Sixteen South African Black (Struthio camelus var. domesticus)ostriches raised in the Oudsthoorn district were slaughtered at 14-15 months of age at the EU approved Klein Karoo ostrich abattoir. Al-though all the birds weighed≈90 kg, they were reared by different producers and under different feeding regimes. The objective of the investigation was to source birds that would be representative of commercial ostriches slaughtered and therefore common animal production factors that are known to influence the chemical composition
of ostrich muscle were not included as main effects. The dressed carcasses were cooled within ca. 45 min after exsanguination in a cooling
chamber at 0–4 °C for 24 h before de boning.