Catching Sun
Late May the coats are still
winter-heavy but will start
shedding soon.
Late May the coats are still
winter-heavy but will start
shedding soon.
Inner Corral Fencing
4 x 4 posts with two or three 2 x 6
rails bolted to the posts provide a
reasonably secure fencing.
4 x 4 posts with two or three 2 x 6
rails bolted to the posts provide a
reasonably secure fencing.
I Smell Medicine!
Yaks have a well-developed
sense of smell. I can't fool 'em.
Yaks have a well-developed
sense of smell. I can't fool 'em.
Alice and Mossy Sniffing
Alice shows interest in the new
calf as the calf learns about Alice.
Alice shows interest in the new
calf as the calf learns about Alice.
Serena Cuddles the Woodstove
She's not cold, she just likes
special treatment. Note the yak
jewelry on the front leg.
She's not cold, she just likes
special treatment. Note the yak
jewelry on the front leg.
Yak Info
Attacking the Winter Feed
Near the end of the winter I open
up the remaining stash of hay for
free access. It gives them a
boost to spring fattening and
provides a good compost to what
remains.
Near the end of the winter I open
up the remaining stash of hay for
free access. It gives them a
boost to spring fattening and
provides a good compost to what
remains.
Snow's Gone
The first of spring is a welcomed
time for the yak.
The first of spring is a welcomed
time for the yak.
The Yak Outback
 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
 | |  | |  | |  |
Keeping Yak
Note: With only 4 years experience in handling the yaks, I'm not an expert. In fact, my management style could
be downright dangerous. In no way do I recommend having yaks come in the house or roam free as some of
mine do. While it works for me, and I enjoy the close interaction, it takes vigilant observation and a lot of
interaction with the animals. Even then, it isn't wise nor safe. There's no doubt I'm living on the edge of sanity.
Handling yak is similar to handling cattle and no special equipment is needed other than what is required to
handle most breeds of cattle. They require water, feed and shelter like other livestock even though they handle
the winter much better than other livestock. A regular parasite check and deworming program is also required.
A good livestock vet nearby is important as well.
Unlike bison, they are easy on fences. I use 4 x 4 posts with two and three 2 x 6 rails for fencing the inner corral
and a triple stranded electrical fence (only the top wire is hot) for the outer pastures. My girls, Mossy and YoYo
and occasionally Serena will pass through the electrical fence but the males will not. This year I will replace the
middle braided electrical wire with metal wire and replace the fiberglass posts with 4" cedar posts and see if
that does a better job at containing them. I am fortunate in that the girls when outside of the fence do not wander
and come back into the fenced area when they are ready. There have been times when moose wander through
the yard and take down the fence for them. When this happens the males get out and all hell breaks loose to
chase them down and bring them home. I have Danny-boy lead trained so if there is a break out, once I get a
lead on him and his head turned around he will walk home with me and all the others will follow. Occasionally
he will ping off and take me for a drag somewhere where I don't want to go but a little persistence and a lot of
cussing seems to help immensely. Good neighbors and a yak-friendly community are indispensable at times
like these. The males seem to be more independent and so I have not trained them for packing. They seem to
want to head off in a direction that pleases them if they can get away with it. So, I will wait for a male calf to be
born and then try training him for packing.
be downright dangerous. In no way do I recommend having yaks come in the house or roam free as some of
mine do. While it works for me, and I enjoy the close interaction, it takes vigilant observation and a lot of
interaction with the animals. Even then, it isn't wise nor safe. There's no doubt I'm living on the edge of sanity.
Handling yak is similar to handling cattle and no special equipment is needed other than what is required to
handle most breeds of cattle. They require water, feed and shelter like other livestock even though they handle
the winter much better than other livestock. A regular parasite check and deworming program is also required.
A good livestock vet nearby is important as well.
