Beefalo Bison Cattelo

[MurraysMutts]

Anyone here breed em?
Can a beef bull be bred successfully to bison heifers/cows?

Most things I've found say that usually beef cows are bred to a bison bull.

Time to spill your knowledge on the subject please!

 

[Brute 23]

Not sure which way they breed them but heard the offspring are infertile.

 

[Ky hills]

I have heard that the crosses one way are infertile too, but not sure about the details of which way or if its males infertile and females fertile or how that goes. I do know that the Beefalo is around 5/8 domestic cattle and 3/8 bison. I used to see several of them shown at our states KY Beef Expo. They looked like regular cattle but color was not consistent as they apparently were bred up from lots of different breeds.

 

[simme]

Read all about it here - http://americanbeefaloassociation.com/benefits

3/8 bison and 5/8 beef cow is a beefalo. More than 3/8 bison is a cattalo. They were pushed in the 80's as a leaner more healthy beef with lower cholesterol. I saw a few many years ago.

A story about bison. The National Western Stock Show is the largest livestock show in the USA. Over 700,000 visitors per year. Held in Denver in January (canceled in 2021 due to Covid). They have a bison show and sale. I watched them work the bison one year. Very heavy duty equipment. Very noisy and rough. They have a hinged cage on the front of the head catch that swings around when they are going to catch the head to prevent the bison from getting through before the operator can catch the head. This was a manual head catch. The bison are very quick and strong. Sounds like a crash when they hit the head catch. On one of them, the guy catching the head was hit by the head catch lever coming back up. He was hit in the face and covered with blood. I decided I could not watch any more. I think longhorn and brahman are exotic enough. I was told that you need to work them in sheeted pens. That if they can see through it, they will go through it.

 

[SBMF 2015]

All I know is that a guy around here tried and tried and after the third beef bull that the buffalo cows killed. He gave up and went back to raising straight buffalo.
I would think beef cows would struggle to calve buffalo babies.

 

[Muddy]

Lot of Beefalo I've seen look like normal beef cattle, however they come in different colors... probably due to different breed makeup.

 

[MurraysMutts]

From what I've read....
Usually buffalo calves are quite small. 40-50 lbs.
And I have read some about the infertility issue.
I think that's what I'm trying to figure out. Gave thought to buying a domesticated/tame heifer or cow and throwing out there with my cows and see what happens.
Cant imagine 1 animal causing a lot of problems.
But.....

 

[Muddy]

From what I've read....
Usually buffalo calves are quite small. 40-50 lbs.
And I have read some about the infertility issue.
I think that's what I'm trying to figure out. Gave thought to buying a domesticated/tame heifer or cow and throwing out there with my cows and see what happens.
Cant imagine 1 animal causing a lot of problems.
But.....

That depends on bloodlines. Some Beefalo throws HUGE calves. The infertility usually happens in male animals from F1 to F3. The females are usually fertile and the infertile females do existed but very uncommon. I knew few people with tame bison cows running with beef herd.

 

[MurraysMutts]

That depends on bloodlines. Some Beefalo throws HUGE calves. The infertility usually happens in male animals from F1 to F3. The females are usually fertile and the infertile females do existed but very uncommon. I knew few people with tame bison cows running with beef herd.

I can certainly imagine once a guy puts, say a Hereford bull, on a full blood buffalo cow, who knows what you'll end up with as far as birthing goes.

I definitely dont want a bison bull!
Thought it would be a neat lil project if the bison cow would take. Make some freezer beefalo

@simme
I'm gonna read that link this evening.
Havnt ran across that page. Thank you

 

[Warren Allison]

Beefalo are 3/8ths bison and 5/8ths cattle. so no, bison/cattle hybrids are NOT infertile. The reason most breed bison bull to cows, rather than a bull to a female bison, is purely economic. Bison females are a LOT more expensive than cows. And, it takes a lot higher, heavier and sturdier facilities for bison. 6' high fences at a minimum. a lot cheaper to keep 1 bison bull than a herd of bison females. A lot easier to work the claves, etc, with cows vs bison, too. You'd make a lot more money, if you did have a herd of bison cows, to breed them to a bison rather than a bull. The only people I ever knew in Ga that raised bison were two different cutting horse trainers. 1 bison can wear out 2-3 horses in training where as it would take 5-8 steers or heifers, to work one horse out good. Especially when you are training one for Reined Cowhorse. If you have a horse than can first....catch a bison... and then stop it and turn it...then it can catch, stop, and turn any cow in any competition.

