Beefalo question?

[BIZIN]

Anyone know of any Beefalo breeders in Canada? Also wondering if anyone has tried them and what they think. Id like to get a cow thats 1/8 or 1/4 bison and and the rest black angus or hereford. Worst comes to worst I might have to do it myself!!!

 

[Lucky_P]

"Worst comes to worst I might have to do it myself!!!"

There's probably a law against that! LOL

 

[BIZIN]

HAHAHAHA I imagine there is... haha I mean breed them with a Horned Hereford bull myself!!!

 

[Frankie]

Anyone know of any Beefalo breeders in Canada? Also wondering if anyone has tried them and what they think. Id like to get a cow thats 1/8 or 1/4 bison and and the rest black angus or hereford. Worst comes to worst I might have to do it myself!!!

Here's some in the US:

http://americanbeefalo.org/beefalo-semen/

Or maybe these people can help:

http://www.virtualcities.com/trade/f/bf/8/tfbf8613.htm

 

[hillsdown]

I don't even think Canada has a beefalo association. we had breeders a few miles from us but they sold out about 4 yrs ago..

Sorry I can't help. I did some searches and not too much has come up. Try contacting the Canadian buffalo association and they may be able to point you in the right direction.

 

[BRYANT]

I never raised them but I have butcherd them when I worked for a beef slaughter plant MY OPINION they aint fit to eat as far , as steaks, grind into hamburger if you like lean meat they may be ok for you I have cut both beefalo & buffalo did not like either one myself. Now I know this might open up a can of worms with everyone telling how good they are so this is my opinion if you like them eat till your tummy is full me I'll just take a plain ol fat beef . I also know a man that fed killer bulls he had 300 bulls on wheat and put some buffalo cows with them and they never did breed???? may have to AI them don't know thats kind of stuff is way over my head

 

[BIZIN]

We started trading bison last year and had a few heifers and bulls that were over 3 yrs of age and couldnt go to the states so we kept them, put them on a finishing ration in our feedlot and slaughtered them for our own freezers and prior to that I had never had bison before. They were honestly the best red meat I have ever had. Tender as hell, lean, just amazing meat.

The reason I am interested in Beefalo is due to some research information I came across awhile back. Bison females can live to be 20-25 yrs of age and still be very fertile. They eat 1/4 of what a beef cow eats and are hardier. They can take a Saskatchewan winter no problem. When we started trading bison we learned alot about them through our customers and we are still weighing the options of buying 50 - 100 bison cows as another source of income. And that got me thinking. If you could breed the longevity, hardiness, and feed consumption of a bison into a beef cow and get rid of the bison features and temperment and increase the meat capacity, you would have a perfect range cow. And that is what I am trying to develop. So I found information on Beefalo and it intrigued me further. One study done states that cross breeding cattle is the best cross because of Hybrid vigor, we all know this to be true, and it stated that the Ultimate hybrid vigor is crossing cattle with bison.

I dont know, I want a cow that makes ranching cheaper and can get through a winter with little feed and still hold her own, as well as adding on 10 years of production, I am ok with that.

 

[Frankie]

Crossbreeding species is very different from crossbreeding cattle breeds. You'll get a higher percentage of non breeders. The article I've linked to seems to be very upfront about the pitfalls of breeding percentage bison, here's one example:

You must be willing to accept higher levels of infertility, abortions, and short-term pregnancies, stillbirths, rebreeding problems, etc

Take time to read it before you make a decision.

http://americanbeefalo.org/beefalo-arti ... n-hybrids/

 

[BIZIN]

Thanks Frankie. Already knew most of that information though. I wouldnt be looking into high percentage bison. I was actually even looking at a percentage less than the Beefalo breed are. But if I had to do it myself then yes I would have to start from scratch and all those problems would have to be faced. Most of the things I've heard from breeders who have done it, is that you can only breed a bison cow with a beef bull, not the other way around. Also, that all the male animals will come in sterile, which I am ok with. As long as the females were fertile and could be bred to a beef bull again.

In the end i have more research to do, but if it worked you would have the cheapest beef animal around im sure!!!