Unlike bison, they are easy on fences. I use 4 x 4 posts with two and three 2 x 6 rails for fencing the inner corral
and a triple stranded electrical fence (only the top wire is hot) for the outer pastures. My girls, Mossy and YoYo
and occasionally Serena will pass through the electrical fence but the males will not. This year I will replace the
middle braided electrical wire with metal wire and replace the fiberglass posts with 4" cedar posts and see if
that does a better job at containing them. I am fortunate in that the girls when outside of the fence do not wander
and come back into the fenced area when they are ready. There have been times when moose wander through
the yard and take down the fence for them. When this happens the males get out and all hell breaks loose to
chase them down and bring them home. I have Danny-boy lead trained so if there is a break out, once I get a
lead on him and his head turned around he will walk home with me and all the others will follow. Occasionally
he will ping off and take me for a drag somewhere where I don't want to go but a little persistence and a lot of
cussing seems to help immensely. Good neighbors and a yak-friendly community are indispensable at times
like these. The males seem to be more independent and so I have not trained them for packing. They seem to
want to head off in a direction that pleases them if they can get away with it. So, I will wait for a male calf to be
born and then try training him for packing.
Yak Behavior
Yaks are a herd animal and form social groups. The males will be a little less tied to the group and roam off but
never for long. They like to roam as they graze which is easier on pastures as it gives the grass time to grow
before they come around for seconds. They will also graze and roam in the middle of the night. They can be
flighty when one senses danger and for no apparent reason, the whole herd may storm off because one does.
This is perhaps one of the more dangerous aspects of yak herding. They are big, strong and instinctual when
startled. I have never had any problems with coyotes or bears even though I occasionally hear coyotes and see
evidence (poop and prints) of bears in the yard. I believe the yak are instrumental in frightening off predators
that would ordinarily be a nuisance here.
The yak posses a highly developed sense of smell. For instance, they can distinguish subtle differences in the
grain I purchase and will on occasion, turn their noses up at a bag of it yet go right back to the grain on the next
bag. Frustrating! Doctoring the grain with medication when needed just will not work for me. While it doesn't
appear that they are overly fussy about grazing; I have primarily Timothy grass and clover along with some
secondary grasses weeds and wild flowers in my pastures, mine are pretty fussy about anything else. They will
take grain and alfalfa cubes from me but no apples, carrots, or other typical "treats" for livestock pets.
From what I can gather, they eat less than most cattle but I've never raised cattle so I don't know this for sure.
They will take hay, especially in the winter, that most animals would refuse. They may, however, give you the
evil-eye! I always leave a couple of sections of grass long for the winter so they can go out and munch on
whatever is poking up above the snow which is in addition to the hay, grain and alfalfa cubes I feed them.
Often you will see the males wallowing in the grass. Giant dust plumes arise and an occasional clod of turf is
hurled towards the sky. They make their own personal wallow and use it over and over again. Aside from its
grooming benefits and insect removal, I think the wallowing may have some social significance as well. Each
animal leaves its scent behind on the wallow and if another yak should come and use it, I believe that
constitutes a challenge to the owner of the wallow. The females do not seem to wallow although they will lie
down, flat stretched out, looking as if they are dead. I can't tell you how many times I've gone out in the fields to
"wake one up from the dead" only to arouse them from a sound sleep.
The yak don't particularly like dogs and at times I wonder who is herding who. From a dead run initiated by the
Aussies, sometimes a yak will have had just enough of this herding nonsense and turn around and chase the
dogs. When Mossy does this with her "whoopie-pie" eyes, the dogs run off like some demented demon is
chasing them. That Mossy, she's a feisty girl . . . I believe she'd attack hell with a bucket of water! The dogs know
that the electrical fence is no obstacle for her and keep on running even after she's quit. I've seen times when
Mossy lies down on the doorstep and guards the house with the sole purpose of not letting the dogs come
back into the house. This seems to occur mostly at doggie dinner time!
Last year there were two small birds, probably starlings, that hung out constantly with the yaks. I called them
"Front and Back". One would stand on the yak's neck or shoulders while the other would purchase on his rump.
