Blackbird Ranch Farm Sanctuary

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Pullman, WA
Blackbird Ranch Farm Sanctuary

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A GFAS accredited farmed animal sanctuary, located in Pullman, WA.

10/28/2026

Big thank you to Stratton's Cutting Gardens for these beautiful pumpkins and gourds to feed our animals! Pumpkin season is always a hit around here and everyone will be very happy to share in this feast! Thank you to our lovely volunteer Morann for arranging this donation for us! We appreciate the thoughtfulness! 🎃

10/22/2026

🔊 Turn up your volume, kick back, and let the soothing sounds of goat slurping wash over you. Today’s ASMR experience is brought to you by Dumbledore, Benny, and Joon. You’re welcome. 😂🐐
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These three gentlemen are getting up there in years, and just like us humans, aging comes with a few changes. One of those is the natural wear and tear on their teeth, which can make chewing fibrous hay more difficult. When that happens, they may not be able to chew their food as effectively or get all the nutrients they need from it.
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So, to help keep our distinguished older gentlemen happy, healthy, and well-fed, we supplement their daily hay with a special meal that’s easy to eat, packed with calories, and apparently delicious enough to inspire some very enthusiastic slurping. (We’re guessing you’ve already figured out that they’re fans. 😆)
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Getting older sometimes means making a few adjustments, and our senior friends are no exception. A little extra help with their meals goes a long way toward keeping them comfortable, well-nourished, and enjoying life to the fullest.
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And if that comes with a side of ridiculously adorable slurping noises? Well, that’s just a bonus. ❤️🐐
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10/21/2026

This week we had the honor of working with the wonderful WSU students in the Disease and Diagnostic Club! These hardworking students came out and volunteered to help us with one of our more difficult tasks: Field fencing repair. Fencing repair is an ongoing necessity to keep our animals safe. The particular line of fencing these students helped with was at the very top of pig hill- it’s steep and not an easy task when hand carrying all the materials up there. These students got their workout in for sure! They were all such a pleasure to work with and we really enjoyed their company (and so did the many animals who greeted them). Big thank you to kacey and Abigail Robinson for coordinating this event! You guys are amazing and always so helpful! ❤️

10/14/2026

Looks like Lucy and Eleanor have successfully recruited yet another volunteer for one of their most important duties: belly rubs! 😂🐾
These two fluffy goofballs are ridiculously affectionate and have absolutely no shame when it comes to demanding attention. If you’re willing to oblige with a few belly rubs, they’re more than happy to make you feel like the most important person in the world. Thanks to new volunteer, Anastasia, for providing this essential service on her very first day at Blackbird!
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09/30/2026

📣 We have some very exciting news to share! ❤️
If you are a Patreon subscriber, you’ve already heard our big announcement, but for the rest of our followers, please welcome the newest member of the Blackbird Ranch family, Clementine, or “Clemmie” for short! ❤️

A few months ago, Wendy, the founder of Odd Man INN in Tennessee, reached out to us about a sweet sheep named Clemmie. After losing her sheep companion, Lady Jessica, Clemmie was completely alone. Sheep should never live alone. They thrive with other sheep people and find comfort in having a flock around them. Because they are deeply social herd animals, Wendy wanted to find her a home where she could once again have sheep friends.

Odd Man Inn primarily cares for large pigs and didn’t have another sheep to keep Clemmie company. In addition, the long, hot, humid Tennessee summers were also becoming increasingly difficult for her. Knowing we had a small sheep flock here at Blackbird Ranch and a better climate to keep her comfortable, Wendy asked if we would consider welcoming Clemmie into our family.

We said yes with open arms and hearts.

Getting Clemmie safely from Tennessee to Washington required months of planning, veterinary preparation, legal paperwork, and coordination. Finally, at the end of summer, once the weather was better for more comfortable travel, Wendy and Eli made the incredible 2,300-mile journey to bring Clemmie safely to her new home at Blackbird!

When Clemmie arrived, she was understandably nervous. Everything around her was new, so we’re giving her plenty of time and space to decompress and settle in. She can see her new sheep flock from nearby, and when she’s ready, we’ll begin introducing her to them slowly and carefully. There’s no rush—Clemmie gets to set the pace.

