Fainting Goats

You think you've had a tough day. Try being a fainting goat.


Goats hit ground whenever startled
By J. STEVEN DILLON STAFF WRITER (from The Courier - Findlay, Ohio - 8/30/03)

Nine-year-old Meeghan Kelly of rural Fostoria had more to worry about than the other contestants in the junior fair goat show Thursday. She had to keep Sugar, her goat, from fainting. No kidding.

Meeghan, a member of the Biglick Buckeyes 4-H Club, has three Tennessee fainting goats at the Hancock County Fair, and a fourth back at home. But her ordinary-looking goats aren't so ordinary. They have a genetic condition known as myotonia congenita, and will drop like flies if they are scared or startled -- hence the name.

"They fall rigor mortis stiff," Meeghan's dad, Chris, explained Friday. "Their tongues hang out, their legs stick up in the air and they look like they're dead." Fortunately, the "spell" lasts for only a short period of time and doesn't cause any lasting harm. "We've had a vet tell us it (fainting) is good for them because it causes them to stiffen, and then loosen their muscles," Chris said. "It's almost like an exercise for them."

Historically, fainting goats have a noble past, having served as "sacrificial lambs" for other barnyard animals. According to goat lore, shepherds would often mix a few fainting goats in with their more valuable sheep to protect the flocks from predators. When a wolf or coyote approached the herd, the frightened goats would faint -- unwittingly sacrificing themselves for the sheep, which would scamper away unharmed.

The Kellys discovered fainting goats while looking for a companion for their horse, Tymer, a Tennessee Walker, who had grown lonesome on the family farm after their dog died. Last year they bought Bailey, a male fainting goat, after locating him through the Internet in southern Indiana, and liked him so much (so did Tymer) that they acquired Sugar, a female, early this spring.

Sugar arrived pregnant, and a week later gave birth to twin female kids -- Blizzard and Snowball. It was soon decided that Meeghan would make Sugar her first 4-H animal project, and take her to the county fair. Luckily, Sugar didn't drop during Thursday's goat show, and Meeghan placed sixth out of 11 contestants -- good enough for a pink ribbon to go with the blue one she earned for best variety goat.

"I was pretty nervous," Meeghan said. "I was hoping Sugar wouldn't faint for the judge." On Friday, Meeghan, dressed as a cowgirl, and Sugar, wearing an Indian costume, were second in the "Best Dressed Goat Contest." This weekend the pair will compete in the goat milking and obstacle course competitions.

Needless to say, the fainting goats have been getting plenty of attention in the goat barn. "A lot of people have stopped and want to see them faint," Meeghan's mother, Jill, said. "It doesn't hurt them, but we don't want to overdo it. What we've been doing is showing them pictures we've taken of them after they faint."

Different things will cause the goats to faint. Snowball is the most prolific fainter, and routinely passes out at changes in her environment. "Sometimes she will go down five, six or seven times just coming out of the barn," Jill said. Blizzard is more susceptible to movement. She fainted once when a grasshopper flew by her. Sugar, meanwhile, freaks out when stepping on anything soft but has learned how to faint without falling to the ground -- which makes her more suitable for showing. "She'll stiffen up and freeze, but won't go down like the others," Jill said. "I guess that comes with age."

The Kellys, who plan to attend the National Fainting Goat Convention in Tennessee in October, hope to increase the size of their goat herd in the future. Fainting goats are said to have been introduced to that state in the 1880s by a migrant worker from Nova Scotia, and are still raised there, primarily for meat. "They are very popular in Tennessee," Jill said. "Breeders there actually make them faint on a regular basis to build up their muscle tone to improve the quality of the meat."

Fainters are growing in popularity elsewhere, too, largely due to their novelty. "The first time you see one of them drop, you're hooked," Jill said. "With us, one just wasn't enough. We had to have more."

And if that's not enough, you can catch all of the latest news about Fainting Goats - or join a worldwide brotherhood of fellow Fainting Goat Fanatics - at the website of the International Fainting Goat Association at www.faintinggoat.com.