Tennessee Meat Goat

The foundation breed is American and old. Goats of this type turned up in Marshall County, Tennessee in the 1880s, four of them by the usual account, and spread through the neighboring counties. Science caught up slowly: the condition was recognized in 1904, described as congenital myotonia in 1939, and traced to its gene in 1996.

Gasparotto bought Onion Creek Ranch in 1988 and began acquiring myotonic goats in January 1990, breeding the biggest, most heavily muscled fullbloods to unrelated fullbloods. The name is her trademark, and since 1999 the ranch has partnered with Pedigree International to track and register the line.

The foundation is the myotonic or fainting goat, which carries a genetic condition called myotonia congenita: when startled, the muscles stiffen and the animal may fall over. It does not lose consciousness and it is not painful. The same condition is why the breed is unusually well muscled.

Myotonic goats run 60 to 174 lb, bucks up to 200, at 17 to 25 inches, in any color or pattern, usually horned, with the prominent high-set eyes that earn the bug-eyed nickname. The Tennessee Meat Goat was selected from the big end of that range.

Quieter than other goat breeds and vigilant, by Wikipedia's account of the myotonic type.

The stiffening is startling to watch and routine to live with. It sits in the muscle fiber, does not affect heart or breathing, and varies animal to animal; the meatier ones display more of it.

Selection focused on turning the myotonic package into a commercial meat animal: larger frame, more muscle, and the tender meat the myotonic breeds are known for.

The logic is meat-to-bone. Repeated contraction and relaxation builds muscle, in Onion Creek's phrase, the way exercise builds it in a lifter.

Predator protection is not optional. A goat that stiffens when startled cannot flee a dog or a coyote, so plan for guardian animals or predator-proof fencing before the goats arrive.

The fence itself can be modest. The trait that stops them fleeing also stops them jumping, which is part of why Tennessee farmers kept the foundation stock in the first place.

Because this is a proprietary line rather than an open registry, ask what the breeding program is and where the stock traces. The trademark belongs to Onion Creek Ranch, and registration runs through Pedigree International on the ranch's terms: a well-muscled myotonic goat without that paper trail is a myotonic goat, not a Tennessee Meat Goat.

Price the predator plan into the purchase. The dog or the fence is part of the cost of this breed in a way it is not for a goat that can run.

Recent sale prices on HoofnHorn, where there are any, are further down this page.