Yak Facts by KathyDV
What IS a Yak? Yak (Bos grunniens) are cold-hardy ruminants closely related to cattle and bison. I tell people our Yak looks like a buffalo and Holstein cow cross and that is pretty much what he looks like! In recent years they have caught the eye of those who enjoy the unusual and we are beginning to hear more about this fascinating animal.
Where are they from? Most wild yak are found in the area we call the “roof of the world,” the Tibetan Plateau and nearby areas of China, Mongolia, Nepal, Tibet, Bhutan, parts of Russia. Yaks have been domesticated for at least 3000 years and it is widely accepted that man would not have been able to live in this area AT ALL without Yaks. Yaks provided everything; food, shelter…everything! Yaks continue to play a huge role in the social, cultural and religious aspects of the nomadic people of that area. Modern day nomads in the above mentioned areas still rely on the Yak for everything, just as their ancestors did.
Since the late 1800’s Yaks have been in the US and Canada and used for meat, hide, fiber,milk and cheese as well as a pack animal. The domestic Yak is a creation of crossing the wild Yaks with the various strains of cattle in the areas they come from. This has continued here in North America, where we have crossed Yaks with all kinds of cattle. The resulting males are sterile, but the females are not. This brings in hybrid vigor and allows for animals more acclimated to cold temperatures and more.
The yak have evolved specialized adaptations to thrive at the cold high altitudes. They create more red blood cells than other bovines, and they have an extra pair of ribs which gives them a larger lung capacity. They have a long luxurious coat consisting of a warm, soft down undercoat and long soft outer hair plus a super thick extra layer of long hair that hangs down from the belly almost touching the ground.
Yaks have a smaller stomach/rumen than do other cattle breeds and this produces a slower outflow of materials through the digestive tract. This allows the Yak to thrive on much less foods than cows and a lower quality food. This makes for an animal that can live on very little, in very harsh climates. Yaks prep for winter by packing on a lot of fat and pounds, providing themselves with a fat layer that acts as thermal insulation. We are now going into our first winter with Kundun and I am interested to see how he handles our northern Minnesota winter. That said, I am sure he will be just fine. Today, Steve and I were out doing our daily outside animal check…looking at the alpacas, Nyker (fat pony) and Kundun. It is hovering around zero and he was dancing, prancing and spinning…kicking his heels up with glee! He was just enjoying being a Yak!
We got Kundun at one week of age. He was bottle fed a combination of cow milk replacer and lamb milk replacer until he was four months old. From four months until seven months he has gotten his milk in a bucket. He was knocking me around as he drank from his bottle and I said, “That’s it! Time for you to be a bucket baby!” At about two months of age he started nibbling at hay and grazing just a bit. Now, he also steals sweet feed from the alpacas and has decided that is some pretty excellent Yak Snack.
As we live with Kundun I will keep filling you in on his uniquenesses!
