Busy Start of the 2022 Summer Schedule

Hot weather has hit Texas early this summer with temperatures well over 102 degrees almost daily.  The bulls and cows found all the available shade and the ponds provided ample water during this very hot spell.

During all this hot weather we had five calves born. As soon as they were old enough two claves along with their mommas were shipped to Colorado.  The remaining calves have formed such a bond, and its fun to watch them run, chase and play with each other.  

In early June we did our annual pasture rotation.  We moved our “girls” to the bigger pasture and moved the “boys” to the smaller pasture.  We also moved our selected bulls and heifers to another separate smaller pastures for breeding.  We love moving the cattle.  All the cattle were so eager to move to new pastures.  They all seem happy with their new homes. .

Breeding season has started.  We have taken a couple of acres to breed some of our available heifers with our amazing bulls  We are so excited to be able to use new genetics for our next generation of calves.  Breeding is such an exciting extension to growing our business.  It takes a lot of time, research, and finding the right data to increase the size, marbling and other characteristic that we are enhancing to increase the quality of our breeding stock. 

Wagyu World Jan/Feb 2022 Issue

We’re so excited to be featured in the January/February Issue of Wagyu World!

Read more about us here:
https://issuu.com/edje/docs/wwjanuaryfebruary2022tosundance-compressed/18

Working from Home

If you are lucky enough to work from home, you are truly blessed.  Living and working on a ranch is absolutely the best job I have ever had. However, working on a ranch is entirely different.  The positive rewards is seeing and working with your animals every day.  Yes, the cattle are our inventory but they are also our duty to make sure they are healthy, well fed and part of our lives.  If this sounds like we have a different approach to ranching you are RIGHT, we do.  We personally take care of our animals at a different level.  We see, touch and observe each animal every day, no days off, it’s a 24/7 work week.  Our first thought in the morning is about the animals and last thought at night.

So maybe I should also share what I mean by our animals.  First we have four cutting horses in varying ages.  Feeding the horses is Mary’s job.  Looking after the water and making sure they are exercised is Steve’s job.  We have had horses over 20 years now.  Cannot imagine not seeing the horses multiple times a day.  What a great job we have working with the horses.

Our next set of animals is our donkeys.  We have three donkeys that all were rescues.  The donkeys are a major part of our herd.  Our Jennies are with the heifers.  The sweetest animals ever.  Fluffy and Baby Ruth are such good protectors for the heifers.  They patrol our land with eagle’s eyes, and we have the comfort of knowing everyone is safe.  Every morning our donkeys come up for their special food to start their day. Our bull donkey is Mr. Cotton. Mr. Cotton is very shy and likes to hang with our bull, Moose.  So when we go into the bull pasture we can see Mr. Cotton off to the side waiting for us to leave so he can hang again with Moose.

What would a ranch be without dogs?  This has been a tough year for us.    Our sweet sweet Rosie passed.  It was a sudden passing and boy it was hard on all of us.  Jake who is the lead dog, took it the hardest.  It’s been a month now and all of us are almost getting back to normal without Rosie but it’s not easy to get over such a sweet dog.  Jake is the best dog ever   He is on top of all the activities of the ranch.  All our dogs have been rescues and boy were we lucky with all of them.  Our dogs give us such love and companionships that we were the lucky ones.

Sharing our next group is so much fun, our cats.  We started with three cats, we have two of our original cats and since we have acquired over 10 new cats to our property. These new cats just come to our ranch and make themselves at home. Once we figure out there is a cat that needs to be fed, we trap the cat, go to the Vet, get shots, fixed and come back to the ranch to live out their lives.  Today we have six cats with another two living in the hay barn.  We do have the best cats each with their own personality. 

Finally, the best is our cattle.  Every morning we get to see how they are doing.  We get to notice how big they are getting.  How sweet and gentler they are becoming.  The birth of new cows is a sight to behold.  Boy are we blessed  seeing the cycle of life is so special and sacred.  I thank God everyday for putting us in charge of the entire animal crew here at Black Dog ranch.  There are lots and lots of work that goes into our cattle.  Making sure we have the best genetics around.  Making sure our cattle are sweet and gentle for our clients.  Creating an environment for all our animals that are safe, healthy and stress free so that all our animals live a great life.  Seeing, petting, feeding and observing our cattle is the best part of the morning. So for us working from home is the best experience that we have been given.  We have been blessed. 

 Steve and Mary Erichsen

Summer has arrived!

Summer has arrived!  We have been so fortunate that the Texas heat has not arrived yet.  So we have been enjoying the cooler than normal temperatures. 

Every morning when we go to feed the cattle our newest baby along with momma come to the fence together for their morning feeding.  Such a precious sight.  We feel so honored to be raising our Wagyu herd.  Seeing the growth of the cows is such a wonderful site.

Next week we will be saying goodbye to our number 50 bull.  He is such a gentle bull.  From birth to mature animals is a great experience.    Watching number 50 grow up has been a truly exciting experience.  He has such a warm, gentle nature and we always look forward to seeing, and greeting him in the morning.  When he leaves the ranch we will be sad and happy for him to continue his next stage of life.  So long 50, you will be missed.

 Preparing for winter seems strange in summer, however we have all our hay stacked and waiting for the colder months.  So important to prepare, prepare and prepare again.  Building up the infrastructure of a ranch is an ongoing task, be it putting in additional water lines, and building more fences to outside sheds.  We understand that the building up our ranch never stops with one project it goes on and on.  The cycle of living a ranch life is different from many other ways of life.  We are grateful that ranching has been a natural next step for us.   We love caring for all of our animals.  

 Within the next few weeks we will have new babies and we are excited about our new arrivals.  Like any new “parent”, watching over the new ones is a 24 hour watch duty.  Calling us caring breeders is something we are proud to wear.   More pictures will follow with our new little ones.

Sub Zero Temps

This weather has been an lifelong experience to remember this past February. We started the year with mild temperatures, however the 19th of February all that changed. For a solid week, we had to chip out the water throughs for all the cattle. The pond was completely frozen. In fact we worried about the cows going to the pond and trying to find water to only fall into the pond. Luckily we didn’t have a problem. Yes, we do live in Texas.

(Peaster)

As you can see the cattle survived, with lots and lots of hay.

You are looking at a piece of ice after 4 days of 70 plus weather.  I was in shock to see this piece of ice in such hot weather.  That’s mother nature for you.