Scottish Highland and Yak?

Olivia67 · #1 06/20/12, 08:41 AM

O.k. next question, could a Scottish Highland bull be bred to a Yak cow? Or is the Yak too small for a SH bull? I've only seen online that Yak bulls are being used over SH cows not the other way around.

lasergrl · #2 06/20/12, 09:42 AM

yes, Ive seen the results. looked like a spotted highland. dont know how they were produced but most people use the yak bull.

MO_cows · #3 06/20/12, 10:03 AM

In crossbreeding different species, sometimes it has to be done one way or the other to keep the cow's body from rejecting the fetus. With beefalo, the bison-bovine hybrid, I think a bison bull has to breed a bovine cow the first cross. If you breed the bovine bull to a bison cow, the bison cow won't carry the pregnancy. It might be the other way around, but that's the concept.

What is the purpose of crossing cattle and yak?

Olivia67 · #4 06/20/12, 03:06 PM

From what I've read, when a yak and meat cattle are crossed the result is a very lean meat, very low in cholostrol, yadda, yadda, yadda, basically the cross retains all the benefits of the yak but is bigger. If the resulting cross is a male it is infertile but a crossed female is fertile. Which is fine with me because any and all boys would be butchered anyway, I'm just concerned about the female yak being able to deliver a viable, healthy calf. I have a chance to buy a young SH bull for a very good price and I really like the looks of him too but I'd like to buy a yak or two in the future without having to invest in another bull.

SpaceCadet12364 · #5 06/20/12, 04:39 PM

If You go with a bull that has small calves it is easy on the cow. My highlands typically are 50 lbs or less for bulls and about 40 lbs for heifers. Which is about the same as a Tibetan yak. They are smaller when grown than HIghland's. Highland cows are about the size of a yak bull the closer the cow is to the bull in size then breeding is easier for cow. Slightly smaller calf easier for cow to deliver. That should be a interesting cross. If using a highland bull look at sire if he is large frame over 1300lbs I would not use him because
you are liable to hurt the yak cow. Cow should be about 60% of bulls weight min..