Emu farming has grown globally for oil, meat, and leather products. These large, intelligent birds have specific welfare needs that intensive farming often fails to meet.
Farmed emu welfare is an emerging concern as the industry expands. Emus are behaviorally complex birds adapted for wide-ranging foraging and investigation across open landscapes. Intensive confinement prevents expression of these natural behaviors, resulting in boredom-related stereotypies and aggression. Emus are particularly sensitive to novel stimuli and poor handling causes acute stress responses. Welfare-positive emu management provides adequate outdoor space, environmental complexity for investigation and foraging, appropriate social grouping, and low-stress handling protocols. The emu oil and meat industries lack comprehensive welfare certification standards, leaving consumers with limited ability to distinguish higher-welfare products.