Animal Management

Feeding

Like many of us, our guests and customers are increasingly health conscious. That's why we do not use any antibiotics, hormones, animal by-products or growth enhancing additives at Canadian Rocky Mountain Ranch. Our herds are rotationally grazed on both native grass and alfalfa grass pastures. During the non-grazing season, we provide supplemental forage on pasture for our animals. We typically feed alfalfa and brome grass hay and/or green oat hay. The elk are also given whole oats and/or supplement pellets containing peas, dehydrated alfalfa meal, wheat mill run, beet pulp and mineral and vitamins. These cervid supplemental pellets provide additional energy and protein to support lactation, velvet antler growth, and the growth of strong weaned calves. Our animals are vaccinated and injected to control parasites annually.

Wide Open Spaces

To bring the best game meat in the world to the table, in a natural and humane way, we raise our animals in spacious, open, stress-free conditions. This allows room for freedom of movement and natural social behaviors to ensure maximum development and outstanding yields. For us, it makes sense economically, and it makes sense ethically.

Humane Handling

Humane handling and treatment of our animals is a high priority at Canadian Rocky Mountain Ranch. We strive to handle all our animals calmly and peacefully. Through the years we've continuously developed stress reducing handling methods and facilities to ensure a healthy product.

In 2001 and 2002, we participated in ground breaking international research to develop a painless and residue-free method of removing velvet antlers from our male elk.