# Do all goats faint?



## Sunny & the 5 egg layers (Jul 9, 2011)

Do all breeds of goats faint if they get scared?


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## carolinagirl (Jul 9, 2011)

no...only fainting goats (also called Myotonic Goats) do that.  It's a breed that has a genetic disorder called myotonia congenita.  They usually only do it when they are young.  Once they get older and don't get startled easy, they don't faint as much.


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## freemotion (Jul 9, 2011)

Hmm.....I banded some bucklings a week or so ago and imagine my shock when one, an Alpine cross, passed out cold! 

Not the same thing, I know, I just got a giggle from it.  Not then (cried!) but now that he's alright I can crack jokes!


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## Sunny & the 5 egg layers (Jul 10, 2011)

Thank you. I was watching some youtube videos of them fainting and it seemed really scary. I think I would cry too freemotion!  
Thanks again.


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## M.R. Lops (Jul 13, 2011)

No, just Fainting Goats.  We raise Boers and a few Mix breed Dairy Goats and have never had a goat faint.


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## FarmGuru (Aug 10, 2011)

Sunny & the 5 egg layers said:
			
		

> Do all breeds of goats faint if they get scared?


not at all


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## FrankieO (Aug 14, 2011)

Wow, you learn something new every day. I had never even heard of fainting goats before. I just had to go do a search on Wikipedia for "fainting goats" and found this: "A fainting goat is a breed of domestic goat whose muscles freeze for roughly 10 seconds when the goat is startled. Though painless, this generally results in the animal collapsing on its side. The characteristic is caused by a hereditary genetic disorder called myotonia congenita. When startled, younger goats will stiffen and fall over. Older goats learn to spread their legs or lean against something when startled, and often they continue to run about in an awkward, stiff-legged shuffle." Although it's considered a genetic disorder, apparently this is also considered an actual goat breed.


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