Dairy goat production has intensified significantly in recent decades, raising welfare concerns for a species with strong needs for social interaction, exploration, and varied terrain.
Dairy goat welfare in intensive systems mirrors many of the challenges of intensive dairy cattle production, but with some species-specific dimensions. Goats are more physically agile and mentally active than cattle — their drive to climb, explore, and interact with their environment is stronger, making barren housing more frustrating for them. Indoor zero-grazing systems, while enabling high productivity and disease control, deny goats the range movement, terrain complexity, and browse access that their natural behaviour repertoire requires. Disbudding without anaesthesia — removing the horn buds of kids to prevent adult horn growth — is a painful procedure that welfare standards increasingly require to be performed with anaesthesia and analgesia. Kid separation causes visible distress in both dam and kid; systems that allow extended suckling or nurse cows trade short-term productivity for welfare improvement. Enrichment is achievable at low cost in goat housing — raised platforms, climbing structures, and browse provision extend natural behaviour time and reduce stereotypic behaviours significantly.