Examining the welfare challenges specific to farmed ostriches, including their extreme stress responses to handling and slaughter requirements.
Ostrich welfare presents unique challenges because of the extreme stress responses that make routine management procedures potentially dangerous for both animal and handler. An ostrich in a state of acute fear is capable of severe injury to itself and people around it. This means that all welfare-relevant procedures - health checks, feather harvesting, loading for transport - carry inherent acute welfare costs that can only be minimised, not eliminated, through skilled, low-stress handling design. On-farm slaughter eliminates the transport stress component that is particularly welfare-costly for this species and should be the preferred option where regulatory frameworks allow.