Dairy goat farming has grown significantly as consumer demand for goat milk and cheese rises, but welfare challenges including kid separation and dehorning are shared with dairy cattle systems.
Dairy goat welfare shares many of the challenges of dairy cattle systems but operates with less regulatory oversight in most countries. Kid separation causes measurable distress in both dam and offspring, with goats vocalising persistently for hours to days following separation. The goat grimace scale, developed in recent years, enables more objective pain assessment in routine procedures like disbudding. Goats kept in intensive indoor systems without outdoor access or environmental enrichment experience chronic boredom and restricted behavioural expression. Higher welfare goat dairy systems increasingly offer outdoor access, pain relief for all procedures, and later weaning ages - demonstrating that commercial production and improved welfare are compatible.