Dairy goat udder health and milking management are central to the welfare of milking does. Mastitis, teat damage and milking stress impose significant welfare costs in poorly managed operations.
Dairy goat does subjected to incorrect milking equipment settings or poor udder preparation suffer teat-end damage and elevated mastitis risk. Chronic subclinical mastitis causes persistent low-grade pain and immune activation that reduces quality of life. Does that are over-milked or under-milked develop udder distension or milk pooling that causes physical discomfort. The twice-daily routine of dairy goat milking requires each doe to cooperate with handling and parlour procedures. Fear of the parlour environment reduces milk let-down and causes chronic stress in individual animals with poor early experiences of milking.