Mystic T Ranch Yaks

Our sale policy - We require a non-refundable 50% deposit in Cash or Postal Service Money Orders to hold a yak. Once received, a deposit locks in the yak price and the yak for the buyer. November through January that holding deposit is 75% due to the National Western Stock Show higher demand for yaks and holiday vet/lab scheduling issues.

We will quote you a price for the yak but that price does not include vet fees which are subject to specific State of Destination regulations which vary and are subject to change. We will research those vet fees and they are added on to the price of the yak as part of the sale.

Should you ask us to hold a yak for pickup beyond 4 weeks, we require payment of feed and boarding costs for the additional holding time.

Final payment must be in Cash or Postal Service Money Orders. Final payment is due before yak loading at pickup. We price our yaks at a fair price and can do so by not inflating yak pricing to cover unexpected vet fee increases. (Our prices are subject to change and vary between individual yaks.)

Call us at 303-582-5052 or use our contact page to get pricing on individual yaks.

Note: Current vet costs for 2015 per yak to meet required interstate transport regulations from our location to an out-of-state location with strict state regulations are averaging in the $350 to $500 range depending on age and sex of yak. Some states only require Health Certificates, others require multiple tests or vaccinations in addition to the Health Certificate. Check with your State Department of Agriculture to find out the requirements.
If you buy more than 1 yak from us, the vet trip fee is charged per trip not per animal and only one Health Certificate listing all the yaks purchased is required.

Questions & Answers

Why do you require a Postal Service Money Order Deposit or Cash rather than a Personal Check?

It can take up to 14 business days for a personal check to completely clear in the US banking system. A Postal Service Money Order is secure funds and equivalent to a Cash deposit. It allows us to tell other buyers the yak is officially under contract once that deposit is received. We can begin vet scheduling for tests and paperwork required for the destination state so that the buyer can pick up the yak within a month or less from the date we receive the deposit.

Why don't you add the vet costs into the price of the yak like other breeders?

We want you to know what you are actually paying for and the vet costs vary based on the age, sex, and destination state the yak is being transported to. Vet fees are subject to change and we have no control over what the vet charges for trip fees, destination state required tests or health certificates for transport. Rather than estimating what the vet expenses might be and adding them into the price of the yak, we have found the price is often better for the buyer if we separate the vet fees from the yak price.

Why don't you post your yak pricing on the website?

Each yak is an individual with its own specific qualities and level of training. Yaks are a commodity and pricing fluctuates with yaks. The longer we have a yak that is for sale, the more feed, care and other expenses we have associated with that yak so we must adjust our pricing to reflect this. We are in the business of selling yaks and our responsibility is to supply all that is necessary to maintain the health of our yaks. (Some yak owners find they must "fire sale" yaks at a loss when they are unable to afford to feed them. Long before that those yaks have probably had reduced feed as the owner has struggled to continue operating. The yaks from these type of "fire sale"s may be less expensive at purchase but their health may also be compromised and restoring them to full health could be an additional expense for the new owner.)

Why are only some or your yaks for sale?

We are a small ranch and so we cannot keep every yak that we have purchased or that is born on our ranch. All the yaks on our ranch have high quality genetics we've chosen from the very top yak lines in conformation and fiber. Our goal has been to diversify and improve the quality and genetics of our yaks and to have a herd of yaks born on our ranch rather than just owning yaks born on other ranches.

Since yaks were originally introduced into the US, a significant amount of line breeding has occurred for specific traits and appearance. We want to move away from the intense line breeding that has been done by other breeders while maintaining the benefits that have been gained and simultaneously reducing unintended faults or defects. To do this, we must sell some yaks that are too closely related for breeding. At times it is a tough choice to choose to sell a yak because they become part of our family and we know each individual yak so well. However, this does provide a buyer an opportunity to acquire a top quality yak that otherwise they might not have had the opportunity to own and because our yaks have so much daily contact, they are friendly and easy to work with once you gain their trust.

Are all your yaks for sale halter or pack trained?

