Fainting Goats

[tnokie]

Did anyone catch th local Nashville news Sunday night about the story on fainting goats? They were laughing about how funny it was to scare them and watch them fall over! The breeder being interviewed was going on and on how funny it was. Am I the only one who felt sorry for the goats!I understand its a trait bred into them but its got to be a bad ,if not painful ,moment for the goat>

[Scrounger]

I used to have a faiter. The other goats learned how to "scare" her into stiffening up. I didn't much care for seeing it, but it's not harmful, or painful to the goat - unless it falls in a hole or ditch, etc..........

[Fireside]

Fainting is actually a disease that is similar to Epilepsy and is inhereited by the goat, so I see nothing amusing or funny about causing a seizure and then standing back laughing. I would never breed these poor animals.

[UncleD]

Fainting goats do not have a "disease". The fainting is a natural part of them.

So you would rather see them cease to exist? You would rather see them die out as to have to deal with watching them faint. Sorry, that statment angers me.

[Old Vet]

Fainting goats were bred to be sacrificed to a preaditor instead of some other more expencive animinal. Once you realise this it makes sence.

[Jim S.]

Old Vet, that's an old wives' tale. Mytotonic goats have a genetic deficit that interferes with calcium uptake in the muscle, causing them to stiffen and fall over. The genetic defect is a double-recessive, so it muct be present in both the egg and sperm. The breed began from one herd in Lewisburg, TN, right up the road a piece from me, all of which had the double-recessive gene. (Mytotonia is also seen in other species, including humans.)

You are right on one thing: the goats are a predator's delight. I had one, and she was first to be killed when the dogs got in the pasture. But her ease in dying did not keep the dogs from killing one-third of my entire herd, anyway.

Actually, mytotonic goats were bred because, back in the days before we had improved Boer and other meat goat genetics, a side-effect of mytotonia that produces meatier flanks and butts was economically important. Fainters are visibly chunkier than Spanish feral goats, which was all we had back then. But now, next to the Boer, they look puny.

Before she was killed, I named my farm after that one fainting goat, which was more pet than livestock. But I'll never have another one again. They don't work out in a farming enterprise. I still have her son, who is now about 13 years old. He is not double-recessive, carrying the gene only from his mother, so he does not faint.

[Goatsandsheep]

Myotonia is the condition (myotonia congeita) which causes these goats to appear to faint. When they become excited or startled they will stiffen and possibly fall over, appearing to faint. They remain stiff for about 10-15 seconds. The are fully aware of their surroundings and are in no pain. This is a condition which occurs in many species, including humans. (Myotonia in man is referred to as Thomsen's disease). The myotonia condition is strictly muscular, and does not involve the nerves nor the brain.

[MWG]

My mom has some fainting goats and I think they are funny. Sometimes though they can be a pain...

I was holding my daughters hand while she rode her pony bareback. The goat kept getting in front of the pony and finally he nipped the goat in the back. The goat fainted, I tripped over the goat forgetting to to let go and I pulled my daughter off the pony. Then the pony tripped over the goat. We were all laying the in pasture...

[ceresone]

When I was little(oh, so many years ago) mom and dad had a white goat, with wattles, and droopy ears-I;m sure goat people know the breed. She once has 6 babies, at once, and if they were startked, their legs would splay out, and they would fall. We thought it was their being so many, and smaller than normal. mind you, this was back in the early 40's.

[hoggfan]

Originally Posted by Fireside

Fainting is actually a disease that is similar to Epilepsy and is inhereited by the goat, so I see nothing amusing or funny about causing a seizure and then standing back laughing. I would never breed these poor animals.

UMMM, OK

[Cloverbud]

Originally Posted by Goatsandsheep

The are fully aware of their surroundings and are in no pain.

We-ell, I respectfully submit that myotonia congenita is a painful condition. Imagine flexing your bicep continuously for an hour. You're going to get a cramp. Now, you have stopped conciously flexing your muscle, but your muscle stays tight because it is chemically unable to relax. Ouch! Animals can be very stoic, and many times never display overt signs of pain. DH and DD have myotonia conjenita, and have almost constant pain.

Originally Posted by Jim S.

a side-effect of mytotonia that produces meatier flanks and butts was economically important.

This happens in humans, too. Along with very muscular arms and legs. Not so attractive on my daughter.

Getting down now!

[mothershipfarm]

Everyone lighten up! SMILE life is too short!

[Jim S.]

Uh, we already did that at Halloween, and Thanksgiving, and Christmas and New Year... all the holidays that have passed since this thread was active! :1pig:

[YounGrey]

Here is a video of the fainting goats!

http://homesteadingtv.blogspot.com/2...ing-goats.html

[EasyDay]

We have a fainting doe and a wether.
No, it isn't a disease. In fact they've been traced back to one guy who brought them from some other country to Tennessee. No, there isn't any adverse effect on the goat unless they get hurt when they fall.

The wether, when he was a young buckling, would run, jump on the equipment in the goatio playground... so cute. Then one day, when he was about 3 months old he fell off the mini-goat house (about 2'), then froze up. He was so confused about what happened. It slowed him down a bit... he was much more careful about jumping/spinning when up on something.

Neither the doe or wether freeze up very often anymore. The older they get, and the more comfortable they are in their surroundings, the less they faint. If anything, their legs may go a little stiff.

It sure made it easy to catch the youngsters. I'd clap my hands and their little legs would stop moving, so I could walk right up on them. Very rarely did ours ever tip over. (Well, Sammy's first touch on electric fence tipped him over with stiff legs straight up in the air. I just petted him for a few seconds, and that was that.)

They are often bred with boer, because fainters are also great meat goats. The farmers purposely scare them occasionally to build muscle (meat).