Short video segment about myotonic (fainting) goats featuring breeder Lisa Johnson. Introduces general goat domestication statistic, explains the myotonia congenita condition (temporary muscle stiffening when startled), and notes breeder affection for the animals.
Goats, the earliest known domesticated farm animal. Today there are more than 400 million of them worldwide. Then there's this little guy. He doesn't get the attention of, say, the more fashionable angora goat. He's a fainting goat, and he's got a different talent. Lisa Johnson breeds goats in Florida.
These goats are called myotonic goats. Many people call them fainting goats. Wooden leg goats, stick stiff leg goats, nervous goats, the Tennessee goats, Tennessee meat goats. So they just have all kinds of nicknames for them. They carry the hereditary gene for myotonia congenita. What happens is that when the goat is startled or excited, it causes a very temporary stiffening of the muscles. And when the muscles relax after a few seconds, the goat jumps up and runs on its way.
They don't call them feigning goats for nothing.
It can even be something as simple as being excited over being fed the adult animals. Typically, they keep their balance better, and what they will end up doing is pretty much bracing on four legs.
While it might seem easy to make fun of the fainting goat, there are scores of breeders who love them just the way they are.