Dairy goats are increasingly farmed intensively in the UK, requiring welfare standards that address their specific social, behavioural, and health needs.
Dairy goats in intensive systems can suffer from inadequate social management, barren environments, and health conditions including mastitis, CAE (caprine arthritis encephalitis), and respiratory disease. Goats are highly active exploratory animals that suffer from boredom in barren housing. Their social needs require stable group management. CAE infection causes progressive joint disease and mastitis in affected animals. Welfare-focused dairy goat production provides adequate space, enrichment, social stability, and health monitoring with prompt treatment.