Anyone else have Yaks?

[Illia]

Good tip - I once heard it can get hairy, but never thought of that being the reason milk isn't very popular from them. Most yak farms I know usually just use the fibers and meat because they don't produce dairy-quantities of milk.

Com'on, there's gotta be someone else out there with these shaggy lil beasts!

They have so much more use than most other livestock, its kinda sad not many people get into the business.

 

[michickenwrangler]

A yak cow may be able to produce some table milk for you, even if she won't produce in commercial quantities. If you've got two cows each producing a quart a day each for the table, that's almost 3 1/2 gal. a week. That's about what we go through just for drinking and cheesemaking.

 

[Bebop]

Oh my goodness! How cute!
I would love to get into yaks one day. I totally agree with PeepsInc, would rather raise yaks than llamas any day! So versatile!

 

[Illia]

Sooo it looks like we'll be getting one yak heifer, and two Watusi heifers. (What is a Watusi? This is a Watusi bull for example) We're thinking on going with purebred Yak meat and yak fibers, but also crossing the Watusi and Yak for meat, as the Watusi will give them size, a little more speed in growth, and color. Also, I believe the Watusi will take our rain better, making the crossbred quite ideal. The best part is that if male, the crossbred offspring are sterile and thus all the more reason to eat.

Currently though our Yak is now learning the rules of halters and lead-lines. Every day I spend about an hour or more with him outside the barn he's usually stuck in, and I teach him manners on how to be on a leadline. He's learning pretty quickly, but his favorite thing to do for some reason is to fall flat on his side if he doesn't want to go where you want to go. I'll be pulling him, and he walks foreward, then he puts his feet together and flop! He's down, and gets back up for more trouble.

Oh, and since there is no Yak milk replacer, I actually use lamb milk replacer for him. Apparently it is the best to use on yaks because of its fat content.

I'll post pics tomorrow if it isn't too rainy. We've had nice sun for almost a week now, but forecast calls for rain tomorrow.

 

[SillyChicken]

I'd love to get Yak or Watusi

 

[delyaks]

Yes, we have about 150 Yaks here in western Colorado! Check out our website for a lot of info about our Yaks and Yakmeat and other Yak products. Great animals that can supply about everything you can imagine! Bob

 

[Illia]

Of course you do! You're who bought Stormy Glick's golden yak for $15K some years ago, right? When ours are old enough, I'd definitely want a golden from you.

 

[YakLady]

Hey there!

Haven't logged on in a while, but received a PM from someone letting me know there's another yak person on here. Welcome!

Hey, Bob!!!! Welcome to the chicken place!

 

[YakLady]

Quote:
Cute little guy, btw. You mentioned that my bull looks similar. The bull who I'm assuming you're referring to is Jesse, who was processed a couple of months ago. He was a grey-nose, and was purchased for meat. Our breeder bull is an Imperial named Raven. All my girls are bred, so hopefully I'll have some Imperial babies this Summer! I recently went to Denver to the IYAK meeting and the NWSS. I found out that the meat yaks that I had purchased from Idaho (the grey-nose's) had been in Washington at some point. It's possible that your bull baby is related to my Idaho yaks. Hey, just a word of caution... I learned so much while I was in Denver. One thing that I learned is that if you are bottle feeding a bull who is going to be used as a breeder later on down the road, you need to be very very careful. It was even brought up during the meeting as a topic that should be addressed to new breeders. When they are bottle fed, they lose all fear of humans. That's not a good thing once their testosterone gets going, and especially when they're in breeding mode. Raising yaks can be so much fun, and I want you to enjoy every facet of it! Don't get hurt.

We've got all out babies in the weaning pen right now (well...8-10 month old babies). I have a bottle fed steer who is now 10 months old, and was weaned at 6 months. He's in with the rest of the weanlings just for herd bonding reasons. He doesn't have any fear of me at all, unless I stomp my foot in warning. He's big now, and will run up and 'snuggle' to get a treat. Having those big horns and all those pounds 'snuggle' up can be a bit overwhelming. LOL! Since he's a steer, he won't have the aggression of a bull, but I can see how that could be dangerous. Have lots of fun, but please be careful! If you do intend to use him as a breeder, you should get him off the bottle ASAP, and let him maintain some distance from you.

 

[delyaks]

Hi Cayce! Good to be here and Yak about Yaks!! How long have you been on this site?
We have had chickens for years and didn't know about this site.
Good advice about not bottle feeding Yak bulls.
It's just not fun when the Yak wants to play, and doesn't understand personal space.
Not so bad when a Yak cow wants to nudge you for attention.
Bob