Quilchena Cattle Company

Quilchena Hotel is home to Quilchena Cattle Company, established in the 1870s. Each year Quilchena runs 4000 head of cattle over 28,000 deeded acres and sustains itself on 1,000 acres of mainly alfalfa forage crops. The link between the ranch and hotel is strong – most of our excellent trail-riding horses are retired ranch horses from the Quilchena Cattle and sometimes you’ll meet one of our cowboys in our saloon or coffee shop.

Quilchena Cattle Company runs about 4,000 head of cattle per year: 1,500 cows, 1,000 yearlings, 1,400 are calves, 90 are bulls.

Annually the Cattle company has a crew of six cowboys and a herd of 80 horses. The ranch runs their cattle over 28,000 deeded acres with a range of more than 50,000 acres. The Quilchena farm has approximately 1,000 acres of forage crops mainly alfalfa, harvested from early June to early September. The farm produces about 2,200 tonnes of hay and 5,400 tonnes of silage making the ranch completely self-sufficient.

Calving begins in early March and by late May the calves have gained enough weight to begin moving to the high country grazing range. Extra hands are usually hired on between calving and branding.

Once at the summer cow camp, a skeleton crew consisting of the cowboss and several hands oversee the herd. Their duties at this time consist of moving the cattle between various grazing grounds, fencing and breaking (training) young horses.

In early September, cattle selected for the beef market are brought back to the home ranch are where approximately 1,000 yearlings are sold. Cattle buyers from stockyards which are linked across Canada and the U.S. allowing the cattle company to reach a larger potential market. After the sale the budget for the upcoming twelve months is established.

By October, the calves in the remaining herd are weaned and trucked down from summer range to the ranch and the final cattle drive takes place at the end of November when the cows are moved to the home ranch and hay fed during the snowy months of winter.