Dairy goat farming is expanding globally, raising welfare questions about housing, kid management, and the specific needs of this often-overlooked farmed species.
Dairy goats are frequently overlooked in animal welfare debates focused on cattle and pigs, but they face significant welfare challenges in intensive systems. Their natural agility and climbing behaviour cannot be expressed in bare, flat housing. Kid removal and management practices cause distress to both doe and kid. Respiratory disease in poorly ventilated barns causes significant suffering. Well-designed welfare standards for dairy goats, appropriate to the species' specific needs, are needed and should be actively supported.