They would pick the hay and insects that collected in the animals fur and so the yak usually let them stay. The
birds stayed all summer and fall but left with the normal bird migrations in November. I hope to see them back
this spring.
A yak's disposition is pretty much what you make of them. It is very easy to "bond" with a yak but I think it wise to
live in their world with their set of rules to do this. Observation is the key to successful non-threatening
interaction with the animals. My management style, and this by no means is common or acceptable practice,
nor am I recommending it, is to watch how the lower ranking animals are behaving in the presence of the
dominant ones, pick up the communication signals and watch how the challenges take place. I know I am on
the lower rungs of the hierarchy but I enjoy a "special status" since I control the food and water especially in the
winter. Knowing what the yak perceives as a challenge and avoiding it leads to non-threatening interactions and
this seems to work for me. Gentle persuasion and patience is key to making a yak think they are doing what
they want to do when they are actually following your lead. This close non-threatening interaction pays off
handsomely when it comes time to medicate an animal, harvest their down, or clip their hooves. I'm not
invading their space or challenging them in any way so, within reason, they let me poke around their eyes to
remove gunk, chase flies, or clip hooves without them going ballistic. One exception to this is when I try to
remove burdocks from their hair. The bane of northern Maine farmland is the burdock and the Canadian thistle.
Two pesty plant species that are almost impossible to get rid of. Unfortunately, the yak seem to love the
burdocks and at times come back from a romp somewhere totally encrusted with them. So much so that at
times they look like they have warts! They think of the attached burdock as "yak jewelery" and take serious
offense to my trying to remove them. Summer rains and wallowing do a reasonable job at burdock removal but
still the human touch is required.
never for long. They like to roam as they graze which is easier on pastures as it gives the grass time to grow
before they come around for seconds. They will also graze and roam in the middle of the night. They can be
flighty when one senses danger and for no apparent reason, the whole herd may storm off because one does.
This is perhaps one of the more dangerous aspects of yak herding. They are big, strong and instinctual when
startled. I have never had any problems with coyotes or bears even though I occasionally hear coyotes and see
evidence (poop and prints) of bears in the yard. I believe the yak are instrumental in frightening off predators
that would ordinarily be a nuisance here.
The yak posses a highly developed sense of smell. For instance, they can distinguish subtle differences in the
grain I purchase and will on occasion, turn their noses up at a bag of it yet go right back to the grain on the next
bag. Frustrating! Doctoring the grain with medication when needed just will not work for me. While it doesn't
appear that they are overly fussy about grazing; I have primarily Timothy grass and clover along with some
secondary grasses weeds and wild flowers in my pastures, mine are pretty fussy about anything else. They will
take grain and alfalfa cubes from me but no apples, carrots, or other typical "treats" for livestock pets.
From what I can gather, they eat less than most cattle but I've never raised cattle so I don't know this for sure.
They will take hay, especially in the winter, that most animals would refuse. They may, however, give you the
evil-eye! I always leave a couple of sections of grass long for the winter so they can go out and munch on
whatever is poking up above the snow which is in addition to the hay, grain and alfalfa cubes I feed them.
Often you will see the males wallowing in the grass. Giant dust plumes arise and an occasional clod of turf is
hurled towards the sky. They make their own personal wallow and use it over and over again. Aside from its
grooming benefits and insect removal, I think the wallowing may have some social significance as well. Each
animal leaves its scent behind on the wallow and if another yak should come and use it, I believe that
constitutes a challenge to the owner of the wallow. The females do not seem to wallow although they will lie
down, flat stretched out, looking as if they are dead. I can't tell you how many times I've gone out in the fields to
"wake one up from the dead" only to arouse them from a sound sleep.
The yak don't particularly like dogs and at times I wonder who is herding who. From a dead run initiated by the
Aussies, sometimes a yak will have had just enough of this herding nonsense and turn around and chase the
dogs. When Mossy does this with her "whoopie-pie" eyes, the dogs run off like some demented demon is
chasing them. That Mossy, she's a feisty girl . . . I believe she'd attack hell with a bucket of water! The dogs know
that the electrical fence is no obstacle for her and keep on running even after she's quit. I've seen times when
Mossy lies down on the doorstep and guards the house with the sole purpose of not letting the dogs come
back into the house. This seems to occur mostly at doggie dinner time!
