Beautiful Oil Painting

My goat Jessica now has a wonderful portrait done in oil.

Artist Lilli Pell contacted me about doing a painting based on a photo of one of my goats. She picked this great one of Jessica.

The painting is complete and available on her website.

http://lillipell.com/workszoom/1765653

Red Angora Goats in the Red/Black/Brown Pool

Red Angora Goats:

Red Angora Goats are common in the Red/Black/Brown pool of genetics. They can range from faded red, where they are born light red and fade to white as their mohair grows in, to deep, dark reds. They tend to fade some from their birth color, this tendency can vary. The color can be different shades of red on the animal. These goats can have any of the white spotting patterns over their primary red color. Occasionally a red goat may have black spots.

The Red/Black/Brown pool is also known as the "dominant" pool because the genes in this pool can mask the expression of color that would otherwise happen because of genes in the black/pattern pool. The genes for this color are located on the Extension locus.

Breeding a goat to another goat with genetics from the red/brown/black pool should produce any of the three colors. Be sure to know the pedigree of a black goat to make sure they have r/b/b pool genetics.

Cinnamon Rolls Farm Style

These cinnamon rolls are so wonderful!

Making cinnamon rolls requires a time commitment (about 3 hours from start to finish for this recipe.) But they are straight forward to make using a step by step process. They are a fun way and delicious way to get into making yeast breads. This recipe is adapted from a recipe in the book, Baking Bread by Beth Hensperger. I adjusted the recipe to make my perfect cinnamon roll. I like to have the nuts ground to a coarse meal consistency, providing for a consistent texture for the filling. I use a food processor to grind the nuts. If you prefer more crunch, using chopped nuts also works in this recipe. I also love the way cream cheese frosting completes these cinnamon rolls.

I use eggs from my free-range chickens. Their yolks are a deeper yellow than store bought eggs and give a yellow tint to the dough.

Cinnamon Rolls - Farm Style

Dough:

4 large farm fresh eggs

1 ½ cups warm water  (105 to 110f)

¼ cup sugar or honey

2 Tbsp (or 2 packets) active dry yeast

7 ½ to 8 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1 Tbsp ground cinnamon

1 1/4 cups (2 1/2 sticks) butter at room temp cut into pieces

Filling:

1 3/4 cups brown sugar

1 1/2 cups ground pecans or walnuts

1/3 cup ground cinnamon

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, melted

Frosting:

1 8oz package cream cheese at room temp (I like Cabot brand)
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter at room temp

2 1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla
1 to 2 Tbsp water

11.  In a medium bowl, beat eggs until light and foamy. Stir in the warm water and honey or sugar. Add yeast and stir  until it dissolves. Set aside until foamy, about 15 minutes.

22.     In a large bowl, mix 7 ½ cups of flour, salt and cinnamon. Cut in the butter until a coarse meal is formed. A mixer with the paddle attachment works well for this. Add the egg mixture. Mix or stir until the soft dough just clears the sides of the bowl.

33.     Place the dough onto a work surface and knead about 3 minutes until smooth and springy. Add small amounts of flour as needed to prevent sticking. Cover and let rest 10 minutes to allow the gluten to relax.

44.     Filling: In a medium bowl, combine brown sugar, ground nuts, and cinnamon. Melt butter in a second bowl or pot.

55.     Divide the dough in half. Roll one half into a large rectangle, ½ inch thick. Brush the surface with one half of the melted butter. Spread one half of the filling evenly over the rectangle. Roll up from the long side like a jelly roll. Pinch seams to seal. Slice into 1 inch pieces. Repeat with second half. Place at least 2 inches apart on greased or parchment lined baking sheets. Cover loosely with towels or plastic wrap. Let rise at room temp until doubled in size, about 1 hour.  Pre-heat oven to 350f.

66.     Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, slightly underdone is better than overdone.

77.     Frosting: while the rolls are baking, in a medium bowl, cream together cream cheese, butter, and sugar. Add vanilla and 1 to 2 Tbsp water. Beat until light and fluffy. This should be like soft buttercream icing.

88.     Remove rolls from oven and using a metal knife or spatula, frost after 5 minutes. Let cool completely on pans. Enjoy fresh or freeze individually for later.

Red, Black, Brown Pool in Colored Angora Goats Genetics

Silver R/B/B pool goat (with frosted ears and nose)

Red Black Brown Pool:

The Red/Black/Brown Pool (R/B/B) gets is color from genes located on the Extension locus. This color locus is more dominant than the Black/pattern pool agouti locus. Goats in this pool are typically a shade of red, black or brown as the name describes. The black often fades to gray. These goats are usually a solid color, but may have some variation of the shade of that color in their fleece. They do not have the predictable patterns present in the black/pattern pool. White spotting patterns do occur in these goats (in the black/pattern pool as well), but that is controlled by a different set of genes.

