Emus and ostriches are farmed across multiple continents for meat, leather, feathers and oil, but their specific behavioural needs as large, fast-running birds are poorly served by intensive housing systems and welfare standards remain underdeveloped.
Emus and ostriches in farming systems frequently cannot perform their most basic natural behaviours — extended running, wide-ranging foraging and appropriate social interaction. Confinement in small pens causes chronic frustration. Live feather plucking from ostriches causes acute pain and distress. Transport of large ratites is particularly stressful and dangerous for both animals and handlers. The absence of developed welfare standards means that practices that would be unacceptable in more regulated livestock species occur without regulatory consequence. The economics of ratite farming create pressure to house animals intensively, compounding welfare challenges.