Southern Plains Bison Pointers Oct 2017
Bizy-bizy-bizy! November is fast and busy with the business of planning for winter, marketing, and herd health management strategies. If you missed the fall planting season in the southern plains, you will need to plan for hay and other nutritional supplementation for bison herds. If you (did) plant during the fall ‘dust-in’ season – you’re probably either waiting for a rain or re-planting because of armyworms. It’s nature and there are no victims, only outcomes – and no ‘crying’ in baseball. That being said, and painfully true, the more native habitats are likely emerging for the cool season with perfection according to the rules of nature and just might take the lead on taking care of biz compared to anything we do this year. Wild Rye/ Onions/ Armadillo Medic and others will be a native nutritional powerhouse before you know it.
Other ‘bizyness’ includes; planning your vaccine, bison-work and worming strategy for fall/winter. Communicating with other bison ranchers is a wise thing to do. There may be new information available to help you care for your herd. This is one reason to attend bison association conferences and glean from others what may (or may not) apply to your herd. Personally, I always learn something when I attend.
This time of year is precious for bison. It’s the time that we can humanely, economically and functionally have our hands on them and check in on their health. We ascertain health in multiple ways including weight, bred or open, seamen tested viable and have the opportunity supply them with a little help in an alien North America. So – what do I mean by the latter? I mean deploying a ‘strategery’ for pathobiological threats and parasitism. This may be different for every herd, so know your enemies by-way of evidence from testing, and react accordingly. This requires lab work and identification of herd health antagonists. If you have had no health issues, your herd is perfect and wonderful – don’t fix what ain’t broken, but keep learning all you can (about your herd) in hopes that you can administer prevention instead of cures.
Get ready – get set – and then just do it!