Goats are highly inquisitive and active animals requiring environmental enrichment to express natural behaviour and maintain good welfare in farm and companion settings.
Goats deprived of enrichment in barren pens show stereotypic oral behaviours including wood-chewing and fence-licking. Lack of climbing opportunities causes frustration. Inadequate browsing material drives foraging motivation toward inappropriate targets. Simple enrichment — wooden platforms, hanging branches, novel objects — significantly improves time budgets and reduces negative welfare indicators. The low cost of enrichment relative to welfare benefit makes it one of the most accessible improvements in goat farming.