beefalo

[johno]

Has anyone ever raised beefalo? I know I'm supposed to be starting a meat-free diet, but I find it interesting that their meat is so much healthier than regular beef...

[mbrown]

There are number of ranches in Oklahoma with raise beefalo and several restaurants which serve it. The meat seems very dry to me, but it probably healthier.

Mike

[bluelacedredhead]

I have had both beefalo and buffalo. Very lean, but quite tasty. I wouldn't want to raise them though. Big ugly critters. A poultry acquaintance of ours had us for a bbq a couple of years ago. the food was awesome, but those are very large very ugly animals with minds of their own. NOt something I'd want to tangle with.

[Alan]

No kidding, I had never heard of beefalo untill it was mentioned here and I looked it up. I have had buffalo and quite liked it, so I may have to track down this beefalo sometime

[johno]

Beefalo is leaner (hence dry...) than beef, and has more protein.

They look more like cows than buffalo, but they do have a stronger stampeding instinct. If you have more than one or two of them, they are more likely than cows to spook and plow down a fence. Otherwise, they are moderately gentle. They are 3/8 bison and 5/8 bovine. Only in this ratio are they reliably fertile. It took many years of breeding to get a few oddball fertile animals to achieve this ratio.

There is a farm here who has raised them at least since I was a young'n showing cattle at the county fair. He sells them at the same price as cattle. I had thought about getting a steer from him...

[hoosierheightsfarm]

I've been looking into some kind of animal to raise. I was thinking about buffalo. Or goats. But buffalo are huge, and I'm not. Goats or meat-sheep are much easier to deal with.

Patrick

[cff]

Goats are a lot of fun to fool with

[bluelacedredhead]

Patrick, We went to a social gathering at a buffalo farm a few years ago. The burgers were wonderful! But the expense and special techniques required to raise the buffalo to get those burgers is not something I'd be willing to try.

Very expensive high voltage electric fencing. Tranquilizer darts when to bring an animal down when the vet is required. lots of grain. And a very special marketing strategy to sell something that most people don't want to pay extra for.

I will write her and ask for links if you think you'd like more info, but honestly, I'd rather steer you clear of this idea.

Take Carolina Family Farm's suggestion and get goats.

[hoosierheightsfarm]

I know two people who have buffalo, they don't have electric fences. I've dealth with tranquilizers before. I used to remove nuisance animals from peoples houses.

But I think the simple economics of it is enough to make me choose goats or sheep. One sheep dies, not nearly as much waste as a buffalo!
Thanks,
Patrick

[bluelacedredhead]

Exactly! Something else to consider, sheep (unless you buy a hairless type like Katahdin) require shearing. What we ran into here when I had a flock was, there was no one in the area who did shearing, and the travel costs and minimum numbers of sheep required for the closest shearer to come were price prohibitive. We lucked out and found a used set of shears to do our own shearing, but it was hard on the back. And the price for raw wool was again, not enough to cover shipping costs to the nearest wool co-operative to have it processed.
My former neighbours had a commercial flock, and she actually did spinning. But she said that unless she cleaned, carded and spun her own wool for a special project it was cheaper and easier to buy someone elses. So consequently, I just raised them for the live-at-the-farmgate Easter sales.

[hoosierheightsfarm]

One of my friends, a city doctor turned farmer, is raising "hair-sheep" for meat. I'm not sure which breed they are.
Sheep, deer and the occasional buffalo meat goat milk and cheese. These might be just what need to get started on our more healthy lifestyle. What has to be done to goat milk to make it safe for consumption?
BTW:
blue, my daughter loves your little picture. She always says," Dolly and kitty!" She just turned four.
Patrick

[Alan]

Patrick, if you do decide that your interested in raising goats or sheep let me know, between the folks you know in your area and the ones that come to the farmers markett here in Washington County we could surely scrounge up the info you need to get up and going.

Nice pics of your heard carolina, those goats look great!

[bluelacedredhead]

Patrick, that's so cute about your daughter and my avatar. Thanks for bringing a smile to my face today. It is supposed to be a kitty I think, but I have a very small black dog, so I thought it was perfect for me.

[flowerpower]

CFF, what a gook looking herd

[cff]

Thanks for the complements