Growth of our Land by Ranching & Silvopasture Practices
Cows
We have 2 Dexter cows, 2 Dexter heifers, 1 Dexter Cross Cow, and 1 Dexter Cross Heifer.
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Our heifers Dixie and Penelope Lane will become cows soon enough...Dixie has a bit more to wait, but we are hoping Penny will be delivering soon! Lucy Lou is due any time now with her 2nd calf. And Miss Music (ADCA Registered), Dixie and Penny's mama, should be due in the spring!
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Our Dexter Cross Cow (1/2 Dexter, 1/4 Low Line, 1/4 Hereford) is Miss Betty Rock. Miss Betty was born in 2019 on the ranch down the road. We received Miss Betty from a young 4-H participant who put all whole lot of time and energy into training her. Training has made her a dream to work with! Miss Betty was bred to Mr. Charlie and they produced the sweetest little heifer Shania Twain! Miss Betty seems to be on a fall rotation, so we shall see what happens this fall!
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We had a rough calving season in 2024, with only 1 of 4 potential calves making it! 2 of them looked to be a bit beaten up - so we removed the horses & ponies from the birthing area, and 1 we have no idea what happened - or if Miss Betty even took for breeding before transport to summer pasture. We are hoping 2024 treats us better!
Pictured below: Miss Betty Rock (White Face) and Miss Lucy Lou
Bulls
We currently have 1 dexter bull. Mr. Charlie Brown is our red, horned, ADCA registered bull out of Blarney Ranch in Trego, MT. He is the sweetest bull who loves his chin scratches and nose rub.
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Steers: We have one Steer, George Straight, that is on his 2nd year of growth. He is scheduled for butcher in 2025.
For Sale
At this time we do not have any cattle for sale.
Dexter cattle are an amazing 1st-time cattle owner breed! Smart and gentle, this breed would be amazing for 4-H/FFA show projects. The breed is smaller by nature, and may have trouble in a large cattle beef class - so check your 4-H/FFA/Fair Requirements. The meat is a deep red color that is marbled just right - often sought out by gourmet restaurants and often preferred over Wagyu beef. Our Dexter beef is fed primarily grass and forage from the ranch. We have used some grain or treats to do a bit of training in some cases (like when Mr. Charlie thought it would be a good idea to roam around the valley eating the nice green lawn grass at our neighbor's house). However, the grain usage is kept to a minimum (a training treat) to preserve the quality of our beef - and also the health of our cattle. We have learned that these cattle love apples - so when we have apples, that is the choice treat!
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Pictured below: Mr. Charlie
Get to Know
Our Livestock
*All our herds are closed herds at this time*
Pigs
We currently have 1 breeding pair of pure American Guinea Hogs, 1 American Guinea Hog Boar and 1 American Guinea Hog Cross. Miss Patty Piggy is our AGH Cross. We made the decision to keep her a part of our breeding stock based on temperament and quite honestly, her siblings were delicious. She is the sweetest pig and loves her belly scratched - if she had it her way, her belly would be scratched all day long...
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Our 2 boars and 1 sow of pure AGH breeding stock share the same great personality as Miss Piggy. We have one male that is about 2 -years old, Kermit the Hog, and another that is just a tad younger, Ernie. They both have quite the personalities and love their scratches and pets. Ernie is a tad shy compared to Kermit, but as sweet as can be. Both boars are still together, as they love cuddling in the sleep pile and keep each other warm. One of our females is Anabelle Sox. She has a little white spot in the shape of a heart on her nose, and white socks on her feet. She is quite the feisty girl, yet still as sweet as can be and loves to be pet. Poor Anabelle Sox didn't make it through the winter of 2022 - leaving us with one pure AGH sow named Rosie.
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We will have 9-month old piglets available for sale April 2024, which will grow to a good size for butcher in the fall, or later. Butchered now is ~30 lbs hang weight, butchered in fall is ~70-90 lbs hang weight! $150/pig. Fun breed to have for the summer, overwinters well if you aren't ready to butcher. Hogs not sold will be butchered in the fall. Price increases to $225/hog in July.
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Pictured below: Miss Anabelle Sox
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Sheep
We currently do not have any American Blackbelly Sheep. A registered breeding pair will eventually return to the ranch as, regardless, of age or gender, these sheep taste amazing! In addition to tasting fantastic, the sheep did a fantastic job mowing the front lawn, were social with the horses, cattle, and pigs, and have helped grow some pasture out in the far fields.
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We do not have any Sheep for sale at this time.
Turkeys
We currently have a blue Slate Tom, named Roman, and a Black Slate Hen and Red Bourbon Hen that we are hoping, fingers crossed, will hatch out some little ones this year.
Chickens
We have a great variety of chickens - most of which are heritage dual purpose birds. We occasionally will purchase cornish hens - fast growing, but delicious, meat birds - for processing and sale. We have also purchased Color Yield breed chickens which grow a lot of meat, but do not suffer from some of the rapid growth issues Cornish Cross chickens do.
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Our chickens are great egg layers - most of the time. We have barred rocks, wyandottes, leghorns, orpingtons, and easter eggers just to name a few. Our chickens help in the garden and orchard when they are needed. The chicken coops are quite large and designed to try and keep the hawks out. When we are able, we let the chickens roam outside of the coop - but those hawks are just relentless. Braeden's winter project is to make some chicken tractors for spring.
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We have 4 regular egg customers, which is keeping us at a perfect egg level. However, when we do have extra eggs, mainly in late spring into the summer, we will have them for sale at our Mobile Market.
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We are working on perfecting our poultry processing and packaging capabilities for sale to the public. Depending on the time of year, the processed birds might be meat birds (such as cornish cross) or heritage meat birds (such as orpingtons, brahma, wyandotte, and New Hampshire reds)