The day we toured the Isabel Bloom Studios, we were also invited to visit CW Livestock Ranch near Bluegrass, Iowa. This is where they raise American Bison for meat. We met with owner Nancy Winter and a young man whose name I did not get. They told us a little bit about their operation and invited us to look at the animals on our own. They have bison, llamas, donkeys, two camels, horses and peafowl. Two of the bison, Thunder and Lightning are tame. They will allow you to touch them and will eat out of your hand. The other animals will eat out of your hand also. The ranch also has two new wind turbines. One is enough to run the electricity for the ranch and they sell excess back to the power company. The public is invited to visit the ranch anytime. Special tours may be arranged with prior notice, or you can just show up to look at the animals on your own. Be sure to bring stale bread or fruit or vegetables to feed the animals. The leanto has a door leading to where you can feed Thunder and Lightning. Before we left, we purchased some bison meat and Nancy gave us here recipe for bison roast. You will find this at the bottom of this page. We have already eaten the roast and it was delicious. We saved all the dripping to make extra gravy. CW Livestock is owned by Lyndall and Nancy Winter They can be found on the web at www.WinterBison.com We returned the following Saturday with Rick, Selene and Abi. It was a warm fall day and we brought plenty of bread to feed the animals. |
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 This is a two month old bison  This stuffed bison was rescued from a bar, where the drunks would ride it.   Normally running 100 head of bison, the herd is now at 38 because of the high demand of the meat. They are now butchering animals before they have reached desired size.     Just us jackasses.  Talk about a bad hair day.  Here is Nancy's instructions for a fantastic bison roast. Low and slow is the key to cooking bison. Because the meat is so lean, you are not cooking fat and cooking time and temperature need to be lowered. Do not overcook bison. For a chuck roast, you place your roast in a crock pot, adding two cans of beef broth. You may cook from frozen if desired. Cook on low for 6 hours. Add a can of mushrooms toward the end of cooking. Season with a little garlic powder. Remove Roast to platter and make gravy using drippings and milk mixed with cornstarch. Adjust seasonings and serve with potatoes or buttered noodles. We cooked our roast this way and it was wonderful. |
 This is the head of a two year old bison  Thunder and Lightning        The ranch was home to a some Zebras. These were bred with donkeys, resulting in Zeedonks. The zebra have since died.  Marlene feeds one of the bison. |
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