We started raising Pygmy goats in 1989 then branched out adding Nubians. In 1998 we acquired our first Fainters and fell in love with these special little goats. The Pygmy goats went and the Fainter herd quickly grew from 4 to over 30. We offer both mini (18" tall) and medium (24" tall) Fainters, all colors, and blue eyed kids are available. By special request we also cross the Fainters and Nubians to get nice thick mini Nubians that give exceptionally rich milk.

What is a Fainting goat? Unique to North America they are also known as Wooden-legged, Stiff-legged, or Myotonic goats. There seems to be no history of them prior to the 1880's in Marshall County, Tennessee when a transient farm worker by the name of John Tinsley showed up and went to work for Dr. H.H. Mayberry. No one ever found out where he came from. He had with him four goats of a unique strain which Dr. Mayberry eventually purchased and that was the origin of the breed.

In 1995 they were still on the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy list as rare, but are steadily growing in popularity. Their defining genetic trait is a muscular abnormality which causes their muscles to lock up on them for a few seconds when they are scared or excited and can cause them to topple over. These contractions last about 10 to 15 seconds after which the goat gets up and runs away with a bit of stiffness still apparent at first then disappearing completely. These contractions also cause the goats to be very muscular in appearance. Originally bred for meat they have become more popular as pets since they are small, docile, and due to their myotonia they don't jump or climb fences.

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