Which direction would you go to feed bales?

[WiltonRanch]

They kind of go into a “dormancy” in the winter months. Feed them what you like, they just don’t put on the pounds like cattle do. They even lose weight in winter.

They also slow down their feed intake in the winter. I saw it plain as day this fall. Was feeding 3 hay bales every 1.5-2 days in fall. Now it is 3 bales every 3rd day in the winter.

Heard the same from buffalo guys here as well. Localish guys feed out buffalo on a large scale. Wonder how winter dormancy treats them.

Wonder about beef/buffalo hybrids. Facebook discussion from a bunch of know nothings were saying they’re sterile but those guys brains are sterile at times. Thought the NA bison herd had a smattering of bos bos DNA. Guess science and dna testing is trumped by Facebook scientists.

[Blaithin]

My memory told me I had better photos than these 😂

This one shows some of the silage bale residue I mentioned. The winter photo was 20/21 and the grass was summer 2022. You can see almost exactly where the bales were.



Now this piece I used my natural harrows on and released the 15hh pigs on it to root it up. They did quite good! Also lets you see how deep it was. I want to say this was also a bedding area that year. Again, winter 20/21.

Second photo is summer 2022 again.




This second area was beat to shit. I’ve done lots of experimenting in that field, including frost seeding. It was very overgrazed so it is the field that has a thistle issue in spots that bedding packs were. I’m kind of letting them do their thing since the #1 thing that field needs is cover over it’s dirt and if that’s fallen over thistles, I’ll take it. Thistles do serve a purpose so I don’t try and eliminate the scattered patches I have, just mush them in kind of thing. But there’s still plenty of grass around, they definitely haven’t choked out the whole pasture. They just make stringing the Hotwire prickly…

[flea beetle]

My memory told me I had better photos than these 😂

This one shows some of the silage bale residue I mentioned. The winter photo was 20/21 and the grass was summer 2022. You can see almost exactly where the bales were.



Now this piece I used my natural harrows on and released the 15hh pigs on it to root it up. They did quite good! Also lets you see how deep it was. I want to say this was also a bedding area that year. Again, winter 20/21.

Second photo is summer 2022 again.




This second area was beat to shit. I’ve done lots of experimenting in that field, including frost seeding. It was very overgrazed so it is the field that has a thistle issue in spots that bedding packs were. I’m kind of letting them do their thing since the #1 thing that field needs is cover over it’s dirt and if that’s fallen over thistles, I’ll take it. Thistles do serve a purpose so I don’t try and eliminate the scattered patches I have, just mush them in kind of thing. But there’s still plenty of grass around, they definitely haven’t choked out the whole pasture. They just make stringing the Hotwire prickly…

So in the first set of photos are you saying the shorter grass is where the bales were, or the taller grass?

[flea beetle]

Before we got the sheep, I looked hard at bison. After crunching numbers I chose sheep. Alas, you can’t have sheep and bison, the sheep will kill them, which is unfortunate, because for a while, the plan was for both.

BUT.

I researched a lot and talked to a lot of producers. My plan was to grow a bunch of diverse native pastures. In our area, the dominant grass would have been plains rough fescue. The bison migrated here to the area where the grass grew tall and the bush offered shelter. They wintered on the fescue, so the plan was to stockpile fescue and let them have at it. It is the PERFECT grass for bison. It is PERFECT for stockpiling.

Just wondering if this is something you have looked at? Imagine not having to even bale? Like sheep, they of course don’t need winter water either. So simple and low input.

I know it’s not always popular to try new things, but there is funding for 80% of the seed costs if you do wild perennial mixes. Wild perennial mixes are not cheap, that’s for darn sure.

One of the guys I talked to bought and baled the cheapest slough hay he could find, because as you said and know, bison actually REDUCE their metabolism in winter. They do not need alfalfa hay at all.

People need to remember. Net dollars are what counts, not gross potential. Imho, if you want net, copy what nature did before humans farmed the things.

That copied system, would include to my mind, tall fescue grasslands, with plenty of pockets of bush and ravines and lakes and willows and so on.

Imho, you would also have the benefit of healing the land and building soil.

For this year, I would build a bale unroller. Unroll the hay out backwards so you don’t end up with too thick a thick mulch, and no harrowing or anything would be needed. Plus the longer strips of unrolled hay give the animals far more room than unrolling them forwards.

We need to rethink wasted hay, and hay feeders. The leftover hay is not waste. It is building the soil, preserving moisture, reseeding the soil, ensuring the nutrients are spread relatively evenly. The difference on my land where I have fed this way for years is truly unbelievable. The soil is rebuilding and fast! It doesn’t dry out. These things don’t happen overnight, it takes a few years so give it time. I was also going to get a processor, until guys said it powders alfalfa leaves to nothing, so defeats the purpose.

Anyhow, just a few different ideas going forward.

I noticed that they LOVE to forage through the snow and look for something to eat. We fenced a hay field in this year to turn into pasture and kicked them out into there this winter. They didn’t come back for bales for 3 days. Just roamed around with their heads in the snow. Was neat to watch. Stockpiling would work very well for them.

Our first pasture was half hay land with about 25-30% alfalfa, and half slough bottom. When we got our first animals, they spent the first month in the slough bottom and left the tame hay field alone. I thought they would devour the alfalfa first. They definitely don’t need, and actually prefer the lesser quality hay/feed it seems.

Definitely going to try feeding on the pasture and not harrowing it in and see how it turns out. Common thoughts are it will work out just fine according to most on here!

[Blaithin]

So in the first set of photos are you saying the shorter grass is where the bales were, or the taller grass?

Taller grass is where they were.

[flea beetle]

So much for being told they are march calvers!

[AlbertaFarmer5]

So much for being told they are march calvers!

I hate to be the one to have to break this to you, but those aren't actually Bison.
All the fences you built might be a little excessive for those wannabe bison.

[flea beetle]

I hate to be the one to have to break this to you, but those aren't actually Bison.
All the fences you built might be a little excessive for those wannabe bison.

Lol just started a small herd of 31 cows with a couple friends. They have the pasture, and take care of them. I get the easy part of making the feed. Easiest animals I will ever raise! Haha

[ajl]

Do you know if the bison in Elk Island park get any supplemental feed in the winter? Often see them in the sloughs along the highway in winter. If they survive there without supplementation is the answer to match herd size to pasture availability and let nature take its course.

[flea beetle]

Do you know if the bison in Elk Island park get any supplemental feed in the winter? Often see them in the sloughs along the highway in winter. If they survive there without supplementation is the answer to match herd size to pasture availability and let nature take its course.

I honestly don’t know. Drive through there often enough, and never see any bales. I imagine it would work just fine providing you don’t get caught short. When you are short pasture, you will likely be short on bales as well. And that is when they aren’t cheap

[WiltonRanch]

See the thistles in Elk Island? If the bison ate those they would never be hungry.

[AlbertaFarmer5]

See the thistles in Elk Island? If the bison ate those they would never be hungry.

That sounds like the piece of prime farmland that the Alberta Conservation Association took over 20 some years ago close to here. But for some reason, the wildlife won't stay there eating thistles, they insist on crossing the road to eat our crops instead.