Goat

The influence of environmental conditions and husbandry practices on goat welfare

Goat (Capra hircus) welfare is an important issue in any farming system. The aim of the study was a comprehensive analysis of the impact of environmental factors and farming practices on the welfare of goats, with particular attention to physical,...

Year Published: 2026Topics: Body Modification/Mutilation, Environmental Enrichment, Human-Animal Interaction, Husbandry & Management, Rearing & Weaning, Social Housing & Companionship, Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Goat

Citation: Pilarczyk, R., Bąkowska, M., Tomza-Marciniak, A. et al. 2026. The influence of environmental conditions and husbandry practices on goat welfare. Animals 16(5).

Care and welfare of animals in a high containment unit

The Pirbright Institute is a world-leading centre of excellence in the research and surveillance of viral diseases of livestock and viruses that spread from animals to humans. In this field some animal models cannot be replaced and due to the...

Year Published: 2025Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Cattle, Goat, Pig, Sheep

Citation: Carder, L. 2025. Care and welfare of animals in a high containment unit. Animal Technology and Welfare 24(3), 248–250.

Welfare assessment on pasture: A review on animal-based measures for ruminants

Outdoor and extensive farming systems allow animals to behave in a natural way and are often perceived as welfare friendly. Nonetheless, the natural environment poses multiple challenges to the welfare of animals, sometimes hampering their capacity to cope. Welfare assessment...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Cattle, Goat, Sheep

Citation: Spigarelli, C., Zuliani, A., Battini, M. et al. 2020. Welfare assessment on pasture: A review on animal-based measures for ruminants. Animals 10(4), 609.

The power of a positive human–animal relationship for animal welfare

Domestic animals often seek and enjoy interacting with humans. Positive human–animal relationships can elicit positive emotions and other positive welfare outcomes. Nevertheless, our understanding of the underlying processes that govern the positive perception of humans by animals is incomplete. We...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Human-Animal InteractionAnimal Type: All/General, Bird, Cat, Cattle, Chicken, Dog, Goat, Parrot, Pig, Rat, Rodent, Sheep

Citation: Rault, J.-L., Waiblinger, S., Boivin, X. et al. 2020. The power of a positive human–animal relationship for animal welfare. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 7, 590867.

Effect of different milk-removal strategies at weaning on feed intake and behavior of goat kids

Weaning from milk is stressful. We aimed to investigate the effect of three weaning strategies on feed intake and behavior of dairy goat kids. Forty-five, 3-month-old Saanen cross goats were allocated to one of three treatments: abrupt removal of milk...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Husbandry & Management, Rearing & WeaningAnimal Type: Goat

Citation: Zobel, G., Freeman, H., Watson, T. et al. 2020. Effect of different milk-removal strategies at weaning on feed intake and behavior of goat kids. Journal of Veterinary Behavior 35, 62-68.

Investigation of reward quality-related behaviour as a tool to assess emotions

Animals are likely to appraise events as positive or negative based on their subjective perception, current state and past experiences. We tested the effects of anticipating positive (food anticipation), negative (inaccessible food) and neutral (clicker sound) events on behavioural and...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Goat

Citation: Baciadonna, L., Briefer, E. F., McElligott, A. G. 2020. Investigation of reward quality-related behaviour as a tool to assess emotions. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 225, 104968.

How dietary diversity enhances hedonic and eudaimonic well-being in grazing ruminants

Ruminants evolved in diverse landscapes of which they utilized, by choice, a diverse arrangement of plants (grasses, forbs, and trees) for food. These plants provide them with both primary (carbohydrates, protein, etc.) and secondary (phenolics, terpenes, etc.) compounds (PPC and...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Cattle, Goat, Other Animal, Sheep

Citation: Beck, M. R., Gregorini, P. 2020. How dietary diversity enhances hedonic and eudaimonic well-being in grazing ruminants. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 7, 191.

Long-term socialization with humans affects human-directed behavior in goats

Throughout their evolutionary history, humans have tried to domesticate a variety of wild terrestrial mammals, resulting in a limited number that has been successfully domesticated. Among these domesticated species, domestic goats (Capra aegagrus hircus) are a useful model species to...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Human-Animal InteractionAnimal Type: Goat

Citation: Mastellone, V., Scandurra, A., D’Aniello, B. et al. 2020. Long-term socialization with humans affects human-directed behavior in goats. Animals 10(4), 578.

Effect of transport stress on apoptosis and autophagy in goat lung cells

Introduction Road transportation exposes goats to thermal, mechanical, and microbial stressors that can compromise their welfare by triggering pulmonary apoptosis and autophagy processes associated with tissue damage and immunosuppression. Methods To explore potential biomarkers for transport-related welfare assessment, this study...

Year Published: 2025Topics: Relocation & TransportAnimal Type: Goat

Citation: Zhuo, Y., Hu, Y., Jin, Y. et al. 2025. Effect of transport stress on apoptosis and autophagy in goat lung cells. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 12.

Voluntary additional welfare monitoring of farm animals used in research: Maximising benefits requires sustained support

The aim of this project was to co-create an animal welfare monitoring system that incorporated both positive and negative welfare measures that would contribute to best practice husbandry standards of farm animals in a real animal research setting. Researchers worked...

Year Published: 2025Topics: Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Cattle, Goat, Pig, Sheep

Citation: Mullan, S., Stokes, J., Hale, H. E. et al. 2025. Voluntary additional welfare monitoring of farm animals used in research: Maximising benefits requires sustained support. Animals 15(19), 2817.