 

[MurraysMutts]

Beefalo are 3/8ths bison and 5/8ths cattle. so no, bison/cattle hybrids are NOT infertile. The reason most breed bison bull to cows, rather than a bull to a female bison, is purely economic. Bison females are a LOT more expensive than cows. And, it takes a lot higher, heavier and sturdier facilities for bison. 6' high fences at a minimum. a lot cheaper to keep 1 bison bull than a herd of bison females. A lot easier to work the claves, etc, with cows vs bison, too. You'd make a lot more money, if you did have a herd of bison cows, to breed them to a bison rather than a bull. The only people I ever knew in Ga that raised bison were two different cutting horse trainers. 1 bison can wear out 2-3 horses in training where as it would take 5-8 steers or heifers, to work one horse out good. Especially when you are training one for Reined Cowhorse. If you have a horse than can first....catch a bison... and then stop it and turn it...then it can catch, stop, and turn any cow in any competition.

U certainly got me rethinking my thinking! Lol
I'm not interested in learning to rodeo. I like my nice docile cows that stay where I put em. I also like walking the pasture and not worrying too much about getting ran down by some dang crazy bull or cow. Perhaps I'll just find me another nice brahma mama and be happy.
I noticed there isn't a whole lot of talk about breeding bison cattle one way or the other on this board. Be it bison cows w beef bulls.
Or bison bulls w beef cows.
Nice information guys.
Perhaps itll help someone else as they come along looking for info. It's a nice thought but think I'll rethink about my thinking... lol

 

[Muddy]

Beefalo are 3/8ths bison and 5/8ths cattle. so no, bison/cattle hybrids are NOT infertile.

Some Beefalo are DEFINITELY infertile, just not all of them and it's not uncommon for Beefalo bulls tested low sperm count and failed BSE frequently. Different breed makeup, inconsistent carcass traits and low fertility are main reasons why the Beefalo hasn't catch on with commercial folks.

 

[Lucky_P]

Had a client down in southern middle TN during the late 1980s who had Beefalo... bred up from a Red Brangus base... all pretty wild & crazy, but the craziest thing she had was a 3/4 bison 1/4 Brahman cow... just looked like a BIG bison cow with floppy ears... thing liked to have killed me( it wanted to!) , but she left the genepool when she developed a vaginal prolapse that I could not put back in... football size thing that somehow came out of a hole no bigger than my finger.

 

[callmefence]

Beefalo are 3/8ths bison and 5/8ths cattle. so no, bison/cattle hybrids are NOT infertile. The reason most breed bison bull to cows, rather than a bull to a female bison, is purely economic. Bison females are a LOT more expensive than cows. And, it takes a lot higher, heavier and sturdier facilities for bison. 6' high fences at a minimum. a lot cheaper to keep 1 bison bull than a herd of bison females. A lot easier to work the claves, etc, with cows vs bison, too. You'd make a lot more money, if you did have a herd of bison cows, to breed them to a bison rather than a bull. The only people I ever knew in Ga that raised bison were two different cutting horse trainers. 1 bison can wear out 2-3 horses in training where as it would take 5-8 steers or heifers, to work one horse out good. Especially when you are training one for Reined Cowhorse. If you have a horse than can first....catch a bison... and then stop it and turn it...then it can catch, stop, and turn any cow in any competition.

Buffalo cows are half the price of beef cows.

 

[callmefence]

Beefalo are 3/8ths bison and 5/8ths cattle. so no, bison/cattle hybrids are NOT infertile. The reason most breed bison bull to cows, rather than a bull to a female bison, is purely economic. Bison females are a LOT more expensive than cows. And, it takes a lot higher, heavier and sturdier facilities for bison. 6' high fences at a minimum. a lot cheaper to keep 1 bison bull than a herd of bison females. A lot easier to work the claves, etc, with cows vs bison, too. You'd make a lot more money, if you did have a herd of bison cows, to breed them to a bison rather than a bull. The only people I ever knew in Ga that raised bison were two different cutting horse trainers. 1 bison can wear out 2-3 horses in training where as it would take 5-8 steers or heifers, to work one horse out good. Especially when you are training one for Reined Cowhorse. If you have a horse than can first....catch a bison... and then stop it and turn it...then it can catch, stop, and turn any cow in any competition.

