I am considering getting one of these little guys, but I need to know all there is to know about them.
Can anyone shed some light? 
I have done some internet searches, but I’d really like to hear from actual people who own horses, and also have one or two of these guys around.
Thanks in advance!
First and foremost, what are you looking to do with them?
Breeding goats properly is not for the faint of heart. Keeping dry does or wethers (neutered males) is relatively much much more simple.
The most basic of basics:
Goats need:
Five Star Top of the Line Fencing (The exception here is actually Myotonics which I will touch on later)
Dry, Draft Free Shelter
Clean Water
Forage/Hay
Loose Minerals
Toys
You need:
A milkstand
Hoof trimmers
A really good sense of humor
When it comes to Myotonics (also called “Fainting” goats, Fainters, Tennessee Wooden Leg goats, etc) they are actually far easier to fence. They tend to be far less adventurous and are at a disadvantage due to their medical condition.
The condition is myotonia congenita. They do not actually faint or lose consciousness. Their muscles tense up in an instant of surprise or excitement, as is normal, but in animals with this condition, the muscles remain tensed and relax much slower. When they are young, they often lock up and fall over far more often, but as they grow, they will gain more control and will not become as immobile.
This condition has created both a fabulous meat animal and the literal “scape” goat. When the coyotes chase your livestock, and the fainting goat can’t keep up, the rest of your stock is safe at least? Thankfully they are rarely used for this anymore, as far as I am aware.
What’s more, Myotonics come in a few different types, the most notable being the “Silky” goat, which appears like a large long haired terrier dog and is absolutely darling, though I’d never have the time to care for such a fine coat.
I won’t debate about the “ethical” aspects of Myotonics and breeding for this condition. Though I have my own misgivings about the breed as a whole, I can say from my personal research that the animals I have been able to study appear to have no physical or physiological trauma from this condition.
When it comes to goats with horses, a lot will depend on both the goats and the horses. Most folks will tell you goats eat horse hair and I will tell you that bored unhealthy goats eat horse hair. I have pastured multiple horses with multiple generations of goats and never lost a mane or tail.
They do however do their best to get into trouble in some fashion or another.
If you have any specific questions, my farm page: www.facebook.com/knsfarm
I’d be really curious if there are any studies on stuff like the goat’s heart rate or other indicators of pain/stress while he’s immobilized? Myotonia congenita in humans is associated with chronic pain. Anyone who’s had a muscle lock up in just a regular cramp can relate to how painful that is. HYPP is certainly painful for horses. It’s just hard to believe that the goats entire body can be in a lengthy cramp without that being at least uncomfortable.
Yes there has been at Texas ATM but unfortunately I no longer have the copies of those studies - I had to pay for them and they were in my home when it burned down.
Goats are very sensitive to pain as a whole (though excellent at hiding illness) and if it was painful, it would be obvious - not just to the eye, but during those studies. This form of myotonia congenita does not cause any cramping or pain - the length of tension is between 5-12 seconds generally.
I reiterate that my stance on continuing to breed in this condition is not entirely on stable ground and I am not debating for or against it as a whole, simply sharing information and research I have obtained in my line of work.
We have three fainting goats (females) that we have strictly as pets. We don’t keep them with the horses as I would hate for one of them to get stepped on during a myotonic spell. They have their own paddock, a couple of goat-sized run-in shelters, a teeter-totter, and a few other things for climbing and playing. We feed them hay during the non-grazing months and they graze the rest of the time. We have salt and minerals out for them. They are wonderful pets, smart, affectionate and simply fun to have around. We affectionately refer to our trio of fainting goats as “The Girls,” and they are also knows as The World’s Cutest Fainting Goats. We adore The Girls.
