Management, gain and productivity of Peace Country bison (Bison bison)

B. D. Rutley, C. M. Jahn, and R. J. Hudson

Canadian Journal of Animal Science 77: 347 - 353

Abstract

With the increase in bison ranching came an identified need for research to improve productivity and management of commercial bison herds. Previous research, obtained from free-ranging and park herds (McHugh 1958; Meagher 1978; Reynolds et al. 1982; Hawley 1987; Reynolds and Hawley 1987; Hawley 1989; Meagher 1989; Renecker et al. 1989), has limited application to commercial herds for three main reasons. Park and free ranging herds are managed respecting policies of

  1. limited manipulation of stocking densities,
  2. no supplemental feeding, and
  3. male:female ratios near 1: 1.

Growth and production research is limited (Richmond et al. 1977; Schaefer et al. 1978; Hudson and Frank 1987; Koch et al. 1988) or dated (Peters 1958). The techniques that enabled industry expansion have been developed by individual bison producers (Dowling 1990; Anonymous 1993) but have not been confirmed scientifically.

A complete copy of this article is available from:

Centre for Agricultural Diversification
11401 - 8th Street
Dawson Creek, BC  V1G 4G2  Canada

Department of Renewable Resources
University of Alberta
Edmonton, Alberta  T6G 2H1  Canada

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