The first yaks we purchased from other breeders had different levels of handling. Some were never halter trained. Others, the breeders had on a halter or collar just long enough to get them to tolerate being tied for long periods at the stock show. Tolerating tying is not true halter training but it facilitates yak sales. Yaks born on our ranch, once weaned, are started on halter and to lead. There is a significant time commitment involved with halter training and getting a yak to lead easily. Our starting point is with imprinting at birth and daily increasing trust before we begin the halter and lead work. Each yak has its own personality and not every yak is suited for halter and pack.

Do you ever deliver yaks that have been purchased from your ranch?

In the past, we have will delivered yaks locally to a buyer's destination when the buyer has no suitable trailer for transport. We advise checking with us if you don't have a suitable trailer for transport to determine if your property is within our local delivery area.

If you are located beyond our local delivery area or in another State, we have a few connections with transporters that may be able to assist you.

If you have your owns means of transportation (a suitable horse trailer for younger yaks or a stock trailer for more mature yaks) this will be your least expensive method of transport. If not, you may be able to rent or borrow a suitable trailer for transporting. Just remember, when determining which trailer to bring, that the yak's horn spread can be too wide, in some cases, to fit through a regular horse trailer door opening. It is best to determine if the horns will fit through the trailer door before making the trip to pick up the yak.

We require a non-refundable 50% deposit in Cash or prearranged Electronic Bank Transfer to hold a yak. Once received, a deposit locks in the yak price and the yak for the buyer. A Personal Check with sufficient funds backing it will also hold a yak but not until the check has been posted to our account which can take up to 14 Business Days. Deposits made with a Personal Check delay scheduling and pick up of the yak by up to 14 Business Days.

Should you ask us to hold a yak for pickup beyond 4 weeks, we require payment of feed and boarding costs for the additional holding time. Those costs are due in Cash or a prearranged Electronic Bank Transfer must be completed before the yak can be loaded at pickup.

Final payment must be in Cash or through a prearranged Electronic Bank Transfer. Final payment is due before yak loading at pickup. We price our yaks at a fair price and can do so by not inflating yak pricing to cover unexpected vet fee increases. (Our prices are subject to change and vary between individual yaks.)

Call us at 303-582-5052 or use our contact page to get specific pricing on individual yaks.

Note: Current vet costs for 2018 per yak to meet required interstate transport regulations from our location to an out-of-state location with strict state regulations are averaging in the $150 to $350 range depending on age and sex of the yak. Some states only require Health Certificates which equates to significantly less cost than average while other states require multiple tests or vaccinations in addition to the Health Certificate. Check with your State Department of Agriculture to find out their requirements. If you buy more than 1 yak from us at the same time, the vet trip fee is charged per trip not per animal and only one Health Certificate listing all the yaks purchased is required which saves you money and reduces the vet cost per yak to meet required interstate transport regulations.

Questions & Answers

Why do you reccommend a Eletronic Bank Transfer or Cash rather than a Personal Check?

It can take up to 14 business days for a personal check to completely clear in the US banking system. An Electronic Bank Transfer is secure and equivalent to a Cash deposit. It allows us to tell other buyers the yak is officially under contract once that deposit is received. We can begin vet scheduling for tests and paperwork required for the destination state so that the buyer can pick up the yak within a month or less from the date we receive the deposit.

Why don't you add the vet costs into the price of the yak like other breeders?

Why don't you post your yak pricing on the website?

Each yak is an individual with its own specific qualities and level of training. Yaks are a commodity and pricing fluctuates with yaks. The longer we have a yak that is for sale, the more feed, care and other expenses we have associated with that yak so we must adjust our pricing to reflect this. We are in the business of selling yaks and our responsibility is to supply all that is necessary to maintain the health of our yaks. (Some yak owners find they must "fire sale" yaks at a loss when they are unable to afford to feed them. Long before that those yaks have probably had reduced feed as the owner has struggled to continue operating. The yaks from a "fire sale" may be less expensive at purchase but their health may also be compromised and restoring them to full health could be an additional expense for the new owner.)

Why are only some of your yaks for sale?

Are all your yaks for sale halter or pack trained?