Thanks so much for you response Epona, and everyone else! This guy would strictly be a pet, and the lone goat. My husband wants a goat to eat the weeds and left over hay from the horses, and I found this little guy, and he’s very cute, but I want to make sure I know what I’m getting into before I bring him home. He would have his own stall, but I don’t have separate pasture space. I might could make some if its necessary. I’m not the type of person to get an animal because it’s cute in its infancy, only to want it gone 6 months later. They’re with me for life, so I just want to be informed!
Thank you so much!
If the plan is to graze the goat with the horses, is your field fenced for goats? If not, don’t count on your goat staying in the pasture. He may well decide that your garden is a better place to apply his landscaping skills.
I have 5 foot no climb fencing. I would need to secure one of my gates, most likely.
A single goat is a big no-no.
Yes it can work in some rare cases, but as a professional in the goat industry, I absolutely will refuse a sale to a single-goat home.
A lonely goat is a bored goat and a bored goat gets into trouble - or gets depressed.
And goats are not going to clean up wasted hay - they are phenomenal hay wasters. I let my pony into their pasture to clean up the hay THEY waste.
Also if he is horned (as he will likely be, being a meat breed) you’re inviting a whole new host of troubles. Horns may work in a herd pasture situation where the goats are not handled often, but except in the cases of fiber goats (who absolutely need their horns) horns do not belong on pet or dairy goats that are handled often.
The reasons are numerous, but horns are dangerous to the goat, to you, to your horse.
Thank you for all of this information, Epona!! These are things I was looking to find out, and didn’t know. I’m glad to be learning!! Perhaps an endeavor into goat-dom is not in my cards at the present time. Best to find out prior to acquisition, than after! Thank you so much!!
That’s what I am here for! I’d much rather be “harsh” about all the possibilities of heartbreak (because when it comes to goats, the list of ways they can accomplish this is miles long) before someone gets goats then gloss over and less than a year later they have dead goats or injuries or - well you know.
The majority of people keep goats for three years or less. The reasons for this are just as immense - I mean it when I say goats are not for folks unwilling to dedicate to their proper care, and not outdated information (that is still being republished in books, much to my dispair.)
I’m in the process of getting a few goats to help with clearing a chunk of land, and because I just like them.
I have 2 here currently after having a herd of 15 or so rent-a-goats for a couple of months this summer, and this is what I’m learning:
-A large goat can fit through a ridiculously small hole! My bigger girl is a Boer, sturdily built and at least knee height on me. I watched her crawl through a hole my not-huge Labrador wouldn’t try - the hoop-type leg on a round pen panel!
-The two are doing well together, but I can tell they were happier and more confident when there were at least 3 or 4 (I’m getting more but looking for just the right match - probably bottle fed so very friendly and hopefully properly dis-budded)
They are PICKY eaters! Don’t let the old “goats will eat anything” wives tale fool you, they’ll eat a lot of things horses won’t, but they by no means are 4 legged vacuums. If I bite a piece off a carrot to give them it gets thoroughly inspected and more often than not rejected unless I give it a good rinse. I dumped nice clean hay sweepings over the fence to them and they wouldn’t touch it. They did, on the other hand, like some of the leafy “trash” in the hay (blackberry leaves mostly, I think) so there’s that. And they did a fine job on the underbrush in the lot I’m clearing, and the honeysuckle taking over the fence in their yard.
These two have horns and they are nice emergency handles (though they hate having them grabbed), but otherwise are a giant PITA, sometimes literally. One of the two is really friendly and pretty pushy, and she’ll walk right beside me accidentally jabbing me in the thigh as she turns her head. It also makes bending over them a hazardous proposition - I’ve had my glasses snatched off my face once already.
(Epona - Is it possible to just blunt the horns a little without causing pain? I know de-horning an adult is major and painful and I wouldn’t consider it, but I’ve been tempted to take a few licks with rasp to the tips!)
Anyway, they are fun and funny critters and I get a huge kick out of them, but they are still a good bit of work to keep
(ETA - On the myotonic thing - I just can’t. I had few offers of free fainting goats, but I had to say no. I know they say that the goats don’t seem to mind and that they don’t always fall and stiffen, but all I can think about is how terrifying it must be for a prey animal to not be able to get up and run. I can’t support breeding that trait deliberately.)
