The American buffalo, often called bison, is indigenous to North America.
A buffalo can run 35 mph for 4-5 hours straight. Their windpipe and heart are twice the size of cattle. Even though a buffalo can weight more than a ton, it can jump a 6 foot high fence from a 20 ft. running start. The buffalo has only one blood type compared to cattle that have 50, and is one of the only animals that has not been detected to have cancer.
In 1800 there were as many as 15-20 million buffalo in the United States.
By 1893 there were sadly only 1100 remaining, as the buffalo was destroyed as man settled the west. Today there are over half a million. Here at Red Run we are working to help preserve this majestic national animal. They are cared for with respect, and carefully bred each year to maintain the herd.
Watching them run, or stampede, is still a grand sight and reminiscent of days on the prairie.
Since they are a wild animal, they are kept on farms with precaution. Fencing consists of 7 strands with three of them being high tensile electric. As long as the buffalo is able to graze and stay with the herd, they are docile and content.
Over 50 acres to graze
The buffalo graze on over 50 acres while the rest of the farm is used for growing grass that is stored as hay for them to eat during the winter months. At various times of the year the buffalo must be brought in for veterinary purposes. To do so, the buffalo are handled through an elaborate corral system consisting of steel piping holding pens, to smaller steel cages, and then a clamping system that literally holds the animal in steel casing until they are released to another series of pens and back to the fields with much relief on their part and ours!
To assist commercial growers, the National Bison Association was formed in 1995. Today the NBA has 2400 members in all 50 states. Red Run Farm is a member of the National and Eastern Bison Association.