.