Goat dairy production is growing globally, with welfare challenges relating to kid separation, disbudding, housing conditions, and the management of non-productive male kids.
Goat dairy welfare shares many challenges with cattle dairy — kid separation, painful disbudding, and the fate of male offspring — while differing in the specific physiological and social needs of goats. As a gregarious and intelligent species with strong preference for complex environments including climbing and exploration opportunities, goats in barren intensive housing are particularly welfare-compromised. Mandatory anaesthesia for disbudding, minimum social group sizes, enriched housing, and solutions for male kid welfare are the priority areas for regulatory and market-based reform.