Buffalo

Help Support Steer Planet:

aj

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 5, 2006
Messages
6,420
Location
western kansas
I always wonder about the bison bison breeding programs. They went almost extinct. Then a few herds were established to save them. Did they try to avoid inbreeding? They had very little choice in matings. Are bison different that cattle as far as genetic defects? Are buffalo ever pedigreed? There was a very small genetic base that they were bred back up from. What about polled buffalo? Colors?
 

kfacres

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 15, 2008
Messages
3,713
Location
Industry, IL Ph #: 618-322-2582
aj said:
I always wonder about the bison bison breeding programs. They went almost extinct. Then a few herds were established to save them. Did they try to avoid inbreeding? They had very little choice in matings. Are bison different that cattle as far as genetic defects? Are buffalo ever pedigreed? There was a very small genetic base that they were bred back up from. What about polled buffalo? Colors?

according to the indians white (albino) bufflers are sacred...  I remember when I was a kid the St. Louis Zoo had a big promotion on summer, exploiting the birth of a white buffler.
 

aj

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 5, 2006
Messages
6,420
Location
western kansas
I ran across the song "White Buffalo" by western underground-unbridled albumn......kinda cool
 

knabe

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 7, 2007
Messages
13,639
Location
Hollister, CA
bison were imported to golden gate park in the late 1880s to help preserve them.

on wikipedia, it says the hides were used as belts for machines.

at bright brothers herefords, they have a complete shop still works with this type of belt system. dont know if the belts were from bison.

i think they started in the nursery business.

i think they still hold the record for high selling hereford bull at denver.

the story goes that they had a heifer that got bred by that years champion or something like that. i think they had natl champ two years in a row.
\

what did the momma buffalo say to her son when she dropped him off at school?

bison.


http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1992&dat=19841215&id=kTRfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=UU8NAAAAIBAJ&pg=4509,2785305

i remember the cow in the article.
 

aj

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 5, 2006
Messages
6,420
Location
western kansas
I do know the bison were mistakenly called buffalo when the Spainards saw them in the 1500's. The term stuck. I know the pleistocene version of the bison was the bison antiquus. They are extinct and only skeleton are found. They had huge horn spans. The bison occidentalis was a smaller version that also went extinct. The bison bison were a smaller bison that survived. Did the antiquus and the occidentalis interbreed? Or were they a seperate species? I found a shoulder blade of an occidentalis eroding out of a cutbank. The Denver museum confirmed by measurements only...no radio carbon dating. I wonder if the plains and woodland can interbreed? The bison probably survived better in Canada? They were pretty much systematically wiped out in the U.S.. cool.......signed Cliff Claven aj......there is a possible mini bison jump site a couple miles from my house. The Laird(Busse site). A Dalton like point was recovered and I believe the bison bone carbon dated around 8,000 bp. K.U. Did the work in 1995 I think.
 

aj

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 5, 2006
Messages
6,420
Location
western kansas
A guy down the road about8 miles is part of the "the buffaloguys.com.    I always thought they were kinda nuts. But they have hundreds of buffalo on the Beaver creek. At least 200. The deal seems to be working. I guess the meanest critter is always a female. They are kinda the leader of the pack. I know Ken told me that their matron came unglued the one day they were working stuff and they actually maced her to protect themselves. otherwise they are not terribley agressive.
 

Simmgal

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 4, 2011
Messages
931
Location
Virginia
Someone near us had a herd of Beefalo that were crossed with cattle or something like that. Their meat is supposed to be pretty flavorful and lean. They sold them because they were pretty tempermental. They were cool to drive by though!

My parents bought some furniture from a family that had a herd of 'em. They said that one night some of their neighbors that didn't like them having buffalo cut the fence and let them out, and their owner had to go through town and shoot them all because they were too wild to get back in. He still has his big bull's head mounted. He said that they would drop off waste concrete in the field for them to scratch on. Tragic it had to end like that :(
 

