Dairy goat welfare requires attention to the specific social, behavioral and health needs of these highly social, intelligent animals in commercial milk production systems.
Dairy goat welfare shares many features with dairy cattle welfare — kid separation, production-related health problems, and the challenge of meeting behavioral needs in commercial production settings. Goats are highly social, intelligent animals that suffer from social isolation and benefit from environmental complexity. Dehorning practices without pain relief cause significant avoidable pain. Mastitis causes chronic pain and requires proactive management. The scale of global dairy goat production, particularly in developing countries where welfare standards are minimal, means that systematic welfare improvement requires both technical solutions and policy development appropriate to diverse production contexts.