Yaks!

Sunday was a busy, busy day.

We woke up a little later than our usual 0700, which was unfortunate, as there was fencing to be done. Our house guests were drafted in assisting as we threw a bunch of 14 gauge 2x4x4' wire mesh fence on to a little paddock to prepare it for the new arrivals. Luckily, we got it all up (I love you, zip ties. You are awesome.) with time enough to spare so we could actually eat breakfast and get the food and water set up.

At around 1100, a huge pickup with a big trailer arrived. After a small mishap involving getting a teeny tiny bit stuck, the driver was able to maneuver into place. No livestock were visible, as it was an enclosed side trailer. The door was opened to reveal:

Our wee herd!

Checking out the lay of the land is important, as this is our lead bull. He is Mr. In Charge, even though he is only a year and a half old. Good boy.

Leading the charge out of the trailer!

This is Sir Snortimir, or Snort for short. Snort is very good at defending the babies, and is only a little bitey when fed wookie cookies. To acquaint you with the terminology, Snort is a Royal yak.

The pack of wee ones.

Gruntulus Maximus, or Grunt. Grunt is a sweetie, who also loves his wookie cookies. We have plans to train him to be a pack yak. Grunt is a trim yak.

Maria. The boys get silly names, the girls get musical-based names. Hopefully she will have a nice brood of Von Trapp calves in her future. Maria is a black yak, which you can tell because she has a grey nose. Yak colour conventions are kind of...odd.

Millie, who is the littlest one, named after the little spitfire from Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. Again, naming conventions should be easy with her starting us off. Millie is an imperial yak, as she is all black with a black nose. You'd think that would make her black, but, no. Crazy yak people.

The chickens aren't sure what to think of their new neighbours.

We have another 10 year old cow named Kate Grey-Nosed coming around Thanksgiving, once we're assured that she is bred.

So, lo! We are yak owners! We have a business and everything! Yes, we've gone into business with my family. My dad fronted the herd money, and my sister inadvertently named it...Because it is us, our company is The Silly Yaks, LLC. (Yes, Jen has celiacs, thus the pun. She had demanded a photo of a silly yak, and, well, one thing led to another. We love puns. See also: Off Kilter Designs for the leather kilt business. Jackasses are us!)

Expect lots of yak photos, for they are sweethearts and fuzzballs. I'll be collecting their fibre to spin/sell, and we'll sell off additions that don't fit on our 10 acres. Anyone who doesn't sell and isn't pulling their weight (ho ho) will go to the freezer, since, wow, yak meat is YUMMY. Leaner than chicken, with a flavour that is kind of a cross between beef, bison and elk, but tastier than any of the above.

Yay yaks!

Edited to add: Go check out the folks we bought the herd from. They are super friendly, full of great information, and their sense of humour is nearly as bad as ours! I knew I had missed something when I made this post...I was being rushed off for an exciting evening of watching Crocodile Dundee and spinning alpaca fluff. I am a party animal, I tell ya!