Gaining

The steers are really gaining weight

and boy, do they look good!

Most of them are really friendly.

Some of them even enjoy a good back or face scratching.

We are thankful for a full pond again.

This means we won't have to run water to them through the winter.

The pigs are getting really big too.

They keep us entertained with mud wallowing and running in circles.

All of the sides of pork have been reserved

but we still have 8 sides of beef left.

Contact us if you are interested!

Sheep on the Farm

Our registered Jacob Sheep have arrived on the farm.  Jacob Sheep are thought to be the spotted sheep that Jacob bred back in the Old Testament.  Cool, huh?  They look interesting with with their black and white fleece and multiple horns.  Jacobs can have up to 5 horns but ours are either 2 horned or 4 horned.  They are very tame, all of them eating out of our hand except one.

These eight sheep are our breeding sheep and all are bred except one.  Ziggy will be held over till next year before she lambs because she was too young.

Ziggy

And speaking of lambs, our first ones are due to arrive the first week of February. We are hoping for several sets of twins.  Locker lamb will be available in the future, once we establish our flock.

All sides of pork have been reserved but there is still plenty of beef!
Thanks to all our customers!

Taking orders

Hurry!  Don't miss out.  We are now taking reservations for sides of beef and pork.

See the "Beef" & "Pork" pages above for details.

Need information on freezer size, beef cuts, etc?  Click on the "steer with the states" in the sidebar.

email rockin3jranch@gmail.com if you have questions or to reserve.

Banker in the Blue House

You know from the introduction that our grandfather helped get us started by purchasing our first calves for us.  What you might not know is that we live on a farm with our grandparents.  Our house is red and theirs is blue. 

You also might not know that our parent's are behind us 100% in this venture but not financially.  All the work on the leased property and all the cost of the animals and feed is paid for by us, not them.  We are thankful, however to have a backer. 

Recently we realized that feed costs would exceed our savings before winter was over.  We were going to need help.  Jake went next door to discuss the situation with Papaw.  He said, "I didn't know I was going into the cattle business."  To which Jake replied, "You're not. You're going into the banking business!"  He laughed and said he could help get us through.  We were relieved to hear it.

We are blessed to have a banker next door in the blue house.

What's in the Feed?

We believe that God intended cattle to live on grass.  After all, they are ruminants, grazers, grass eaters.  Because of this, our calves are pasture raised.  That means that they will be free to roam their pasture grazing on grass or eating hay until the day they go to the butcher.  This is not common practice in today's industrialized meat market.  Cattle usually are sold to feed lots at 700 to 800 pounds. For the last 180 days of their life, they stand on piles of manure eating grain filled with antibiotics and steroids.  Filling them with these antibiotics is the only way they can keep them alive in the feed lots and steroids bulk them up for more profits.  But do we really want to eat that in our meat?  Desiring something better, we have chosen a different destiny for our animals.

Our calves are raised on grass

and quality bermuda hay.

Along with that, they receive a little grain.

This keeps them coming in twice a day for us to make sure they are all healthy.

It also adds just the right amount of marbling in their meat.

The grain does not have medications in it. 

A local feed mill has helped us develop a plan for feeding them.  The percentage of corn will increase as we go along but the basic ingredients will stay the same.

And their feed won't exceed 2% of their body weight which keeps them in prime condition.

 So, what's in the feed?

Corn

Alfalfa

Molasses

Soybean Meal

Calcium

Cotton Seed Hulls

&

Grass ~ lots of grass.

The piglets arrive

6 crossbreed pigs

all brothers

5 weeks old

They are pretty little

& pretty cute!



J2 shows one piglet where the water is.

They will have to grow a bit before they can eat out of the big feeder and drink out of the new waterer.

They will grow though.

Boy, will they grow.

Jonah just loves pigs.

We're glad someone on this farm does

because we all love pork!