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Breeding
Unlike cattle, bison can produce calves for 20 years or more.
- Female bison breed when they are two years old and have their first calves when they are three.
- Cows can live to be 20-25 years old, having a calf each year under the right conditions.
- The gestation period for the American Buffalo is 9 1/2 months. Under normal conditions, cows have their calves from mid-April through June. Cows generally have one calf per year, but twins very rarely occur.
- The calves are very small when born, normally weighing between 25-35 lbs. Although small, these little critters are very tough and are up walking and running with their mothers within a couple of hours.
- Cows are very protective of their young. They leave the herd to have their calves and then remain away from the herd for a period between 6 hours to several days.
- Bison calves are normally weaned when they are around 6 months old. At that time the females generally weigh around 350 lbs and males weigh approximately 425 lbs.
- Under range conditions, bison cows seldom have calving problems.
- The bull to cow ratio for bison is approximately one bull per 15 cows.
- Buffalo have not been successfully artificially inseminated on a consistent basis.
