What a rewarding experience it is to raise these majestic animals! They have a natural beauty, a natural immunity to most diseases, are easy to work with, and require minimal care. In addition to the joy of raising the elk, we are enthused about what we are producing. Our family takes elk velvet(EVA)capsules daily for general good health. As we have seen extraordinary results in how well our 14 yr old 3-legged border collie Jill would respond to the elk velvet, we also gave EVA to our 1 year old bernese mountain dog to ensure good bone strength as she grew.
Elk meat is tender and flavorful, packed full of protein, iron, B-vitamins, at the same time being low in fat and cholestrol. Our animals are raised here at Lost Trail Ranch in a natural stress free enviornment on our own green grass, supplemented with hay that we grow ourselves, free of all chemicals. We do not feed them antibiotics, additives or growth hormones. Natural grass fed meat, cooked properly, is suberb in taste and overall, just so good for you. Whether it be elk, beef or any other animal the benefits of grass fed are extremely important to your health.
We market the Elk Velvet Capsules from our farm. Capsules for human consumption and powder for your pets. The powder also works amazingly well for wound healing in horses. We have bulls and cows and calves for sale. Our latest calves are from Barracuda bloodlines plus a bull we produced ourselves with genetics through the years on Lost Trail Ranch. We are committed to quality with our Elk and our Elk products.
Interesting reads- www.eatwild.com
Butch and Molly 2017
How it all began- 1998 we brought our first Elk cows home and in May of 1999 excitedly awaited the birth of our first calves. We’ve always joked a bit about how we love to learn from others rather than get the first hand experience ourselves. As it was the first cow to calve had trouble after the baby was born and even though our vet tried to save her, passed away leaving us with learning the ropes of bottle-feeding an elk calf. A bit ironic as its info we’ve never needed again in the 18 years that has passed since. Our bottle baby was named Molly and she thrived. She's been a wonderful part of our farm as numerous people have come to visit and loved to get their picture taken with her, pet her and just enjoy her. She's stayed with the young ones the last years to help quiet them once we decided we did not want to raise calves off her any longer. Everyone that knew her holds Molly in their hearts.
When we first started in the business, we rented breeding bulls to improve the genetics of our herd. In 2001 we made the decision to purchase a bull of our own. What do you know. We came home from the sale with a yearling bull named Butch and we were told he had also been a bottle baby. Through the years we were told “you don’t want to keep him! someone will get hurt! He will have no respect as he was a bottle baby” Well, we learned how to manage Butch and yes sometimes he was a pain to move, but we never allowed ourselves to have to deal with him at all during the rut. the rest of the year Butch was just fine. In fact he was fun! Kids could feel the heat as his new antlers grew each year. He loved attention and he was a kind gentle soul.
Through the years our farm tours consisted of visits with Butch and Molly. We even did a few promotions with them on t.v.
We used them to explain the characteristics of elk, and how the exceptional Elk Velvet Antler is grown.
Along comes Time. This spring Butch - A 17 year old elk man was showing his age. The birds were a bit harsh on him. With a bit of vet care and a lot of love, he regained a bit of condition, but over the summer just didn’t make a huge comeback. We knew in our hearts we would not leave our old boy go through another harsh Canadian winter. I still haven’t figured out which is easier, making the decision or going out and finding it has happened. On August 18th we found our buddy and our friend had gone to his final resting place. Tears had to be shed for the end of an era. RIP my friend.
How long does an elk live? A tame elk in good condition can live a long time. My friend Molly is young looking and in good condition. A few times this summer I’ve noticed a little bit of odd things though. Once she was alone, but by the waterer so figured she just went for a drink. Another time when we were out with the herd she left to go off by herself. Still I never dreamt my sweet Molly was having problems.
sometimes fate steps in. We were showing our elk to some people and Molly was stressed. This was our first knowledge that she had anything seriously wrong with her. I was devastated. she did not look like she would make the night. To lose my sweet Molly such a short time after Butch was inconceivable, especially with having to make the decision. She was still here in the morning but her body was so stressed and every breath was a journey for her. If it wouldn’t have been for fate the night before we would have had to deal with this ourselves and in the short time it had been since Butch the thought of it was truly a nightmare. Thanks to the wonderful compassionate people that volunteered to help us out. I will always hold a special place in my heart for you. My Molly had a bad heart and was aspirating.
The compassion I felt in the next few days by friends, family and by skilled workers that had their own jobs to do with the deaths of my pets was truly cherished. As I bawled my eyes out, I think there was a bit of an insight that sometimes when you raise animals for a business its not always just about the business. There is a true love for what you do and for the animals you have. And in some cases some of those animals hold a place in your heart forever. RIP my friends Butch and Molly. You will be missed on Lost Trail Ranch
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Our Elk