Last year there were two small birds, probably starlings, that hung out constantly with the yaks. I called them
"Front and Back". One would stand on the yak's neck or shoulders while the other would purchase on his rump.
They would pick the hay and insects that collected in the animals fur and so the yak usually let them stay. The
birds stayed all summer and fall but left with the normal bird migrations in November. I hope to see them back
this spring.
A yak's disposition is pretty much what you make of them. It is very easy to "bond" with a yak but I think it wise to
live in their world with their set of rules to do this. Observation is the key to successful non-threatening
interaction with the animals. My management style, and this by no means is common or acceptable practice,
nor am I recommending it, is to watch how the lower ranking animals are behaving in the presence of the
dominant ones, pick up the communication signals and watch how the challenges take place. I know I am on
the lower rungs of the hierarchy but I enjoy a "special status" since I control the food and water especially in the
winter. Knowing what the yak perceives as a challenge and avoiding it leads to non-threatening interactions and
this seems to work for me. Gentle persuasion and patience is key to making a yak think they are doing what
they want to do when they are actually following your lead. This close non-threatening interaction pays off
handsomely when it comes time to medicate an animal, harvest their down, or clip their hooves. I'm not
invading their space or challenging them in any way so, within reason, they let me poke around their eyes to
remove gunk, chase flies, or clip hooves without them going ballistic. One exception to this is when I try to
remove burdocks from their hair. The bane of northern Maine farmland is the burdock and the Canadian thistle.
Two pesty plant species that are almost impossible to get rid of. Unfortunately, the yak seem to love the
burdocks and at times come back from a romp somewhere totally encrusted with them. So much so that at
times they look like they have warts! They think of the attached burdock as "yak jewelery" and take serious
offense to my trying to remove them. Summer rains and wallowing do a reasonable job at burdock removal but
still the human touch is required.
| Chris Devaney's Yak Outback PO Box 3 New Limerick, ME 04761 (207) 540-2403 |
The yak (Bos grunniens) are cold-hardy ruminants closely related to cattle and bison but with some differences.
Most native yak and the dwindling population of wild yak are found to occupy the "roof of the world", the Tibetan
Plateau and surrounding alpine environment, primarily China, Mongolia, Nepal, Tibet, Bhutan, parts of Russia
including the 'Stans (Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, etc.) which were formerly parts of Russia.
Domesticated for at least 3000 years, the yak continue to play a major role in the social, cultural and religious
aspects of the nomadic people of that area, much like the bison's role in the native American culture. They play
a pivotal role in sustaining civilization on the "roof".
Here in North America, yak have been around since the late 1800's and have been used for meat, hide, fiber,
milk and cheese as well as a pack animal. They have also been many attempts to improve existing cattle lines
through crossbreeding yak to cattle and bison for providing increased winter hardiness and efficiency. Being
closely related to cattle and bison, the hybrid animal results in viable females but sterile males.
