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Here at Dos Lobos Ranch, we not only want an exceptional, restaurant quality cut of meat for our customer's plates, but also exceptional quality livestock for homesteads, farms, and ranches to be able to add to their own program!
While many programs out there breed for conformation and show-quality animals, other attributes get neglected along the way. What we've found in the short amount of time that we've owned livestock is whether you buy show animals privately from a breeder or random animals off of Craig's List, consistency, quality, and utility of the animal gets lost quickly while prioritizing what the show ring judge's "flavor of the month" might be or the animal that never grows big enough to feed your family. On the flipside, you can wind up with Craig's List animals that were bred willy-nilly and don't serve a purpose beyond being a pasture ornament. Neither side of that coin is where we want our animals to be.
"The letters preceding the animal's name in the registry is like the tail of a pig: it doesn't change the quality of the bacon."
Our breeding goals include physically, and structurally sound animals that grow and thrive on pasture with as few inputs or interventions required as possible. Mistakes need to be edible, palatable, and enjoyable! Not dog food. (We fed a whole cow we butchered to the dogs... the meat was that bad!) That's why we genetically test both our cattle and our hogs for tenderness. Genetic testing in a lab allows us to look under the hood genetically without having to guess and be surprised at the dinner table when the phenotype of the meat becomes apparent. Piss poor planning = piss poor performance. While we might not be able to capture "everything" we ever wanted in an animal, we have something to aim for: calm, easy to handle animals, with good muscle volume, good mothering abilities, physical structure to handle their own weight, an udder that doesn't break down, longevity, and a consistent quality cut of meat for the mistakes nature makes!
Nutrition and Regenerative Farming: A Complementary Component to Genetics
While superb genetics only carry an animal so far, the same can be said about nutrition on poor genetic capacity on the flipside. Add the component of epigenetics in there and now you have one heck of a puzzle to figure out! As we work to improve our soil every year through organic fertilization, rotational multi-species grazing, and soil amendments where necessary, we're also working to mold and shape the genetics that can perform well even on poor quality pasture. While that may seem like a lofty goal, we hope to aim high and hit the target as close as possible! As our regenerative improvements take hold, we hope to see our animals continue to thrive on grass with minimized inputs, parasitic resistance, and land that reciprocates our efforts in ways we can't even currently fathom!
About Our Herds
New to livestock and stock dogs? Click below to read about these unique heritage breeds and what they mean to Dos Lobos Ranch!
ADCA Irish Dexter Cattle
This is a dual-purpose, slow-growing heritage breed meant for both milk and meat (and in some cases, tri-purpose, including draft oxen). Skinny animals that don't naturally carry any muscle volume or can't gain weight on grass alone have no place in our program. Likewise, an udder that breaks-down in the middle of the cow's lifespan has no place in our program either. Dexters are also renown for tender, gourmet beef, but we've found that even that is being lost in the hodge-podge of genetics available. That's why we genetically test for meat tenderness in our Dexter herd, but also for calving ease, low birth weight, consistent hang-weights, and cuts of grass-finished beef that make the best chefs turn their heads. Lastly, Dexters are a naturally short breed with stellar, gentle temperaments, making them the perfect choice for small acreage whether you want a milk cow to hand-milk or a steer to put in the freezer every year.
AKKPS Kunekune Pigs
This delightful, slow-growing, lard breed of heritage pig has a temperament as uniquely sweet as the meat itself! A non-destructive breed that doesn't exceed 300-400 pounds and prefers to graze and minimally root makes this pig an absolute essential to any pork program! Our herd's breeding stock was hand-picked from 200 in 12 genetics that help get meat into your freezer by the time a piglet reaches its 1st birthday. Our 200 in 12 breeders are required to have thick-boned legs. We've found that thin-legged pigs with 200 in 12 genetics struggle to move the moment they put on too much weight, plus, their hooves require trimming frequently. Our thick-legged pigs have never needed a hoof trim and can get up off the ground from a resting position much more easily! (Flipping a 300+ pig over for a hoof trim is not fun!) The iconic, up-turned nose of the kunekune is essential to keep this pig a grazing pig, and not a destructive rooter. We genetically test our pig herd for meat tenderness, mothering ability, and other traits. Anything that doesn't have a sweet temperament or can't care for their litter of piglets on their own has no place in our breeding program.
ADGA Nigerian Dwarf Goats
While this is not a primary production animal on our farm, we do milk our goats just for ourselves and to have a little bit of goat meat for the freezer. Even though this is a dairy breed, we've found the meat to be very good! Our goats must have gentle dispositions towards us, other animals, and each other, must be willing to be milked without a dramatic temper-tantrum on the milk stand, be tall enough to easily hand-milk or machine milk, and be able to give an acceptable volume of milk at each milking upon weaning the kids, and stay in milk! We allow our dams to raise their kids and we don't pull babies to bottle feed. Nannies need to be able to accept and not reject their babies and not kick them off the udder too early in the kid's life. They must be able to kid unassisted within reason. Any babies placed in production homes or pet homes need to have the correct potential for either situation and the pedigree to back-up the milk production. While we are not a performance herd doing milk test or showing, we have selected does and bucks with multiple generations of milk stars and high LA scores on their pedigrees. However, these scores don't always mean good production or even a show-winning LA score, but rest assured, anything that can't provide daily milk for our family has no place in our breeding program.
AKC, ASCA Working Australian Shepherds (Coming soon!)
Coming soon! We plan to breed our working line Australian Shepherds. Our Aussies are an essential part of our farm, especially since most days, it's a one-woman show! The dogs help to corral animals, chase down wayward poultry and calves alike, move stubborn hogs, and encourage movement of the herd in our rotational grazing. The working Australian Shepherd is quickly becoming harder and harder to find, especially for the wave of new farmers and homesteaders joining the clean food movement! Our dogs must first prove themselves to be biddable, yet able to think independently. Instinct keeps them safe and able to read stock. Yet, they are able to turn it all off and be pets in our home as well. Purchasing a puppy from us helps preserve the Aussie the way it was meant to be: a well-rounded, all-around ranch dog included in all duties and essential to operations on the ranch.
Livestock Registry Information
Click the buttons below to see a list of our animals and their pedigrees in each of the registries. Some platforms may require you to manually enter the member number displayed on the button.