Taking note of the goat

Katy O'Grady-Pyne
Posted 6/14/18

Taking note of the goat

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Taking note of the goat

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If you drive in rural DeWitt, you may come across the unlikely sight of a man walking with his dog and a goat. Yes, you read that correctly…a goat.

About three years ago YMCA executive director Rennie Cluver talked to his wife about adding fainting goats to their farm. Rennie thought it would be a nice addition.

His wife, Stephanie, a doctor of chiropractic medicine with an office in Clinton, wasn’t initially keen on the idea. 

But Rennie started building a fence and when that was complete took their children, Brooks, now 12, and Lilah, now 10, to a goat farm in Maroa.

“I told them to each pick out a goat.” 

Amazingly, the two goats selected from opposite ends of the field were twin brothers. The family named them Bucky and BB.

According to the website, www.faintinggoat.webs.com, fainting goats do not actually faint, but instead are fully aware of what is happening when their muscles freeze and sometimes fall over in a rigid state. The condition has been identified as congenital myotonia. The breed was initially discovered in Tennessee in the 1880s.

Not long after bringing the goats home, Rennie noticed Bucky wasn’t eating well and appeared to be in pain. A trip to the University of Illinois veterinary clinic showed kidney stones, a condition to which male goats are predisposed. 

With treatment, Bucky got better, but only six months later he suffered a ruptured urethra and had to be put down. 

Thankfully, BB has thrived and seems to enjoy his human family. He can frequently be seen lying on the front porch, grazing in the field or walking down the road with Rennie and the family dog. 

“He won’t leave the yard without me,” said Rennie. 

He doesn’t faint often anymore now that he is accustomed to his surroundings, Rennie said, although he did freeze up recently when accidentally startled in the garage.

Rennie said BB wants to join the family in the house and has figured out how to get his head in the dog door, but his body doesn’t fit.

“He wants in the house,” said Rennie, who admitted if he could house train BB, it might be an option. Although, even though Rennie said Stephanie has warmed up to BB, she may not agree.

“I’d like to get a miniature donkey,” said Rennie with a grin, “but I haven’t talked to Stephanie yet.”