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Reference buck:
E4474 We R Gloating Gio WRG
Dob: 2-18-20
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Reference buck:
We got our polled Myotonic buck, Ferdinand, from Snickelfritz Farms in Colorado City.
Reference buck:
We got our polled Myotonic buck, Ferdinand, from Snickelfritz Farms in Colorado City.
WRG Patience WRG "Patti"
dob: 3-10-19
About Myotonic goats (It's all about preserving the breed)
Around the early 1880s, a farm laborer named John Tinsley arrived in Marshall County, Tenn., in the company of four goats and an animal he called his “sacred cow.”
Before long, Tinsley’s goats were the talk of the hills because they stiffened and sometimes fell over when startled. They piqued the interest of Dr. H. H. Mayberry so much that he offered to buy the goats. Tinsley initially declined the doctor’s offer, but eventually sold them to Mayberry for $36. The buck and three does he left behind with Dr. Mayberry were the first known “fainting goats” in Tennessee. Mayberry raised kids from his fainting goats and sold them to farmers throughout Tennessee and Kentucky.
Gradually they spread throughout the Southern states, where they became known as Tennessee Fainting Goats, Nervous Goats, Stiff-leg Goats, Scare Goats and a dozen or so additional, colorful names. During the 1930s and 1940s, they made their way to Texas, where they evolved as bigger, meatier goats. Over time, their numbers dwindled until, in 1988, they were added to the American Livestock Breed Conservancy’s Conservation Priority List and officially declared an endangered breed. There they remain, although an ever-increasing number of hobby farmers and goat admirers are embracing this unusual, all-American breed.
Fainting Goats Don’t Faint
While many Myotonic goat breeders refer to their animals as “fainting goats,” Myotonic goats don’t actually faint. They’re affected by a genetic disorder called myotonia congenita that, when the goats are startled or scared, causes skeletal muscles, especially in their massive hindquarters, to contract, hold and then slowly release. Episodes are painless and the goats remain awake (they often continue chewing food they have in their mouths) until the stiffness passes. According to Myotonic Goat Description, 2005, by D. Phillip Sponenberg, DVM, Ph.D., and Barbara Roberts, accepted degrees of stiffness in registered Myotonic goats include:
Before long, Tinsley’s goats were the talk of the hills because they stiffened and sometimes fell over when startled. They piqued the interest of Dr. H. H. Mayberry so much that he offered to buy the goats. Tinsley initially declined the doctor’s offer, but eventually sold them to Mayberry for $36. The buck and three does he left behind with Dr. Mayberry were the first known “fainting goats” in Tennessee. Mayberry raised kids from his fainting goats and sold them to farmers throughout Tennessee and Kentucky.
Gradually they spread throughout the Southern states, where they became known as Tennessee Fainting Goats, Nervous Goats, Stiff-leg Goats, Scare Goats and a dozen or so additional, colorful names. During the 1930s and 1940s, they made their way to Texas, where they evolved as bigger, meatier goats. Over time, their numbers dwindled until, in 1988, they were added to the American Livestock Breed Conservancy’s Conservation Priority List and officially declared an endangered breed. There they remain, although an ever-increasing number of hobby farmers and goat admirers are embracing this unusual, all-American breed.
Fainting Goats Don’t Faint
While many Myotonic goat breeders refer to their animals as “fainting goats,” Myotonic goats don’t actually faint. They’re affected by a genetic disorder called myotonia congenita that, when the goats are startled or scared, causes skeletal muscles, especially in their massive hindquarters, to contract, hold and then slowly release. Episodes are painless and the goats remain awake (they often continue chewing food they have in their mouths) until the stiffness passes. According to Myotonic Goat Description, 2005, by D. Phillip Sponenberg, DVM, Ph.D., and Barbara Roberts, accepted degrees of stiffness in registered Myotonic goats include:
- Level 1 Never observed to stiffen, but other type traits are consistent, as is pedigree.
- Level 2 Very rarely stiffens, never falls.
- Level 3 Stiffens only occasionally and rarely falls.
- Level 4 Walks normally with no swivel. The rear limbs lock up readily, the forelimbs less so, and goats with this degree of stiffness rarely fall to the ground.
- Level 5 Animal walks relatively normally, although somewhat stiff in the rear and with a swivel at the hip. Rarely stiffens when startled or stepping over a barrier.
- Level 6 Animal always moves stiffly to some degree and readily becomes “locked up” when startled or stepping over a low barrier.
- Levels 4 and 5 are typical. Level 1 Myotonics are called “limber goats” or “limber legs”; they’re atypical and rarely used in responsible breeding
More Myotonic Goat Characteristics - Myotonic goats are stocky, muscular and wide in proportion to their height. They range in size from 50 to 175 pounds and more; the strains developed in Texas are typically taller, heavier goats.
- Myotonics’ medium-sized ears are carried horizontally, they have prominent eye sockets and their facial profiles are usually concave.
- Most are horned; horn styles vary greatly from large and twisted to simple, swept-back horns.
- The average Myotonic goat is shorthaired, but some have longer, thicker coats; the coat should be straight, not wavy.
- The most common color is black and white, but Myotonics come in all colors, patterns and markings.
- They’re easy keepers, adaptable and they tend to be parasite-resistant.
- Most breed year-round, and twin and triplet births are the norm.