Goat dairy production is growing globally as a specialty and mainstream alternative to cow dairy, with distinct welfare challenges related to social needs, debudding, and housing requirements.
Goat dairy welfare mirrors many cow dairy welfare concerns but within a species with additional specific needs. Goats are cognitively active, curious, and socially bonded animals whose needs for environmental complexity and stable social groups are often unmet in intensive dairy systems. Debudding of kids — performing surgery to destroy horn bud tissue — without appropriate anesthesia causes acute pain comparable to any such procedure in other species. Kid separation causes distress to both doe and offspring. As goat dairy production grows globally, building welfare standards into this expanding industry early is more effective than attempting to reform entrenched practices later.