How much is that ostrich in the TikTok video?

More than six months after his ostriches went viral on social media for running loose through the streets of Taber, Alta., Parker Wood is putting some of them up for sale. 

It's not because he's fed up with the rascally ratites.

Instead, Wood says business is booming. These days, he sells most of his birds to U.S. buyers, and that his own farm can hardly keep up with the demand. 

"If we could raise 1,000, we could sell them down there," said Wood, the owner of Badlands Ostrich. 

Escaped ostriches prompt Mountie response in southern Alberta

2 years ago

Duration 0:32

After approximately 20 ostriches escaped from their enclosure near Taber, Alta., RCMP officers were called in to help the owner wrangle the birds.

He's hoping to expand his business in southern Alberta by selling breeding-age birds to other farmers, with a standing offer to buy back some of their eventual offspring, which he would then re-sell to his U.S. clients. 

"We are downsizing what we're going to handle here at the farm and we're going to increase what we buy," he said. 

"If we can help other people just get into the ostrich market, where they start raising them, then we'll be able to keep facilitating the demand in Canada."

Few ostrich farmers these days

Today, Wood says he's one of few farmers in the ostrich business, but back in the 1990s there was something of a boom in Alberta.  

According to a report by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, it started with ranchers who were looking for an alternative to raising beef cattle, before spreading to B.C. and then to other provinces across the country. 

In 1996 there were 15,502 ostriches in Canada, roughly half of them in Alberta, according to the agricultural census for that year. 

But by 1999, the industry was facing challenges, the report said. The number of new people entering the market had peaked, it said, as would-be sellers of breeding stock were having a hard time finding buyers for their birds. 

"In addition, markets for the meat and other products have not developed as quickly as anticipated," said the report, which noted that farmers were starting to get out of the industry. 

Wood said he's avoiding that problem by finding buyers ahead of expansion, in particular a U.S. slaughterhouse that specializes in ostrich meat. 

The U.S. is an appealing market, he said, because it has federally regulated slaughterhouses for ostrich that can sell to chains across the country.

While he doesn't expect to see another ostrich boom à la the 1990s, he does believe there's a future for the business. 

"We're not really trying to sell people on the fact that they're going to be a millionaire with this," he said. 

"It's more, 'Come and be a part of it and let's see if we can figure out this industry together.'"

The great ostrich escape of 2022

As for whether would-be farmers should worry about runaway ostriches, Wood said that situation was a bit of a one-off. 

Wood says a neighbour's dog got into the ostrich pen and scared the birds, who started running back and forth and eventually broke down the fence lines. 

They escaped around midnight. He got a call around 1 a.m. from the RCMP saying the ostriches were on the highway. 

"They were running away from vehicles, over people's lawns," he said. "Dogs are barking at them and chasing them, and so we had to find a way to round them up as fast as we could." 

Some have criticized the tactic of catching the ostrich by its neck, but Wood said to subdue a bird you need to control its head. The next step, he said, is to put a tuque over its eyes, which acts in a similar way to blinders on a horse. 

"They're not distracted and they'll calm down," he said. "Once you put something over its head, it will sit down and calm down."

All in all, it took 17 hours to round up 28 birds. No people were hurt but one ostrich was hit by a car on the highway, he said. 

While ostrich escapes aren't a frequent problem, Wood said anyone interested in raising them should proceed with caution. 

They have sharp claws and a powerful kick — and Johnny Cash was almost killed by one, he said. 

Still, he said it's also a rewarding business. 

"They just kind of grow on you after a while, the chicks are fun to raise," he said. 

"They're a wonderful animal."