We are incredibly grateful to Odd Man Inn for trusting us with this sweet girl. Sometimes loving an animal means making the difficult decision to let them go somewhere they can have the companionship, and quality of life they deserve.

Clemmie has already experienced so much change and loss. Now she has a home with shorter summers and no humidity, new sheep friends waiting for her, and an entire sanctuary family ready to love her. We promise to give her the “Sanctuary Babe Life” she has come to know.

Welcome to Blackbird Ranch, Clemmie. We are so happy you’re here! ❤️

09/24/2026

Some people picture livestock guardian dogs as massive, fierce protectors—fearless warriors standing watch over their flock.
Lucy and Eleanor? Not exactly. 😂
They may be giant, but these two are mostly just melodramatic goofballs who take their guardian duties very seriously… as long as those duties don’t interfere with napping.
Sure, they’ll bark when something seems suspicious, and their mere presence seems to be enough to keep predators away. We’ve never had a predator problem with Lucy and Eleanor on the clock! But most of the time, you’ll find them sprawled out in the grass, soaking up the sun, demanding attention, or looking personally offended by absolutely nothing.
But underneath all that goofiness, these girls absolutely adore their flock. They’re happiest when they’re surrounded by their sheep and goats, and they’re never far from the animals they’ve been entrusted to protect. They may not look like the fierce, intimidating guardians people imagine, but they take their job—and their flock—very seriously.
They’re two enormous, lovable, ridiculous girls who keep us laughing every day, and their flock is truly their whole world. ❤️🐾
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Pictured with Lucy and Eleanor are our lovely volunteers, Abby and Kacey

09/21/2026

If there is one thing Cheyanne is known for, it’s her subtly.
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📸 credit: Maddie L.

09/19/2026

We’ll be at the Annual Palouse Days event today from 10am-3pm on Main Street, Palouse, WA, swing by, say hi and get your photo with a life-size image of Hank the pig!

09/12/2026

🚨Let’s Talk About the Dangers of Cheatgrass🚨
You may know them as foxtails, grass awns, or cheatgrass. While there are some botanical differences between these grasses, they all share something important in common: their seed awns can be incredibly dangerous to animals.
These tiny seed clusters are sharp, pointed, and often covered in microscopic barbs that allow them to easily attach to fur and work their way into an animal’s skin, ears, eyes, nose, and other sensitive areas. Once embedded, the barbed awns can continue working their way deeper into tissue, causing painful abscesses and infections. In some cases, they can even migrate through the body and become lodged in the lungs or other organs.
They are especially concerning this time of year, when grasses dry out and the mature seed heads detach from the plant much more easily.
Today, during our monthly health exams, we discovered just how sneaky these little awns can be. While examining Dumbledore’s ears, we found several cheatgrass awns deeply embedded in his left ear. Dumbledore has a spectacular amount of crazy hair, and unfortunately, everything loves to get tangled up in it—including cheatgrass!
The awns had worked their way down into his ear and had essentially set up camp. We carefully used mosquito hemostats to reach into his ear and remove them. The awns had become firmly attached to his earwax, pulling some of it out with them. We're sure Dumbledore is going to feel much more comfortable now that those little invaders are gone!
If you live in an area where dried grasses are common, regularly checking your animals for grass awns is incredibly important. Be sure to look carefully between their toes and around their paws, as well as in their ears, eyes, and nasal passages. Check their coats thoroughly, too—especially animals with long or fluffy hair like Dumbledore.
And this isn't our first encounter with cheatgrass this summer.
Earlier this year, our dog Lucy had a cheatgrass awn lodged deep inside her ear canal. It was too far down for us to safely remove it ourselves, so Lucy spent the day at the veterinary hospital. She needed to be anesthetized so the awn could be safely located and removed.
These tiny little seeds may not look dangerous, but they can cause some very big problems. A few minutes spent checking your animals could help prevent a painful infection or much more serious complication.

Address

P. O. Box 722
Pullman, WA
99163

Telephone

+16197291813

Website

http://www.blackbirdranchsanctuary.org/

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