Rusty Bucket Ranch - RBR | Tennessee Fainting "Myotonic" Goats in Maryland

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Spring kidding is over.

Check back soon...fall/winter kids are on their way!!!

Kids 4 sale !!!

Welcome to my place

Rusty Bucket Ranch is a small hobby farm located in Aberdeen Maryland (north east of Baltimore).

In 2005 I decided to start a farm adventure with Tennessee fainting goats. I am so very glad I did. Its truly been a great adventure !! There isnt a day that goes by that I dont smile. These goats have brought such joy to my life. I hope to share that joy with others by breeding the best goats possible.

Here at Rusty Bucket Ranch-RBR I have a variety of fainters from blue eyes & lots of colors (INCLUDING BLUES my favorite) to polled & long hair. Most of my goats are mini. Some as small as 17 inches with a few being 23-24 inches. My goaties come from many different states including AR, TN, OK, KS, OH, MD & VA. I have chosen a lot of great & non related bloodlines to add conformation & colors as well as great tempermeant to my growing herd.

Currently I have 6 bucks and 20 does. I'm also a proud member of the Myotonic Goat Registry (M.G.R.).

We are constantly growing so check back with us often.

Check the sale barn to see who's available.

08 Kidding season will begin in FEB and end in DEC.

Check the news and updates page for interesting and fun info.

Have you seen the whos bred to who page? The girls have made their choices .

The story of these wonderful goats

Fainting goats are known by many names such as Nervous, Stiff Leg, Wooden Leg, Tennessee Scare Goats and myotonics.

Fainting goats are easy to raise, they are easy kidders and excellent mothers. They are easy to contain as their Myotonia prevents them from being able to jump fences.

Myotonia is the condition that causes Fainting goats to stiffen and/or fall over when startled or excited. This condition is caused by a combination of recessive genes. Fainting goats can show varying degrees of myotonia. When startled some will fall to the ground with their entire bodies perfectly stiff and rigid. Others will only stiffen in their limbs and not fall to the ground. The condition lasts for ten to fifteen seconds after which time the animal will rise and walk off stiff, still showing a noticeable degree of stiffness in their back limbs. After a short time this stiffness will disappear and they will walk and act like any other goat. In a myotonic state the animal is fully conscious and aware of its surroundings.

fainting goats have an unusual history. Sometime during the 1870's a farm worker named John Tinsley showed up in Marshall County, Tennessee at the farm of Dr. Mayberry. No one knows where he came from. Tinsly brought with him three or four does and a buck. Tinsley suddenly left one day after selling the animals to Dr. Mayberry. This is the best documentation we have of the origin of the breed.