The first yaks we purchased from other breeders had different levels of handling. Some were never halter trained. Others, the breeders had on a halter or collar just long enough to get them to tolerate being tied for long periods at the stock show. Tolerating being tied is not true halter training but it facilitates yak sales. Yaks born on our ranch, once weaned, may be started on halter and to lead. There is a significant time commitment involved with halter training and getting a yak to lead easily. Our starting point is with imprinting at birth and daily increasing trust before we begin the halter and lead work. Each yak has its own personality and not every yak is suited for halter and pack.

Do you ever deliver yaks that have been purchased from your ranch?

In the past, we have delivered yaks locally to a buyer's destination when the buyer has no suitable trailer for transport. We advise checking with us if you don't have a suitable trailer for transport to determine if your property is within our local delivery area.

If you are located beyond our local delivery area or in another State, we have a few connections with transporters that may be able to assist you.

Call us at 303-582-5052 or use our contact page to get specific pricing on individual yaks.

Questions & Answers

Why do you reccommend a Eletronic Bank Transfer or Cash rather than a Personal Check?

Why don't you add the vet costs into the price of the yak like other breeders?

Why don't you post your yak pricing on the website?

Each yak is an individual with its own specific qualities and level of training. Yaks are a commodity and pricing fluctuates with yaks. The longer we have a yak that is for sale, the more feed, care and other expenses we have associated with that yak so we must adjust our pricing to reflect this. We are in the business of selling yaks and our responsibility is to supply all that is necessary to maintain the health of our yaks. (Some yak owners find they must "fire sale" yaks at a loss when they are unable to afford to feed them. Long before that those yaks have probably had reduced feed as the owner has struggled to continue operating. The yaks from a "fire sale" may be less expensive at purchase but their health may also be compromised and restoring them to full health could be an additional expense for the new owner.)

Why are only some of your yaks for sale?

Are all your yaks for sale halter or pack trained?

The first yaks we purchased from other breeders had different levels of handling. Some were never halter trained. Others, the breeders had on a halter or collar just long enough to get them to tolerate being tied for long periods at the stock show. Tolerating being tied is not true halter training but it facilitates yak sales. Yaks born on our ranch, once weaned, may be started on halter and to lead. There is a significant time commitment involved with halter training and getting a yak to lead easily. Our starting point is with imprinting at birth and daily increasing trust before we begin the halter and lead work. Each yak has its own personality and not every yak is suited for halter and pack.

Do you ever deliver yaks that have been purchased from your ranch?

If you are located beyond our local delivery area or in another State, we have a few connections with transporters that may be able to assist you.

Registered Tibetan Yaks & Nigerian Dwarf Goats for Sale

Mystic T Ranch

Mind to Spirit Pathways Colorado Mountain High Contracts

Art Gallery Haying & Grass Services

We sell yak fiber. Unprocessed, raw yak fiber is currently $5.00 an ounce. We hope to have some processed fiber available by Fall 2025. Since we hand process the yak fiber ourselves, it is processed only during the winter months when our outside work slows down. No chemicals are used on the fiber and it is processed with a manual carding machine and hand carders. Contact us for availability of yak fiber.

Mystic T Ranch North American Tibetan Yaks

Our Mystic T Ranch began yak ranching in January 2008. Our focus is breeding "Natural" seed-stock and producing yak fiber. We have carefully selected our yaks so they carry forward the best lines of yak available in the United States. We produce "Natural" yaks with the mature cows in the 650 to 750 lb size range and mature bulls in the 1600 to 1700 lb range. We do not breed to increase a yak's overall size or body length or to produce any specific physical traits other than a gentle personality, wooliness and good conformation. Cattle breeding done to specifically produce a larger carcass results in reduced grazing efficiency, increased feed costs, birthing problems and issues with infertility. We do not use Artificial Insemination with our yaks as many of the same problems can be produced through usage of large line bred bulls used for AI.

Our focus is to to produce the best Gentle, High Fiber, Top Quality "Natural"yaks available in the US. We may be a small ranch but our reputation for producing Gentle "easy to handle" Top Quality yaks is well known among yak owners and yak breeders alike. Our determination to produce "Natural" yaks is unique among yak breeders.

