Some of our herd grazing in the tree field with the first snow of the season falling...

Pasture Raised Yaks, for Meat and Fiber

We have a small herd of yaks that we raise primarily for meat but also for fiber.  They are beautiful, smart animals, and we enjoy especially the antics of the calves.  When they are on pasture next to the clinic cars are always slowing down to check them out.  We get a lot of "what are they?" questions.  We like their calm demeanor as well as the unique look. 
    We do have meat available for purchase at the clinic.  We hope to have fiber products available soon as well, ranging from raw fiber to yarn and fiber art.  The yak undercoat is very fine and makes amazing yarn.  The difficulty arises in the method of collection- no shearing, just brushing.  The guard hairs are course, and the brushing removes only the downy hair.

Our big bull, "George" with a couple of his girls

Wading, a favorite pastime in the heat

Yaks are surprisingly interesting creatures.  We had no idea about their quirks until we purchased our first group in 2009.  We bought them from a rancher in Idaho, got a trailer, drove up there(which is a story in itself), and brought them home.  We were in the process of building fence, so they only had a small area at first.  That turned out to be ideal, as it gave us and them a chance to get to know each other.  They became much friendlier, and we got more comfortable around them.  You should have seen the party when we let them out into their new, bigger pen.  If you haven't seen a 1200 pound bull running around with his tail up over his back and his tongue lolling, you are missing out!

Yaks for Sale:

We currently have only one yak for sale.  He is a yearling royal steer.  We recently sold "Bubba" and "Yakul," three and two year old bulls.  You can check out our "Animals for Sale" page for other animals available.

Yaks tolerate the heat, but love the cold weather.  The first chilly fall day they are in seventh heaven!  And the fun thing is that they let you know it.
    Yaks are really efficient with food intake, consuming less than cattle based on a percentage of body weight.  They are also quite neat and clean, no poopy tails here!  And their tails... they are big bushy things, more closely resembling a horse tail than any cow tail I've ever seen.
    They are very hardy animals, having minimal medical issues.  The calves only weigh about 30-35lbs at birth, which makes it easy on mama.

Three of our 2012 calves, 1 royal and 2 black trims