What are you feeding your bison?

Jan

Giving bison mineralsIf you’ve looked in our image gallery, you’ve seen pictures like the one at left of us giving the bison some type of feed. These pellets contain compressed vitamins and minerals and are commonly referred to as range cake or range cubes.

Bison primarily eat grass. In the winter, grass is less plentiful and nutritious than in the warmer months. Bison need supplements of hay to ensure they have enough to eat. We have about one-half the ranch in brome hay, which we mow and bale in May or June to feed our bison through the winter.

Further supplementing the bison diet with range cake helps in multiple ways:

  • The bison get vitamins and minerals.
  • When we give them range cake, they get to know us as the people that bring them goodies, and that helps build a good relationship with them.
  • Maybe the most important reason: If the bison get out, we have a way to entice them back into their home pasture.

You can see the Ranger all-terrain vehicle (ATV) in the background. We use it to drive among the bison to give them range cake, check water and fences and for a whole host of other ranch chores.

The bison have become accustomed to seeing the ATV and associate it with good things. Because they know we use it to bring them goodies, they come running when they hear it. It’s important to have a way to gather the bison to you because herding bison is ineffectual. The ATV and range cake gives us a way to lead them instead of trying to herd them.

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