In today's breeding technologies, dairy goats and kids are subjected to many stressful situations. Particular stressful situation is the weaning period. This period covers situations such as a forced separation of kids from their mothers, the transition from suckling to milk replacer, the transition to voluminous food consumption, such as hay and grass, changing the environment and forming new groups. The described situations force animals to respond with mental and physical responses. Mental responses are related to the reduced ability to consume feed, and consequently, lower daily weight gain and weight loss in kids, reduced resistance and milk production in goats, whicth can lead to diseases. The purpose of this BSc thesis is to present and describe the natural behaviour of Alpine goats and kids, and the changes in behaviour that occur in stressful situations, such as weaning. Examples from research studies are described ehich present factors that help reduce weaning stress. In the thesis, different systems of rearing kids before weaning and different weaning technologies are described, mainly from the economical and animal welfare point of view. The thesis defines, the key challenges and problems in early weaning of Alpine goat kids, which are reflected in kid's daily growth and animal welfare.
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