Five things to know about the B.C. ostrich farm and pending cull

EDGEWOOD, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA – RCMP and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency are at an ostrich farm in Edgewood, B.C., where about 400 birds are expected to be culled over an outbreak of avian flu within the flock that began last year. 

Here are five things to know about the situation at Universal Ostrich Farms.

1. The court fight.

The farm lost bids to save the birds in Federal Court and the Federal Court of Appeal, and has until Oct. 3 to make an application for leave to take the case to the Supreme Court of Canada. Federal Court of Appeal Justice Gerald Heckman ruled this month the cull must go ahead. He said the CFIA must be allowed to do its work, although he expressed sympathy to the farm’s owners. 

2. Why the farmers say the flock should not be killed. 

The farmers say the flock is now healthy and has “herd immunity” after 69 birds died starting in December last year. The owners say the survivors are scientifically valuable and the survival rate of ostriches compared with other poultry, such as chickens and turkeys, should stop the cull. They argued the birds are healthy, pose no threat, and they want them tested. 

3. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency says the cull needs to go ahead. 

The inspection agency says if the animals live, there will be a potential source of the virus. It says ostriches may show no clinical signs of disease but could be shedding the virus and act as a reservoir for the further spread of infection to people, livestock, and wildlife. The agency told the court that ostriches may contribute genetic mutations to avian influenza viruses that increase its adaptability to mammals.

4. The farm’s following. 

The cull order generated worldwide attention, including from U.S. Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. and former T.V. personality Dr. Mehmet Oz. Kennedy sent a letter to the president of the CFIA asking him to reconsidering destroying the birds, while Oz offered his Florida Ranch to relocate the animals. Chris Sanders, a conservative commentator who has a large social medial following, issued a plea to truck drivers to help pick up the birds in Canada to relocate them to farms in Oklahoma, Texas and South Dakota. Many other supporters are camping out at the farm in support.  

5. The avian flu virus. 

Avian flu has infected commercial flocks off and on for decades in Canada, but the latest situation across the country has been prolonged. The first reported infection was on Dec. 20, 2021 in St. John’s and since then many millions of birds have been destroyed, most of them commercial flocks. The CFIA says that the most common avian influenza virus in domestic birds has been H5N1 subtype. It says migrating wild birds infected with the virus have contributed to the higher infection rate.  

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 22, 2025.