Buffalo cows are half the price of beef cows.

 

[Silver]

In Canada bison sold for slaughter sell by HHW. Lately $3.50 - $5.00 CAD per pound. Prime bulls sell for the most. I guess you'd need to know what sort of dressing percentages you'd be looking at to know what kind of price that translates to on the hoof. I'm guessing they don't dress out very well compared to a beef though.

edit to add: I know it takes a lot longer to grow a bison for slaughter than beef, I think 2.5 years of age to get a 1000 lb animal or so so you'd need a lot more money to make it work

 

[Warren Allison]

Anyone here breed em?
Can a beef bull be bred successfully to bison heifers/cows?

Most things I've found say that usually beef cows are bred to a bison bull.

Time to spill your knowledge on the subject please!

Most folks now just buy Bison semen and AI their cows.

U certainly got me rethinking my thinking! Lol
I'm not interested in learning to rodeo. I like my nice docile cows that stay where I put em. I also like walking the pasture and not worrying too much about getting ran down by some dang crazy bull or cow. Perhaps I'll just find me another nice brahma mama and be happy.
I noticed there isn't a whole lot of talk about breeding bison cattle one way or the other on this board. Be it bison cows w beef bulls.
Or bison bulls w beef cows.
Nice information guys.
Perhaps itll help someone else as they come along looking for info. It's a nice thought but think I'll rethink about my thinking... lol

You could AI a couple of your cows to a bison bull... to see how you like a cattle/bison cross, avoiding having to keep bison on hand. The calves I have seen..as well as the adult animals they grew into, had the same temperment as their cow mommas, so you won't have to worry about going into a pasture with them, anymore than you would cattle.

 

[Muddy]

Most folks now just buy Bison semen and AI their cows.

You could AI a couple of your cows to a bison bull... to see how you like a cattle/bison cross, avoiding having to keep bison on hand. The calves I have seen..as well as the adult animals they grew into, had the same temperment as their cow mommas, so you won't have to worry about going into a pasture with them, anymore than you would cattle.

Nobody breeding their beef cows to a bison bull, even with AI due to health complications come with it, so I don't know where you get that idea from.

Doing a bison bull on a beef cow can lead to the death of unborn calf or cow, which that is why the recent Beefalo breeders solved the issue by breeding bison cows to beef bull.

 

[Davemk]

Nobody breeding their beef cows to a bison bull, even with AI due to health complications come with it, so I don't know where you get that idea from.

Doing a bison bull on a beef cow can lead to the death of unborn calf or cow, which that is why the recent Beefalo breeders solved the issue by breeding bison cows to beef bull.

nm

 

[Warren Allison]

Nobody breeding their beef cows to a bison bull, even with AI due to health complications come with it, so I don't know where you get that idea from.

Doing a bison bull on a beef cow can lead to the death of unborn calf or cow, which that is why the recent Beefalo breeders solved the issue by breeding bison cows to beef bull.

Not hardly.. Bison calves weigh 30-40 lbs at birth...some may go up to 50. Might have a problem if you bred a mini Zebu heifer to a bison bull, I dunno. Calving ease was one of the plusses given for the hybrids. I had a neighbor in the 80s that bred them. He had Charolais, Simmental, Gert and Brangus cows. All of their bison calves at birth, were smaller than their normal claves, especially the Char and Simm babies. The 2nd year, he paid the dairy next to him to AI some of their Holsteins. He used these to breed back to his Brangus bulls, to get the 3/4 cattle/ 1/4 bisons,. that he'd breed to the 1/2 cattle 1/2 bisons from his cows, to to get the 5/8x 3/8th blend that you register as Beefalo. The bucking bull breeder I talked about on the "Breed What You Love" thread, bred some of his 3-way LH/Bra/Chi cross cows to a bison bull (AI) ,.and then bred those back to his bucking bulls or cows to get the 3/4 x 1/4 cross to breed to the 50/50 crosses. These cows were all as big, nearly, as a full-blooded Chianina, though, so no problem with the 35-40 lb bison calves. If I had pure bison cows ( which are scarce, and VERY expensive, if they are tested to prove no cattle DNA) I'd pasture breed them to a bison bull, because they'd bring so much more than a beefalo.