Yak’s

[PhilG]

My neighbor has a couple dozen Yak’s, any one ever harness or pull with them?

[Scott G]

A friend of mine who is a forestry equipment dealer raises and shows them at great western.

He tells me they taste really good…

[CharlyBonifaz]

http://img26.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pict0006jh5.jpg
http://img26.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pict0008co7.jpg
http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/244/pict0011ic8.th.jpg
yaks with original Nepalese yoke in the zoo at Görlitz during our bullockie-meeting 09
or with original Nepalese packsaddle
http://img50.imageshack.us/img50/4246/pict0012zk0.th.jpg
http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/374/pict0022zf9.th.jpg
http://img50.imageshack.us/img50/5195/pict0019xo5.th.jpg
http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/8792/pict0015ea6.th.jpg

[Robernson]

I always thought that they were taller…hmmm…guess I was wrong.
~~R =)

[CharlyBonifaz]

male yaks are indeed quite large, these were females

[Berta]

huh, where I worked we had a yak steer and a Dzo (yak x dairy cow) steer.

the full yak was about the same size as your pix and he was full grown. The Dzo was a bit bigger ’cause he was half holstein.

Maybe there are different breeds or regional varieties that get big…?

[8BitFarm]

wow, how cool! I like how small they are, they look easy for a short-stack like me to be around 😀 I had often thought of yaks for fiber(I’m also a weaver and a spinner when I’m not up to something in the barn or field) but I didn’t really think about “yak-ox”… hmmm, maybe I can talk the husband into them after all…

[Gulo]

@PhilG 20030 wrote:

My neighbor has a couple dozen Yak’s, any one ever harness or pull with them?

We have some yaks, and yes they do taste very good! Probably the best red meat i’ve eaten.

We originally thought we might get some draft work out of them, as they do in their native climes. But we soon found out you’d kill them working them in anything but winter conditions. They overheat very easily even in tepid weather.

The reason they’re so small is probably inbreeding – reduced size has been a problem in isolated herds in their native lands for this reason. The solution there was the introduction of wild yak genes. It worked! Wild yaks are a whole different ballgame – they look similar, but are closer to Bison in size. Can’t be done here due to importation laws. At any rate, our yaks are very small, too. All the yaks in North America descended from a small group in Canada, so i’m told. The gene pool is probably about shoe-sole deep.

[bivol]

even more reason to cross them to cattle if a working animal is needed. because of hybrid vigour, the dzo are the best animals for work, as long it isn’t scorching.

dzo are traditionaly used for heaviest jobs, like plowing or heavy packing, because they’re calmer and way bigger and stronger than either oxen or yaks.

they’re the mule of the bovine world, only that female dzo are fertile.

[Berta]

just encountered this video while puttering around on the ‘net. lots of yak and a much hyped but unimpressive yak race.
http://www.vbs.tv/watch/the-vice-guide-to-travel/mongolian_yak_festival–2

[near horse]

I tasted some yak last week at our local co-ops “Taste the Palouse” event. It was just burger but tasted pretty good – I think it’s marketed as a lower fat meat.

I didn’t know that yaks were in the Bos genus – so I thought crossing them would be more difficult – more like muskox (Ovibos) which aren’t crossed w/ Bos w/o serious intervention (ie. creating a chimera). Now muskox fiber is some nice, valuable stuff as well, on the order of merino/cashmere/angora.

[Anonymous]

Hi
I traveled a lot in Nepal, Yaks are used over 3,500 metres, below that Dzo’s (Yak x Cow) and below them pure cows. The ones I met on the trail you gave them space or they made their own space!!

[Gulo]

@KC63 32543 wrote:

Hi
I traveled a lot in Nepal, Yaks are used over 3,500 metres, below that Dzo’s (Yak x Cow) and below them pure cows. The ones I met on the trail you gave them space or they made their own space!!

I expect they’d just walk right around you. I find them much calmer than cows, and much smarter, as has been the experience of others i know who’ve had both.

The wild yak is a huge animal, like a bison, and they are reintroducing wild genes to the Asian herd.

I’ve seen them crossed with bison, but the resulting animals i’ve witnessed are very nervous. I’ve also seen crosses to highland cattle, the females then crossed back to yak, the resulting offspring being basically larger yaks with a vaguely brindle coat. Beautiful.

I recently blogged on yaks, if anyone’s interested:
http://www.newfarmer.ca/3/post/2012/02/the-cow-that-should-have-been.html

[Author]

Posts