Dairy goat farming is growing globally, but welfare standards in the sector lag behind dairy cattle, with particular concerns around kidding, disbudding, and male kid disposal.
Dairy goat welfare shares many features with dairy cattle welfare, with some sector-specific concerns. Disbudding of kids — performed to prevent adult horn injuries — is an acutely painful procedure. When done without sedation and local anaesthesia, it causes suffering measurable by physiological and behavioral indicators for hours. Male kid disposal represents a systemic welfare and ethical problem analogous to the male chick issue in egg production. Early separation of kids from does causes grief responses in both.