Our yak herd is currently made up of Royals and Imperial Trims. Royals are black and white (similar to Holstein markings) with pink noses. Imperial Trims are mostly black with black noses and some white markings on head, feet or tip of tail. Our herd contains the following top Foundation Herd lines in their lineage: the Diamond line, the Prince Allante line, and the Dreadlock line. These top quality lines were developed from the original stock brought into Alberta, Canada from the Berlin zoo and later imported to the United States.

Along with exceptional wooliness, show quality conformation is important for breeding "Natural"seed-stock yaks. Our yaks stand square on all four corners, a conformation not found in lower quality yaks. They have short hooves and stand upright on them. Our yaks have thick wool and long skirts. They have well developed chaps on their front quarters and prominent forelocks. They could never be mistaken for rangy cattle and are never bred just to produce meat for sale.

At the National Western Stock Show in 2012, out of 62 yaks competing, our yearling yak took 2nd place in fiber and a six month-old yak took 4th place in fiber. Our yaks were consistent ribbon winners in halter, fiber and pen. We chose to no longer show due to the unsanitary conditions present at the National Western Stock Show yards. We have a closed herd and did not want to risk introducing any infectious cattle diseases into our herd. Check out the photos of our 2012 National Western Stock Show Reserve Grand Champion Bull and other ribbon winners on our Our Stock Show Winners page.

Our yaks have generations of "Gentle" yaks in their lineage. Our breeding program continues this focus of "Gentle" yaks and we have chosen to remain a small yak ranch so our yaks get the human contact and personal attention they each deserve. We imprint each yak calf at birth with a focus on developing trust early. Each yak has its own unique personality and responds to its personal name reflecting the close relationship that has been developed.

Mystic T Ranch has been a Lifetime member of the International Yak Association since 2008 when we acquired our first Full Bloodline Foundation yaks. The International Yak Association (IYAK) is dissolving in January 2025 and attempting to reconfigure as NAYAK combining US Yaks members with the remaining IYAK members. US Yaks was formed because some breeders wanted to register and sell yaks crossed with cattle which IYAK refused to register as Foundation yaks.

Since the majority of our yak buyers are not interested in breeding yaks to show but just want to own "Gentle", Top Quality yaks for a more reasonable price, we no longer register yaks. Registration was an extra cost that most buyers did not need or want. What they do need is a yak that can be handled and one that is not wild or aggressive.

We are expecting the arrival of our next baby yaks in 2025. Visit our Yaks for Sale page and check back often for updated photos of our yaks for sale.

We also have yak fiber available for sale. Click the link below to contact us about yak fiber availability. We hope to have both processed and unprocessed yak fiber available for sale by Fall of 2025.

General Facts About Yaks
Historically, Domesticated Full Blood Line yaks are the result of the cross between wild yak (Bos grunnians) and domestic cattle breeds (Bos mutus) that has occurred for over 3000 years around the Himilayan mountains in Tibet.

Yaks provide an excellent source of breeding stock, crossbreeding stock, fiber, milk and dairy products, meat, hides, horns, and make excellent pack or show animals.

Yaks originated at high altitude and cooler climates due to their heavy coat and lack of sweat glands. They can handle normal ‘summer’ conditions when plenty of fresh water is available. A natural size yak eats about 1/3 the amount of grass or hay and drinks 1/3 the amount of water of a commercial cow. The larger size yaks that other breeders have been developing will require more feed and water. Yaks have no need for grain. A good mineral block and a salt block is necessary along with free choice fresh water.

Yak fiber is comparable to cashmere or angora. It is the soft, thick wool-like undercoat shed off during spring or early summer. During this time, it can be combed out, collected and processed. The courser outer hair or ‘guard hair’ is often used to weave ropes and belts. The softer undercoat is woven into yarn.

Yak meat has a delicate and delicious beef like flavor. Yak meat is very low in fat as the fat layer is put down on the outside of the yak carcass and is easily trimmed off. The meat is deep red in color, high in protein, and low in calories, saturated fats, cholesterol and triglycerides.