The yak have evolved specialized adaptations to thrive at the cold high altitudes. Presumably because of the
rarefied air at these altitudes, they posses more red blood cells than their cousins, they also posses an extra
pair of ribs resulting in a larger lung capacity. To deal effectively with the cold, they have a long luxurious coat
consisting of an inner jacket of warm, soft down and long soft outer hair plus a dense undercarriage of long hair
that hangs down from the belly sometimes touching the ground. The yak have a smaller rumen than do other
cattle breeds and this produces a slower outflow of materials through the digestive tract. The longer residence
time of food in the digestive system is partially responsible for the yak's ability to thrive on lower quality forage
and indirectly a lower food consumption. Both these factors help the yak adapt to the hostile high altitude alpine
environment where food is scarce and winters are long. They tend to put on a healthy layer of fat near the skin
from spring through autumn when graze is plentiful and then eat less in the winter. This fat layer in addition to
providing energy reserves for the winter, acts as thermal insulation to conserve body heat, a survival adaptation
in contrast to heat generating mechanisms. I find that my animals indeed eat less in the winter and are less
active on the very cold days. They do however get frisky and much more active when the temperature warms up
to the teens and above. It gives me the chills but temperatures from 0 to 40 degrees F or so is where they seem
the most comfortable. They have no problem in dealing with the -25 and colder temperatures I see here on
occasion however they are likely to stay in the barn. They love the snow and often sleep on it and plow trails that
I can use when inspecting the fence. They prefer to stay out of the wind during the coldest days or will face into
the wind as their long thick forehead and front quarter hair is thicker there than on the backside. In the hot days
of summer, fortunately all to short here in the "neversummerland" of northern Maine, the yak retreat to the cool
barn or find shade and reduce activity until the cooler afternoon or evening when they get fired up and have to
"get it out of their system".
Most native yak and the dwindling population of wild yak are found to occupy the "roof of the world", the Tibetan
Plateau and surrounding alpine environment, primarily China, Mongolia, Nepal, Tibet, Bhutan, parts of Russia
including the 'Stans (Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, etc.) which were formerly parts of Russia.
Domesticated for at least 3000 years, the yak continue to play a major role in the social, cultural and religious
aspects of the nomadic people of that area, much like the bison's role in the native American culture. They play
a pivotal role in sustaining civilization on the "roof".
Here in North America, yak have been around since the late 1800's and have been used for meat, hide, fiber,
milk and cheese as well as a pack animal. They have also been many attempts to improve existing cattle lines
through crossbreeding yak to cattle and bison for providing increased winter hardiness and efficiency. Being
closely related to cattle and bison, the hybrid animal results in viable females but sterile males.
The yak have evolved specialized adaptations to thrive at the cold high altitudes. Presumably because of the
rarefied air at these altitudes, they posses more red blood cells than their cousins, they also posses an extra
pair of ribs resulting in a larger lung capacity. To deal effectively with the cold, they have a long luxurious coat
consisting of an inner jacket of warm, soft down and long soft outer hair plus a dense undercarriage of long hair
that hangs down from the belly sometimes touching the ground. The yak have a smaller rumen than do other
cattle breeds and this produces a slower outflow of materials through the digestive tract. The longer residence
time of food in the digestive system is partially responsible for the yak's ability to thrive on lower quality forage
and indirectly a lower food consumption. Both these factors help the yak adapt to the hostile high altitude alpine
environment where food is scarce and winters are long. They tend to put on a healthy layer of fat near the skin
from spring through autumn when graze is plentiful and then eat less in the winter. This fat layer in addition to
providing energy reserves for the winter, acts as thermal insulation to conserve body heat, a survival adaptation
in contrast to heat generating mechanisms. I find that my animals indeed eat less in the winter and are less
active on the very cold days. They do however get frisky and much more active when the temperature warms up
to the teens and above. It gives me the chills but temperatures from 0 to 40 degrees F or so is where they seem
the most comfortable. They have no problem in dealing with the -25 and colder temperatures I see here on
occasion however they are likely to stay in the barn. They love the snow and often sleep on it and plow trails that
I can use when inspecting the fence. They prefer to stay out of the wind during the coldest days or will face into
the wind as their long thick forehead and front quarter hair is thicker there than on the backside. In the hot days
of summer, fortunately all to short here in the "neversummerland" of northern Maine, the yak retreat to the cool
barn or find shade and reduce activity until the cooler afternoon or evening when they get fired up and have to
"get it out of their system".
Winter Grazing
Long stems poke above the
snow providing winter grazing
activity for the yak..
Long stems poke above the
snow providing winter grazing
activity for the yak..
Passive Leadership
It's all in how you interact with
them. Time and patience pays
off.
It's all in how you interact with
them. Time and patience pays
off.