[QUOTE=saje;8452585]
Epona - Is it possible to just blunt the horns a little without causing pain? I know de-horning an adult is major and painful and I wouldn’t consider it, but I’ve been tempted to take a few licks with rasp to the tips![/QUOTE]
Yes, the final inch or so is safe to trim off or rasp down. If you go too far, it will be just like quicking a horse’s hoof or a dog’s nail. The goat won’t die any, just be really ticked off with a little bleeding. I mean, unless you take off a huge chunk obviously, but then that’s more dehorning than blunting lol.
Thanks! Of course the one who gets me isn’t actually mine so there’s not much I can do, but it might help in handling my big girl.
I breed Nigerian Dwarfs (like Epona) but this summer when we had a terrible fire in our area, I took in a big pile of Fire refugee fosters. Among them were three goats, which I was told were Nigerians, and when they arrived singed and traumatized at 1:00 in the morning it was hard to tell exactly what they were.
The next morning I determined (a) they clearly weren’t Nigerians, (b) they needed vet care, and © there was something seriously wrong with them, lol. I’m embarrassed to say it took quite a while for me to figure out they were Fainters-after a frantic call for a vet because they were “having seizures”. It made doctoring their wounds easy, lol, as they’d just lay there, but I always felt bad about it, lol.
Momma Goat is th fluffy/silky kind described above and she is so soft and plush. You want to curl up with her, her daughters Elvis and Andy (named before their genders were clear) are more regular coated. They’re sweet, but not as fun as my Nigies. Their owner is a lovely lady who lost everything, and had 7 goats before the fire, as well as chickens, dogs, and cats. These three, plus one goat fighting for its life at Davis, is all she has left. So heartbreaking. She’s hoping to collect them after the first of the year.
I second epona’s comment about solo goats being bad news, and that is not want these guys with their condition at the mercy of any other animal–a curious horse could accidentally cause a lot of damage.
I wouldn’t do a solo goat either. Our girls are very social and dependent on each other. Also, our goats are the pickiest eaters EVER. They aren’t going to clean up weeds or eat wasted hay. I’ve never seen a grazing animal waste hay the way our goats waste it. The most premium hay you can imagine winds up maybe 1/3 eaten, the rest trampled and pooped on. They are even picky about what grass they will eat. They are total princesses when it comes to food and picky eating.
Yup. One thing that always amuses me is if I drop something, it immediately becomes inedible.
They evolved this way both to prevent parasite ingestion (one reason they prefer to reach up instead of down) and to avoid unfamiliar, and possibly poisonous, plants.
I wish you would not purchase a fainting goat. 
If they are giving it away then take it but don’t give money for a genetic flaw that has become a curious novelty.
A friend of mine had one. A wandering dog got in her properly fenced pen and boom, the fainting goat stressed, fainted and was killed. Her full size goat survived the attack.
We had Saanen goats which are the large white dairy goats. I agree with the posters offering get goats in pairs because they really don’t thrive in a solo role.
The goats needs an annual shot, Covexin 8, to protect against disease. Our does were disbudded so they were turned out with the horses when we weren’t milking them. We even trained a whether to pull a cart and that was fun!!
I love goats because like horses, they all have their own personality and they make a great addition to a farm. I prefer full size goats but pygmy’s sure are cute. I just.have.a.real.problem with the fainting goats.
I have decided not to get a goat at this time. Thank you all so much for your advice and sharing your experience, and helping me learn more about these fascinating guys! Perhaps one day down the road, I can get a couple regular goats. I think they’re cool and I think I would enjoy them. I was only interested in this particular myotonic goat because he needed a home and was a cutie. I don’t understand why anyone would WANT that trait in an animal, especially a prey animal. It’s really very sad.
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