 

[Frankie]

Thanks Frankie. Already knew most of that information though. I wouldnt be looking into high percentage bison. I was actually even looking at a percentage less than the Beefalo breed are. But if I had to do it myself then yes I would have to start from scratch and all those problems would have to be faced. Most of the things I've heard from breeders who have done it, is that you can only breed a bison cow with a beef bull, not the other way around. Also, that all the male animals will come in sterile, which I am ok with. As long as the females were fertile and could be bred to a beef bull again.

In the end i have more research to do, but if it worked you would have the cheapest beef animal around im sure!!!

Fertility, to me, would be the biggest drawback of the whole project. If all the males are sterile, you can bet that a percentage of the females are, too. By the time you identify and weed those females out, will you still have the cheapest beef animal around?

 

[BIZIN]

Have to start somewhere

 

[BIZIN]

"The reasons for raising Beefalo centre on their handling like domestic cattle while retaining bison traits. Early documentation showed that Beefalo could be finished and marketed at up to 40 percent less cost than a conventional beef animal. "

 

[dun]

"The reasons for raising Beefalo centre on their handling like domestic cattle while retaining bison traits. Early documentation showed that Beefalo could be finished and marketed at up to 40 percent less cost than a conventional beef animal. "

Has this been "claimed" by anyone outside of the beefalo assocition?

 

[BIZIN]

Study done by a research farm in Alberta made that observation, albeit it was in the 1970's

 

[grannysoo]

To each their own, but I don't believe in the breeding different species together.

 

[alftn]

I sure am glad granny you have the modern world to rely on...Because for the last few hundreds mules have really been important, so much for not crossing unreleated species....There has been alot of research on the beefalo, and I am quite surprized that there has not been more success, I have no doubt that in the furture, there will be.... I think the whole beefalo project went on back burner because of the in flux of so many different cattle breeds to cross...

 

[BIZIN]

I completely agree alftn!!! Beefalo were the "IT" breed it seems from all the reading and research I have done and were the answer to alot of Northwestern cattlemans problems. When all the new breeds started coming into North America they were forgotten about. I still think they might be the answer. The cattle industry is moving in a different direction. We are moving towards cattle that convert feed better, perform better. We want cows that can get by on less feed and still keep condition. Profitable ranching is about putting the least amount of inputs into your cattle and I think having that touch of Bison in there will change everything for the better, if properly managed. I like the idea of how low input bison are, but I am not ready to switch over to having all bison. Too wild for me and you need specialized facilities. I've met one guy who runs his bison in 3 strand barbed wire and uses his old cattle facilities, but his are realy quiet and thats rare. The beef industry is changing, and we as cattleman need to change with it!!

 

[BRYANT]

put them on a finishing ration in our feedlot and slaughtered them for our own freezers and prior to that I had never had bison before. They were honestly the best red meat I have ever had. Tender as be nice, lean, just amazing meat.

This kind of makes my point LEAN LEAN LEAN they ain't what the packers want!! If you are doing it just for a hobbie that is one thing but to make money on I don't think so I haved killed and processed them and they wil not grade, to lean no marbling,when it is all said an done they are grinder cattle not steakers. Why do we talk about the hit we take at the market on them yearlings that has to much ear well its not the ear cause you don't eat the ears but they don't fatten like others do, dairy cattle same thing, longhorns same thing.Here in the States they wont pay as good as they will for beef breads.To me the full blood buffalos look a lot like horse meat when it is processed texture and color

 

[BIZIN]

For us it doesnt matter. We feed our own cattle to slaughter in our feedlot and they are slaughtered through a Branded Beef program that is Natural Lean beef. Right now we are just selling Natural cattle, but the same company has a lean meat program as well. Dad and I are also looking at buying a local abbatoire and opening a Pasture to Plate type of store in the nearest city that will market our own product that is source and breed verified.

 

[BRYANT]

by BIZIN on Fri Sep 18, 2009 5:47 pm
For us it doesnt matter. We feed our own cattle to slaughter in our feedlot and they are slaughtered through a Branded Beef program that is Natural Lean beef. Right now we are just selling Natural cattle, but the same company has a lean meat program as well. Dad and I are also looking at buying a local abbatoire and opening a Pasture to Plate type of store in the nearest city that will market our own product that is source and breed verified.

If that is what you are trying to do they may be just the thing I'm just kind of old school I like quite of bit of fat in my meat but for the natural and health food people you may have a good market
Hope it works out real good for you. Keep us posted We may have to start eating more health food cause are president may make us to save money on this new healh care program :banana: :help: