4-Footers Homestead4-Footers Homestead
International Fainting Goat Association
Myotonic
goat registry
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The goats on the 4-Footers Homestead are free range. They wander around the fields and woods of our Vermont home. You can see Raven at the back just keeping an eye on them. |
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Goat walk |
At the 4-Footers Homestead we treat our "kids" with love and attention. All of our goats are socialized with kids, adults and dogs.
We have sold our kids to 4-H students and to homes as pets. We will only
sell to responsible people who will love and enjoy these goats as much as we do.
If you are interested in joining our extended family please email Maria.
We have a few new members of the family. Shoey and Peechy are our new herd sires. I have introduced them into the herd to bring in new genetic material. They are adorable and very friendly. I am excited about introducing blue eyes to my line of girls too. Both boys are cashmere and I look forward to producing friendly fuzzy little ones.
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Shoey is on the left and Peechy is on the right. |
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Shoey with Raven in the field |
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The new guy... Stitch (the Mule) |
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This is Mbuzi. He is a wonderful little man growing up fast around the girls. He is the father of the little ones expected in August of this year. He is solid black except for a little white on his ears. He has brown cashmere in the winter. He has been sold to bring life to another farm. :) |
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Troy at 18 months old our foundation Sire. |
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These are some pictures of the Girls and Troy after the big storm that dumped 40 inches of snow in 24 hours. Yes 40 inches!!! Mom got a back hoe in to move the snow so we could hang out without swimming in it. |
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| Troy and the girls | Olive hanging out after the "big" storm | |
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| Aren't they the cutest. This is Troy snuggling Ethal. | Ethal love's to get scratched under the chin. | Mom I want in!!! Troy trying to get in the basement. |
The Babies are starting to arrive; 2008.....
Uma Darling and 4-Footes Mbuzi had little
ones recently. Born July 10, 2008
They are adorable and full of vigor.
4-Footers Cayenne Pepper (buckling) and 4-Footers Sage (doe) with mom
2008
Polly had three little ones on June 8 in the early am.
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| Blackberry (buckling) and Raspberry (doe) | Phoenix (buckling) with the "berries" in the back | Blackberry asking for bug spray. :) |
4-Footers Phoenix
Sire: 4-Footers Beech and Dam: WFF Polly
4-Footers Blackberry and Raspberry
Sire: 4-Footers Tupelo and Dam: WFF Polly
in winter cashmere
One Week Old
Creme with Mom
Ethal and Creme and Sky Blue on the Stump
My Parents socializing the girls
Here is Ethal with 4-Footers Skye Blue and 4-Footers Soft Serve
(Creme) both does
born on May 18th
Sire: 4-Footers Beech Dam: Wonder Fall Farm Ethal
Sire:
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Polly is a class 4 Fainter |
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| This is cottonwood with mom | This is sycamore, he likes to be scratched on his chin |
Spring Pictures
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| This is Beech growing up | Here are the summer kids hanging out on the driveway with the fall colors behind them. | |
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Eden, Oliver and Oakey hanging out in the afternoon. |
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| 4-Footers Skye Blue (2 days old) doe Sold | 4-Footers Soft Serve (Creme) (2 days old) doe Sold |
STIFFNESS – The stiffness of these goats relates to their myotonia congenita, which is an essential portion of the breed type. The various levels of stiffness are arbitrary, but a general guide is useful for breeders.
1. Never observed to stiffen, but other
type traits are consistent as is pedigree.
2. Very rarely stiffens, never falls.
3. Stiffens only occasionally, and
rarely falls.
4. Walks normally with no swivel. The
rear limbs lock up readily, the forelimbs less so, and goats with this degree of
stiffness rarely fall to the ground.
5. Animal walks relatively normally,
although somewhat stiff in rear and with a swivel at the hip. Readily stiffens
when startled or stepping over a barrier.
6. Animal always moves stiffly to some
degree, and readily becomes “locked up” when startled or stepping over a low
barrier.
Myotonic goats are also called Wooden Leg goats, "stiff leg" or Tennessee fainting goats. These are one of the few goats that are indigenous to the U.S. There are two strains of this animal. Most of those found in Tennessee and the eastern U.S. are smaller. Most Texas herds tend to be somewhat larger, probably due to selective breeding for the meat market. In fact, some ranchers have renamed them Tennessee Meat Goats.
They also have a market as pets because they are unique. Myotonic means when they are frightened or excited they "lock up" and often fall over (faint) and lie very stiff for a few seconds. It is an over-simplification, but the chemicals which are rushed to humans' muscles and joints to prepare them for "fight or flight" are withheld in the Myotonic under exciting or frightful circumstances.
No one really knows their origin. There are two theories. One of the possibilities is that a private herd sold to a Tennessee farmer around 1880 was the beginning of the breed. A man named John Tinsley arrived in Marshall County, Tennessee, with four goats, a billy and three nannies, which he had brought from Nova Scotia. When he moved on a year later, he left his goats behind. It is believed that all the Fainting goats in the U.S. can trace their orgins back to these four.
The other is that there was a spontaneous mutation of a herd in Tennessee
about 1885 which resulted in the recessive gene.
Myotonic goats which have been selected for meat production are heavy rumped,
deep chested animals. Most are black and white but multi colors are not
uncommon. They breed aseasonally, are easy kidders and have good milk
production. Many breeders have noted the breed has the capability to produce two
kiddings a year. They are good mothers so in most cases a bonding pen is not
needed. Since they are not good climbers and jumpers they are somewhat easier to
keep than other goats.
The American Livestock Breed Conservancy has placed this breed of goat on their "rare" list, with an estimated world population of under 10,000. They have now been discovered as excellent crossbreed stock for the Boer goat, a meat goat which was imported from South Africa. The "fainting" gene is recessive, therefore it is usually not expressed in crossbred animals.
