Dairy goats require careful welfare management at kidding, with kid-doe separation practices, disbudding and disease prevention all raising significant welfare considerations.
Dairy goat welfare receives less attention than dairy cattle welfare despite many parallel concerns. Kid-doe separation causes equivalent distress to calf-cow separation but receives less welfare advocacy. Disbudding without anaesthesia is a painful procedure - anaesthesia and analgesia protocols should be standard but are not universal. Goats are browser-grazers requiring dietary variety and enrichment that pure grazing systems do not provide. Their social complexity (strong individual hierarchies, distinct social bonds) means housing management significantly affects welfare. Welfare certification for dairy goats lags behind dairy cattle - the development of species-specific standards is needed to address these gaps.