A goat having the right genes on the Extension locus will express that color, even it is has color genes on the Agouti locus that would have given it a black/pattern pool color. There are 3 genes for color on the Extension locus. Black is the most dominant, if 1 black is present, with red or wild as the second gene, black will be expressed. Red needs 2 red genes to be expressed. Wild does not express color, but opens up the opportunity for color genes at agouti locus to be expressed. This is the reason the R/B/B pool is also known as the dominant pool. The goat does need to get the right Extension genes from both parents to show color, so these genes are not dominant in the usual genetic sense where 1 dominant gene expresses the trait.

Reading through the pedigree is the easiest way to see which pool (or the potential for both pools) the goat will likely produce color with. For the R/B/B pool, look for these colors in the pedigree. A predominance of these colors increases the likelihood that the goat will produce color when bred to another goat in this pool.

Reds, blacks and brown goats can produce any of the 3 colors. Genetically, brown in the red/black/brown pool is actually a shade of red. 

Brown goats in the Red/black/brown pool can be differentiated from brown goats that get their color from the Brown locus by checking for black fibers. The Brown locus changes normally black color in a goat to a shade of brown, so no black will be present on a goat. R/B/B pool browns will typically have black hairs somewhere on their body. These hairs can be found in the fleece on some goats, but are easiest to see on the tail, legs and face. Presence of black hair shows that the goat is in the red/black/brown pool, because black can not be present on a brown locus goat. However, the inability to find black hairs does not prove that the goat's brown color is from the brown locus. At this time, brown angora goats are most likely a shade of red. The best way to eventually prove that a goat gets brown color from the brown locus would be to have a reverse badger where the black areas are instead a shade of brown. (brown or tan at the normally light white area does not qualify.) Toggenburg dairy goats are a good example of brown locus brown goats. 

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Hot Chocolate Mix Farm Style

Hot Chocolate Mix:

I love hot chocolate, especially mixed with coffee, for a home made mocha. I wanted a mix that was free from the additives in most commercial mixes and did a recipe search online. I started with a recipe from Alton Brown. It was overly sweet, so I did some tweaking and came up with my personal Farm Style recipe.

This is a grown up hot chocolate. It has a rich, complex flavor and is just sweet enough without being overpowering. I recommend trying different types of powdered milk til you find your favorite. I personally like buttermilk powder the best, it provides a slightly acidic flavor that complements the cocoa nicely.

Ingredients:

3 cups Powdered Buttermilk (Whole or fat-free powdered milk may be substituted)
1 1/2 cups Cocoa Powder
1 cup Turbinado Sugar
2 tsp Corn Starch
1/2 tsp Salt (may omit)
1/4 tsp Cayenne Powder

Mix all ingredients together until completed combined. Store in an airtight container.

Place 3 or 4 Tablespoons into a mug. Pour in hot milk, hot water or coffee. Mix well and enjoy!

Powdered milk options include non-fat or fat free, whole milk, and buttermilk. Non fat comes in instant (which dissolves quicker) and regular, it has a longer shelf life because it doesn't contain fat. Whole milk makes a more filling cup. I really like the flavor that powdered buttermilk adds to the mix.

Turbinado sugar is widely available under the brand name "sugar in the raw." It is a less processed sugar and still contains the molasses that is removed in refined sugar, providing a more complex flavor. The crystals are larger and may take a bit more stirring to fully dissolve. Regular or powdered sugar may be used instead.

Tan Solid in the Black/Pattern Pool - Agouti

Tan Solid:

There are agouti genes that will produce tan solids, solids are also called "no pattern." Colors range from cream to tan to light reds. This is considered a more dominant color in the black/pattern pool genetically in articles by Phil Sponenberg.

These goats usually fade to a white or "not quite white." This provides an additional means for producing a white goat. Because it is genetically more dominant than the patterns, it is one of the reasons many cross pool kids are white.

It is important to know specifics of the pedigree on these animals before making breeding decisions to make sure they are in the black/pattern pool. The majority of brown and red angora goats, especially those that retain their color, get their color from the Red/Black/Brown pool Extension locus.

I bred a my badger doe to my gray and white pinto buck and got this tan and white pinto buckling pictured below. His twin is a badger doeling. 

Peacock Pattern in Colored Angora Goats

Peacock:

This pattern is referred to as peacock because of the light front end and dark backend of the goats. It is a pretty pattern, and produces a fleece with colors similar to the badger pattern, but with a higher percent of gray/black color than a badger.

Peacock differs from Badger in that from the loin back, there is a large amount of gray/black present. The neck, chest, and front half of the barrel are white, cream or tan.  There are black or gray stripes on the face and the lower legs are black. The black/gray from the rear abdomen extends up the barrel and the gray from the topline extends downward in varying degrees on individuals. Some are almost solid black/gray on the rear end while others have a tan area  in the middle. The back leg from hock to stifle is usually cream/tan.

These goats are in the black/pattern pool genetically, with the genes that produce color located on the Agouti locus. They should produce color and pattern when bred to a goat in this pool.

This pattern is called Cou Clair (tan or cream) or Cou Blanc (white) in alpines.