Goats are increasingly farmed in the UK for milk, meat, and fibre. Their welfare needs - social structure, browsing opportunity, and hoof management - differ from sheep and cattle.
Goat welfare is often underestimated because goats appear hardy and adaptable. In reality, they are highly sensitive to wet conditions - housing management matters more for goats than sheep. Goats in inadequate housing develop respiratory disease and hoof problems. Their browser nature means pasture-only systems leave a fundamental foraging need unmet. The rapid growth of the UK dairy goat sector has outpaced welfare knowledge in some operations. Hoof trimming - essential quarterly for most goat breeds - is frequently neglected, causing chronic lameness. Good goat welfare requires species-specific knowledge that general livestock training does not always provide.