Industrial Animal Agriculture &
Farmed Animals’ Welfare
Goats
Domestic goats are domesticated from the wild goats of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. They are one of the earliest domesticated animals, believed to have been domesticated around 10,000 years ago. Goats have been raised by humans not only for their meat, but also for their milk and skins.
Goats are intelligent, sociable animals. They are well-known for their curious, inquisitive nature, and tend to be eager to explore and investigate anything new that they come across. They become emotionally attached to other goats that they live with, and can become distressed if separated from them. Studies suggest that goats can perceive emotions in other goats, and that a goat can tell how another goat is feeling by their vocalisations.
Goats are known to be picky eaters who seek out the best food available, and they do not like to eat food that is dirty, for example hay that has been trodden on or that has been around for a long time. Goats are browsers (not grazers), preferring to reach up to feed on leaves and fruits on the branches of trees and bushes, sometimes by standing on their hind legs, rather than eating food off the ground.
Goats can have a lifespan of 15-18 years, sometimes even longer.
You can read more about goats and their empathy for others here.
Goats appear to form extremely strong emotional bonds with other goats.
Credit: Jo-Anne McArthur, We Animals Media.
Goats as a food source
Goat meat is eaten in many parts of the world, with the majority of the world’s domestic goats farmed in Africa, China, India, and Pakistan. Goats can thrive on low-quality pasture land, eating vegetation that other grazing animals won’t eat, and therefore goat herds can be an important asset in regions with sparse and low quality vegetation. Traditionally, goats have typically been raised on small farms with access to grazing. In some parts of the world, goats have historically been raised in herds through nomadic herding. However, in today’s world, many goats are now raised in indoor intensive farming systems.
As grazing animals, goats have traditionally been allowed to graze outdoors. However, on some modern farms they may spend some or all of their time indoors. At this goat meat farm in Taiwan, thousands of animals are kept inside long barns in raised, crowded pens.
Credit: Jo-Anne McArthur, We Animals Media.