Heatwaves are an extremely trying time for all kinds of life, animal and plant. It can interfere with daily activities, cause heat stress and illness, and at its worst, can cause death. The current heatwave over Texas has been breaking heat records and exacerbating the drought situation in most of…
Today’s post discusses mutton, often defined as a sheep that was slaughtered at least a few years of age or older. We had recently brought in two elderly ewes (aged 9 and 10 years old) to slaughter. We got standard cuts for one sheep and all-ground for the other. Previously…
This will be a pretty short update given the winding downs of the season. The sheep are off the field until spring now. The most prominent reason is the lack of rainfall. We’ve entered into a moderate drought and given La Nina, will likely remain so for a couple months…
October was a very busy month here at Amestris Mars Ranch, so we found it hard to set aside some time to make a monthly happenings post. So we’re making one now! The main reason was due to the birth of Aki and Rym, twin lambs were born! However do…
We have been busy the last couple weeks, we have had to bottle feed twin baby lambs. While it is our first time doing twins, we still wanted to put together resources to reference back in the future. Things are a lot easier to recall if they are already spelled…
The past month has been quite busy on the personal front, leaving the website postings a bit on the wayside. Hopefully things will calm down as autumn begins. But someone should tell the weather, because it has been in the upper 90s and even breaking 100s at times this past…
July was quite an interesting month for us, and with the mild temperatures, made for great garden progress. The field benefited as well, with many grasses starting to go to seed, while some cooler-season plants continued to flower into the month. The rains have tempered off though, and a La…
Why have Native Pasture? The primary reasons we chose to have native pasture was because irrigating and managing an “improved pasture” was an expense we did not have the ability to take on. While we do have access to a well, irrigation of a field is an ongoing expense, especially…
After rainy washed-out May, June was still rainy, but at least not as washed-out! The temperatures in Texas have been cooler or close to historical normals, making for quite happy plants and animals all around. Above, our resident Mississippi kite has been hanging out in the trees near the house,…
We recently had a baby lamb born to Nabi, her name is Ame. This is Nabi’s first lamb and she gave birth easily and with little need of aid. However, we still do a check-up routine for the first couple days. Lamb supplies should be assessed and topped up if…