Undergrowth Ranch

Myotonic Meat/Fainting Goats

History and informaion on the Myotonic Goats:​

 

Around the early 1880s, a man named John Tinsley arrived in Marshall County, Tennesse, in the company of four goats and an animal he called his “sacred cow.” Exactly where he came from, no one knows. The goats piqued the interest of Dr. H. H. Mayberry and soon offered to buy the goats. Tinsley initially declined the doctor’s offer, but eventually sold them to Mayberry for $36.

About a year later, Tinsley and his sacred cow left the hills, never to be heard from again. 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

 

Derived from a variety of strains of goats that were originally from Tennessee the breed is a multi-purpose goat though conformation does vary somewhat more than is typical of imported, standardized breeds (dairy breeds, Angoras, Boers). However, the breed does have several distinctive features that set them apart from other goat breeds, and it is these features that help to define the Myotonic goat as a breed. Several old strains of Myotonic goats persisted in Tennessee, and goats of these lines can still be found. In addition, several lines developed in Texas since the 1950s, and some of these have a slightly different “look” by virtue of being selected in a different environment and for different goals. One must remember that the Texas goats ultimately originated in Tennessee and so both strains are indeed branches of the same breed. 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 actually faint. They are effected with a genetic disorder called myotonia congenita that, when the goats are startled or scared, causes skeletal muscles, especially in their 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.

Goats, dogs, cats, horses, mice, water buffalo and humans; all can be affected by myotonia congenita, the cell disorder that makes fainting goats “faint.”

Myotonia congenita is an inherited, neuromuscular disorder caused by mutations in the CLCN1 gene and characterized by the inability of muscles to relax after contraction. The CLCN1 gene provides the body with instructions for manufacturing a protein that is critical for the normal function of skeletal muscle cells. The flow of charged atoms (ions) into and out of muscle cells controls muscle contraction and relaxation.

Normally, protein produced according to instructions from the CLCN1 gene forms a channel that controls the flow of negatively charged chlorine ions into muscle cells. This channel stabilizes the cells’ electrical charge and this, in turn, prevents muscles from contracting abnormally. Mutations in the CLCN1 cells alter the structure of chlorine channels so that they can’t properly regulate ion flow; this disruption in chloride ion flow causes prolonged skeletal muscle contractions, the hallmark of myotonia congenita.

Myotonia congenita affects an estimated 1 in 100,000 people worldwide, although it’s more common in northern Scandinavia, where it occurs in approximately 1 in 10,000 people. Two forms affect humans: Thomsen disease and Becker disease. The most common form, Becker disease (named for Dr. Julius Becker, the Danish physician who described the disease, citing episodes experienced by his own family members), causes more pronounced muscle stiffness than Thomsen disease, particularly in males.

People with Thomsen disease inherit the condition in an autosomal dominant pattern; typically, affected persons have one parent with myotonia congenita. Although myotonia can affect any of the body’s skeletal muscles, it occurs most often in the legs. The good news is that while myotonic muscle stiffness can interfere with movement, the condition isn’t painful.

Researchers at the University of Minnesota are currently studying foals affected by equine myotonia congenita. The affliction manifests somewhat differently in horses, causing affected foals to develop a cramp within a muscle group that produces a noticeable bump with a dimple beneath it. Very young foals affected by this type of myotonia have well-developed musculature, but in time, their muscles waste and the foals develop a pot-bellied appearance.

Chow Chows, West Highland Whites, Great Danes, Staffordshire Bull Terriers and Labrador Retrievers all experience canine myotonia congenita,* but to date, DNA tests have been developed to pinpoint carriers in only two breeds: Miniature Schnauzers and Australian Cattle Dogs. The condition is being studied in cats, as well.

Source * Canine and Feline Genetic Musculoskeletal Diseases, Gert J. Breur

 

    There is a relatively newer strain of the breed and that is the minis.  The mini Myotonic goats retain the distinctive breed features, though in a more compact and shorter size. They too ultimately originated in Tennessee, just as the Texas strain, and so too are a branch of the same Myotonic breed. Miniature Myotonics are raised as pets. Traditional miniature fainting goats can stand as little as 17 inches tall measured at the shoulder and weigh no more than 50 pounds.

Miniature Silky Fainting Goats, with their lustrous, floor-length coats and eye-concealing bangs, are intended to resemble Silky Terrier dogs.

 

Renee Orr, who developed the breed at Sol-Orr Farm near Lignum, Va., tells how these wee goats came to be:

“In the early 1990s, fainting goat breeder Frank Baylis and I met Gingerwood, a registered Nigerian Dwarf buck who had a long coat and a head full of hair, including thick, curly bangs. He was adorable! Later, Frank bought Gingerwood and crossed him with some of his smaller fainters. Frank produced some small, long-coated fainting goats, but lost interest and sold the entire herd so he could concentrate on his traditional Tennessee fainters.

“Later, Frank bought a longhaired, polled fainting buck in Alabama and more long-coated fainters started showing up. I was already breeding Nigerian Dwarfs, so I began thinking about developing a new breed the size of my Nigerians, but with the distinctive look of longhaired fainters; I also thought Nigerians would add more color to the mix.

“In 1998, two long-coated fainting bucks named Bayshore’s Rogues Pierre and Bayshore’s Napoleon were born into Frank’s herd. I began breeding Pierre and Napoleon to Nigerian Dwarf does with long hair and that I knew had fainters in their background. They immediately produced long hair and some of the first-cross animals fainted.

“The look caught on and in 2005 the Miniature Silky Fainting Goat Association was born. Now we have 49 registered breeders and more than 700 registered goats. We hope your readers will join us!”

Myotonic breeders have developed sturdy, colorful fainting goats of every sort and size. As a result, there are Myotonic goats for every taste and purpose—probably even yours.

 

* Conducted of several sources off the internet including the Myotonic Goat Registry.