Posted by bison on March 12, 2012 at 12:22:50 from (69.168.144.139):
In Reply to: Anyone Raise Bison? posted by jim_in_the_west on March 12, 2012 at 06:21:15:
Oh my oh my :shock:
What a misconseption there seem to be about keeping these bison. :roll:
I been raising them since 96 and believe me or not i will never have an other beef cow,there's just no comparison as to the workload.
If you know what you are doing(yes there is a learning curve,..what else is new)
A 5' page wire fence is the best,but people have been keeping them succesfully behind 4 strands of barb wire,and i know of one guy who has 300 of them winter grazing behind a single strand of electr fence right along the yellowhead highway just east of Edson Alberta.
A bison once used to your place and fed well will never leave you,and are very easy to drive back if a fence goes down for some reason and the herd gets out.
I had them out only twice in the 16 yrs i have them,Both times my own fault cause i had left the gate open. :roll:
I have a 120 cow herd and work them trough the system only once a year in jan or febr to wean the calves.(i can do that by myself with no help) I don't tatch them at all for the rest of the year.The calves get fed seperate and kept for an other summer on grass and sold as long yearlings in fall.
I don't vaccinate or medicate,other than occasional deworming by mixing it in trough the salt.
In winter i feed every other day,just to have something to do.Takes only an hr or two.But one can just as easy feed them once a week or month.I just set the bales on the ground and take the twine off,no feeders requared or even wanted.
THey don't waste a blade of hay,which can't be said of beef who given the chance waste half the bale.
Bison are very smart in figuring out what you want before you do.
One has to take that in considderation when handling them.One has to think ahead.
A sturdy handling system is a must cause bison can get rowdy when pushed to hard(one needs to learn how to handle them)
Out in the field bison behave no diff than beef altough they are constantly on the move when grazing.
So my total physical workload is 6 hrs a week feeding in winter,a couple days sorting and loading out and just checking up on them over the summer.
A easy life indeed. :wink:
And yes the prices are high right now.
I sold my 800 lb long yearlings for $2.50/lbs on the hoof FOB farm.Calves are worth up to $3.60/lbs.
I suggest you contact the American Bison Association for more info,i'm sure they'll help you out.
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