Ostrich farming for meat, leather, and feathers involves welfare challenges related to the species unique behavioral and physiological characteristics as the world largest bird.
Ostrich welfare in commercial production is shaped by the fundamental mismatch between a species evolved for open-space running and vigilance over long distances, and the close confinement and handling required by intensive farming. Ostriches are prey-species with highly reactive stress responses: unfamiliar people, sounds, and objects trigger flight responses that, in confined spaces, lead to collisions, injuries, and chronic hypervigilance. Feather plucking while alive — still practiced in some operations — causes acute pain and prolonged stress; shearing is the welfare-superior alternative. Chick mortality rates that approach 50% in some operations indicate severe management failures causing death on a large scale. The leather industry demand for ostrich skin drives a significant proportion of production, meaning consumer choices about luxury leather goods have direct welfare implications for farmed ostriches.