RidinHeifer

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 5, 2011
Messages
261
Buffalo are generally nuts. There are a couple farms near me that raise both buffalo and beefalo. I remember hearing something on the news a couple years ago where a bunch got loose and ended up on the interstate I think in northern IL.  there is a dirty jobs episode where he works on a buffalo farm...not really dirty just dangerous running them thru a chute.... you know they have done quite a bit of cow related stuff on there but I think its time he.goes around with a vet in the spring replacing prolapses...especially uterine..haha
 

twistedhshowstock

Well-known member
Joined
May 2, 2011
Messages
758
Location
Nacogdoches, TX
Buffalo are much like any wild animal, they were never truly domesticated, so they have a wild streak, and some are completely nuts. However there are some that are complete dolls.  I know several people that have raised them and been involved with them on a small scale.  There are registries, they have big shows and sales just like cattle.  They do have some genetic deffects but being a wild animal predominantly we probably saw them just as expressed naturally as in captivity.  They did have a very limited genetic pool to start with, but the bison herds at many national parks are very well managed and are actually worked annually just like cattle would be, it takes one heck of a pen system.  I do know that many of them exchange bulls or buy them from private breeders in order to keep from inbreeding so rampantly, if I am not mistaken there are 1 or 2 herds at national parks that are closed in order to preserve the phenotype of the animal that was found native in those areas (I believe the herd at Yellowstone is one of those).  I read several articles for an animal science class on it but cant remember all the details.
 

kfacres

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 15, 2008
Messages
3,713
Location
Industry, IL Ph #: 618-322-2582
neighbor has them.. tells me rodeo people prefer buffalo calves over beef calves, as they never give up and last longer on days when people are practicing for their rodeo stuff... whatever, like roping and calf tieing I guess.
 

aj

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 5, 2006
Messages
6,420
Location
western kansas
I have read historical accounts where the males and the females(and the calves) tended to run in different herds except during mating season. This to me makes sense. ;D
 

aj

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 5, 2006
Messages
6,420
Location
western kansas
The pronghorn always fascinated me. Mistakenly called antelope? Apparently they are unique to our area. Here they tend to stay south of interstate 70. They claim they won't jump. So they won't jump a 4 wire fence but they will scoot through one. There are archeology sites of antelope pens or traps......apparently cause they won't jump. They have been around for thousands of years. They are not big.....fairly slight in build......apparently survivors.
 

vc

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 24, 2007
Messages
1,811
Location
So-Cal
Here go AJ, we were headed for my uncles favorite fishing hole and came across this herd on the road, western NV
 

Attachments

  • 100_1512.JPG
    100_1512.JPG
    98.1 KB · Views: 235
  • 100_1513.JPG
    100_1513.JPG
    132 KB · Views: 266
  • 100_1514.JPG
    100_1514.JPG
    138.5 KB · Views: 256

chambero

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 12, 2007
Messages
3,207
Location
Texas
I used to go antelope hunting on a very large buffalo ranch in north central Wyoming.  We watched them "work" buffalo one day.  They would get them "driven" into traps that funneled into some very serious, heavy duty, steel lots.  Once they were ready to push them into working tubs, they got them into a long relatively narrow alley.  Then they got a big square bale of hay on a big tractor and got behind them and used that to shove them up into the tubs.  Buffalo can jump like no other large animal I've seen.  Those working tubs were probably 10 feet tall.  I was standing up on top watching and one big bull decided he'd had enough and almost got in my lap.  I hit the eject button.  He got the front half of his body completely over, but rocked back and forth before falling back into the tub.  If he'd fallen the other direction, life would have gotten real interesting for me.

It is a fact that Antelope will not jump fences. 
 

GoWyo

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 29, 2008
Messages
1,691
Location
Wyoming
Chambero is right - buffalo working facilities are tall and made of iron.  There are several buffalo outfits around here and they do not mess around when it comes to working facilities.  You don't just run out on a ATV and get them in, although you might get them to follow you if you have some bait, like a bucket of grain.

I have seen photos of antelope jumping fences and they can jump, but it is extremely rare - they prefer to crawl under.  We started putting all bottom wires 20-22" above the ground because they loosen them up crawling under.  On their trails, we just tie the bottom wire up to the next one so we don't have a loose bottom wire all the time.
 

Aussie

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 27, 2010
Messages
1,495
Location
Tasmania Australia
aj said:
I always wonder about the bison bison breeding programs. They went almost extinct. Then a few herds were established to save them. Did they try to avoid inbreeding? They had very little choice in matings. Are bison different that cattle as far as genetic defects? Are buffalo ever pedigreed? There was a very small genetic base that they were bred back up from. What about polled buffalo? Colors?
I think this clip explains some of your questions

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbR7peQdu98
 

aj

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 5, 2006
Messages
6,420
Location
western kansas
I have heard that a bison will stand with head into the wind in say a blizzard......whereas cattle will put their butts into the wind. I would think that would be good to prevent the scrotum from frost damage......and they have alltheir hair up front.
 
Top