Sometimes animal behavior surprises you. The myotonic goat, which faints, temporarily seizes when feeling panic. This goat is also known as a wooden-leg goat, falling goat, fainting goat, stiff-legged goat, and nervous goat. Humans get faint when they feel panic attacks, strong emotional stress, or any disease.
The interesting thing about the myotonic goat is that when they fell over, their legs hilariously rose towards the sky. The comical behavior makes Myotonic Goat popular among people, and they often record the video of Myotonic Goat for social media platforms. The goats abruptly lay motionless on the ground for 5 to 20 seconds, and then bounced back on their feet as quickly as they fell.
This curious reaction to fright has made fainting goats not lose consciousness. They just become stiff from fright and a genetic condition called myotonia congenita, which causes their muscles to become rigid for a brief period when startled. The stiff-legged goat behavior is similar to the hereditary genetic disorder in humans, which is identified as congenital myotonia.
Therefore, once the stiffness goes away, they bounce back quickly on their feet. That is why this goat has given many names mentioned above. The medical conditions of muscle “myotonia” didn’t hurt them or are painless to the central nervous system. This curious behavior is not exclusive to falling goats or livestock, but human beings can be affected by it too.
A transient farmer, John Tinsley, arrived in Marshall County, Tennessee, in the 1880s with four goats. He sold these four goats to his employer, Dr. H. H. Mayberry, and then moved on to another state. Dr. Mayberry breeds the goats, but they certainly must have originated somewhere. It is unclear, where he came from or from where he brought these unique goats. However, the origin of the breed remains a mystery because the condition doesn’t appear to have surfaced anywhere else in the world.
The Fainting Goats in Tennessee eventually became famous in the local market and meat source in the 1950s. The strictly muscular goats are docile and very much easier to care for and maintain. Fainting Goats of Tennessee are also raised as pet or show animals as they can be sociable, gifted, easy to fence, and entertaining. The goats are poor at climbing and jumping, so it is not difficult to keep them.
The interesting thing about the myotonic goat is that when they fell over, their legs hilariously rose towards the sky.
In the 1980s, a trend in United States agriculture was to breed exotic species of animals including myotonic goats. So, this increased trend will eventually make it important for everyone to have registries to track their breeding. Moreover, most of the Myotonic goats are horned, but some are polled “hornless.”.
Most myotonic goats are horned, although many are polled (hornless), and some breeders select specifically for polled goats, the ears are medium-sized and habitually held horizontally. The nervous goats have variable colors, but black and white are relatively common. However, the hair coat is changing from very short to long but smooth and shaggy.
So, some breeders prefer shaggy goats, as they are very resistant to inclement weather. The meat of fainting Goats is tender and tasty due to its high meat quality. Also, it is very imperative to realize that stiffness in no way results in rough meat, but rather just the opposite. The Myotonic Goats’ reproductive function is highly maternal, normally reproducing non-seasonally at six-month intervals.
Moreover, fecundity and milk production are very good. Normally, twins are not common. However, in rare cases, the triplet is possible, as it usually has no problem rearing triplets unassisted. The nervous goats are good foragers, active, and are efficient with winter feed.
