A survey of dairy goat kid-rearing practices on Canadian farms and their associations with self-reported farm performance.

Although future production of dairy goats is influenced by kid-rearing practices, little is known regarding which practices maximize kid growth, welfare, and future production success. The objectives of this survey study were to (1) identify common rearing practices of Canadian commercial dairy goat farms and evaluate their associations with 6 farm performance indicators and (2) determine if farms could be grouped by management style on the basis of the 6 performance indicators and compare rearing practices common across the different groups. A survey was sent by post or electronic media to reach dairy goat producers across Canada.

Graduate Student Literature Review: Current recommendations and scientific knowledge on dairy goat kid rearing practices in intensive production systems in Canada, the United States, and France.

Dairy goat kid rearing is the foundation of future milk production, yet little is known on this topic. References available to producers are limited, making it more difficult for dairy goat farms to reach their full production potential. This review paper aimed to identify the current recommendations on dairy goat kid rearing practices for intensive production systems and to assess whether the different recommendations were based on scientific literature.