Hearts of Texas Fiber Farm

Hearts of Texas Fiber Farm Raising angora rabbits for fiber, food and show. Coming soon: Shetland and Shetland sheep on our new farm in southeastern Missouri. PM Salinas

09/21/2025

Our first flock ever. Shetland sheep. 1 ram, 3 ewes and 1 wether

4 very shiny satin angoras out of HOT Chumbawamba and HOT Prince. I definitely think the heat affected the size of the ...
09/15/2025

4 very shiny satin angoras out of HOT Chumbawamba and HOT Prince. I definitely think the heat affected the size of the litter but 4 is better than 0 and it gives space to foster over from the biggest litter. So thankful and relieved we have made it through the worst of the unseasonably high heat and things are gradually cooling off.

09/14/2025

Our first ever English angora litter out of Flowering Acres Furret and Flowering Acres Aerodactyl. Six healthy babies all neatly deposited in the nest. Good job mommy doe and thanks to Debby Furlong for entrusting me with a pair from her herd.

Yesterday I processed the remainder if this round of culls. Today I will take them out of the 24 hour water bath, part ...
09/14/2025

Yesterday I processed the remainder if this round of culls. Today I will take them out of the 24 hour water bath, part them out, and debone them. I save ears for quick, easy dog treats and I saved the skins to dehydrate for dog treats too. The only parts I tossed were the heads, skeletons, and guts- those go in the compost to become soil. Rabbits, hands down have to be one of the very best small homestead species. They don’t take a lot of space, gestation is only a month, and they are ready to process for food 8-12 weeks later.

As I have angoras, our dress out percentage is at the lower end, about 52%, but they make up for it by giving us wool. Even matted and dirty wool is useable- it is the best mulch! And of course prime wool is divine to use for fiber arts. The bunnies also give us lots of fertilizer, too.

Literally every bit of a rabbit and its refuse is useful and processing or shearing can be done by one person in a few minutes.The hardest part is getting your set up down and being aware of their unique needs so that you don’t end up with a failed herd full of death and illness. Seems a small price to pay for animals that give back so much.

I thought of all of this as I fertilized my sick mulberry trees that had been injured by caterpillars. I fertilized them with bunny p**p and then mulched with wool. Thank you bunnies!

PS: Our new sheep arrive in 6 days. I promise I will post about more than rabbits eventually!

09/14/2025

The bunny stork was generous today and brought us 9 new babies out of HOT Coral and GGC Cashel- super healthy, no DOA. This first time mom got them all in the nest box and pulled plenty of wool after gestating them in our highest summer temps. Apparently Cashel held his fertility in that same heat, too. Of course I won’t say we didn’t do pre-breeding prep because we did: Buck Wild for 5 days prior for Cashel and Mama Mojo for 5 days prior for Coral. Thank you Vanessa Rich for Cashel and Amy Netherton for the amazing supplements!

This is a late entry about two of the poofy fiber wonders on our farm. This past weekend we attended the Music City Rab...
09/04/2025

This is a late entry about two of the poofy fiber wonders on our farm. This past weekend we attended the Music City Rabbit Breeders Association Labor Day Weekend Show in Murfreesboro, TN, invited by my good angora friend, Ana Ederich. We had a wonderful time and really enjoyed MCRBA’s show. I took two satin angoras, Tower View’s TVS181 now named Gwendolyn and a home grown junior, HOT Santiago. As Santiago is just at 12 weeks I did not expect him to get more than comments and no placements. He’s a good boy though and seemed to take the trip in stride.

TVR’s Gwendolyn did take a couple of placements including BOB under Emily Ashton and BOSB under Caleb Thomas.

It was a great time connecting with other angora breeders and competing at the local level with people I had previously met at national shows.

09/04/2025

At first the new Muscovy disappeared and I feared the worst- they were gone either having run away or been eaten. But, no, they were just fine. They spend the day at the pond nibbling duckweed. They come out in the evening to eaten grass seeds and bugs, very pastoral. Eventually they disappear again. I imagine they are in a tree or on the roof. Who knows? 🤷‍♀️

What an opportunity to purchase amazing, award winning yarn created by Vanessa Rich of Giggling Goat Creations. Her fib...
08/29/2025

What an opportunity to purchase amazing, award winning yarn created by Vanessa Rich of Giggling Goat Creations. Her fiber products are outstanding!

It’s been a bit since my last post. There is so much going on behind the scenes as I plan my next step to world dominat...
08/23/2025

It’s been a bit since my last post. There is so much going on behind the scenes as I plan my next step to world domination 😂 Nah, what would I want with the world? I can barely manage my own self lol. Anyhow, it’s a bit simpler but still complex. We have been moving forward with the next phase of establishing another part of our fiber farm. It has taken several months to find the right sheep for the starter herd and a starter LGD too. They have been found and the process started to bring them home next month. Can’t wait to post pics and tell you more!

In the meantime, I had been contemplating what fowl I want. Then 2 of the three roosters disappeared; most likely they were coyote dinner. All that is left is lonely Bob and he needs friends. But I’m not feeling it with chickens so…we are getting Muscovy ducks and the ducks should come home today 🙂 Now we MUST clean the coop and make repairs. It’s no longer optional lol. And I’m not sure how Bob will fit in but he will at least have someone to talk to besides just me.

Today we will also introduce Ignacio, a lovely mini schauzer from Hannah Reed. Ig’s job besides being incredibly cute will be to manage small vermin as our barn cats are really just feral cats and come and go without warning.

There is so much starting to happen my head is spinning. I guess that’s how it is when you achieve a major goal.

Fun times at Shepherd Bootcamp hosted at Mesta Meadows by Ed Crowley 🐑 Learning so much and making friends!
06/12/2025

Fun times at Shepherd Bootcamp hosted at Mesta Meadows by Ed Crowley 🐑 Learning so much and making friends!

BBs are on the way! But wait. Let’s back up.Hearts of Texas headed out on a truly insane round trip to and from Brazil...
06/07/2025

BBs are on the way! But wait. Let’s back up.

Hearts of Texas headed out on a truly insane round trip to and from Brazil, IN, for our first non nationals local all-breed show. I grabbed whatever was in coat plus the little beauty I got from Arianne Ferguson of Celestial Farms and threw in a couple of satins and a mini satin to boot. Like I said, insane.

Besides Celestial Farm’s Blueberry Pancake I found an overlooked cull 😅 and Prince’s sister, Madonna who was just barely in coat. Why not? Go big or go home.

Sweet BP landed a BOB on show B and then earned what is her third leg with a BOV in show D 🥰

Also nice was BOSBs won my satins, one each, and a BOB for my mini satin, Gymnopedie ❤️😢

Sadly, Gymnopedie died 5 days later 😭

But Flowering Acres, Furret and Aerodactyl came to live with me compliments of the amazing Debby Furlong.

Which brings us to this weekend and 8 does bred and due this week. So exciting to see mommies doing their thing and to know that soon there will be little bb bunnies in the nests.

Happy Saturday, folks

Nothing says springtime like a perfect litter of 8 wiggly baby bunnies. First time mama had a perfect delivery and was ...
05/06/2025

Nothing says springtime like a perfect litter of 8 wiggly baby bunnies. First time mama had a perfect delivery and was already giving the first feeding when I came out to the barn this morning. Ashton Homestead’s Valyria by Ashton Homestead’s Heartbreaker, bred by the amazing Laura Parker Clark and born on in our barn. How in the world will we assign a prefix lol!

Bouncing baby BEWs.

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