Tennessee Fainting Goats (also known as Myotonic goats), make wonderful pets; the goats are super friendly, affectionate and docile by nature!
I breed the smaller fainters, they are much easier to handle when giving shots, deworming and trimming hooves. The bucks are easy to handle as well, and I've never had a problem with any of my bucks being mean to humans or the does. But you should always respect a breeding male animal.
Myotonic goats go by several different names: Tennessee Fainting Goats (a incorrect since they don't lose consciousness and therefore don't "faint"), Texas or Tennessee Meat Goats (like the name indicates they are a much larger variety mainly used for meat), Wooden-Leg Goats or Nervous Goats. They have a muscle condition called myotonia congenital, a medical term used to describe stiffening. This inherited trait leads to an overall increase in muscle mass so that the goats are very muscular when compared to other breeds of similar size. Hence why they are sometimes used for cabrito. Myotonia occurs in the muscle fiber, not as a function of the central nervous system and causes no problem for the goats. In fact, some goats will continue to chew or eat while they are in "faint". Myotonic goats are slow to mature and don't reach their full size and weight until 3 years of age.
