Dakota Star Ranch

08/25/2026

08/03/2026

Two new little lives appeared on the ranch this weekend. Meet Hillary and Christine. 🩷 And of course you all know Mama Lucille, who always sits on the eggs and makes it happen (she’s amazing). These past 2-3 weeks have been beyond challenging with our animals… More illnesses and deaths. Our heartache was too much to post anything. We are managing, and working hard to pull everyone through this season. So to have these new feathered packages of silliness arrive…it just helps heal the soul. 🩷

07/29/2026

Criminy. Will this heat wave ever end?? The residents of the Chicken Village are demanding 5-Star treatment during this heat wave, and we’re all for it! Simulated rain showers, frozen fruit breaks, and of course: FANS. Four of them. Hang in there, ladies! (And yes…we’re excited for Fall.)

07/29/2026

Tried something new this year, because why not? Straw bale gardening! Learned all the particulars from Farmers' Almanac . Some plants have thrived and gone crazy like this gorgeous tomato bush…Others, not so much. No soil is involved; just straw bales, water, nitrogen (a.k.a. goat and sheep manure here 😃) and that’s it!

07/17/2026

This beautiful little gal went over the Rainbow Bridge this morning. Apple, a mini La Mancha goat with the cutest ears and the biggest personality. Apple was part of the Fab Five who joined us last November, and she cracked us up every day with her energy and appetite.
This is new for us. Our first goat to pass away, and it hits hard. Yes, we signed up for this, as a livestock sanctuary, to love the animals and know they’ll leave a dent on our hearts someday. We’re thankful her sickness only lasted a few days. And it was also amazing to watch our dog Hazel guard Apple closely while she was ill, while we humans were trying to make everything better. We’ll be hugging our furry and feathered family a lot tonight. We love you, Apple! 🩷🌈

07/12/2026

Yep… it’s that time of year! We’re up to our necks in ZUCCHINI! Not a bad problem to have, but inquiring chefs want to know: What are you doing with yours? Here at the ranch, we’re baking the usual zucchini bread, cake, and cookies. We also enjoy zoodles… We’ve tried zucchini pizza (meh), fried (thanks to Aunt Sandy for the recipe 😊), and our latest obsession is zucchini carbonara (showing a pic here…delish!). What about you? What delicious dishes are you making this summer? 😃

04/28/2026