Dairy goats are highly intelligent, curious and social animals. Extensive outdoor systems offer welfare benefits over intensive housing but require careful management of foot health, parasite control and social grouping.
Dairy goat welfare challenges parallel those of dairy cattle but with species-specific differences. Goats are more inquisitive and more easily bored than sheep — barren housing environments produce stereotypic behaviours including repeated pacing and barrier-biting. Outdoor access with natural browse — bramble, hawthorn, willow — satisfies both nutritional and behavioural needs. Foot care is a critical welfare issue: goats on wet ground develop interdigital scald and foot rot causing significant pain. Pain assessment in goats using facial action units (goat grimace scale) now allows objective welfare monitoring. Kid separation welfare is improved when dams and kids have visual and olfactory contact even when milk feeding is withdrawn.