Dairy goats are farmed on a much smaller scale than dairy cattle but face comparable welfare challenges around kid separation, disbudding, and housing that deserve greater attention.
Dairy goat welfare receives far less research and regulatory attention than dairy cattle welfare despite comparable welfare challenges. Disbudding without adequate pain management causes acute and post-procedure pain that is poorly managed in most commercial goat operations. Kid separation causes the same acute distress in goat does and kids as in cattle, with vocalisation and searching behaviour persisting for days. The small scale of most goat dairies, while sometimes associated with better husbandry, does not guarantee good welfare and may mean less formal welfare training and monitoring than larger operations. Consumer interest in goat dairy products as an alternative to cow dairy should be accompanied by awareness of the welfare standards in goat production.