Ostriches are farmed globally for their leather, feathers, and meat, but their specific welfare needs as large, highly active birds are poorly understood and often inadequately met.
Ostriches are wild animals whose domestication is recent and incomplete. Their flight-response to perceived threat — instinctive and powerful — makes them dangerous to handle and causes welfare problems when frightened animals injure themselves on enclosure infrastructure. The welfare science of ostriches is severely underdeveloped compared to traditional livestock species; producers largely rely on empirical tradition rather than evidence-based welfare standards. Feather harvesting from live birds causes distress, and the conditions in which ostriches await slaughter are rarely designed with their specific fear-response profile in mind. Improving ostrich welfare requires dedicated research, low-stress handling protocols adapted to the species, and willingness to invest in appropriate enclosure design to prevent panic-related injuries.