Life on the Farm, Melodee Smith and Her Beloved Yaks

My name is Melody Smith

I'm a yak farmer. I have roughly 35 yak on my farm

Yaks are a bovine species. I chose yaks because I wanted an animal that was unique, definitely multipurpose, something

that wasn't going to eat me at a house and home. Jericho is just such a unique specimen and most of my yaks' horns come up in about 30

inches long and his have just continued to grow and grow over his 20 years

Yaks are from Tibet, Nepal, Asia, and they were introduced as another alternative for

a grazing animal. Yaks left to themselves are kind of standoffish and skittish, however, when you work with

them they become a lot like a dog. Each have their own individual personalities

They're very friendly. They're very social. They just need to be interacted with

Jericho loves fresh grass in the pasture in the summer. In the winter time it's all about hay, hay and alfalfa

They also are very easy to have around, very low maintenance. They only eat 1% of their body weight a day

What that means is a 1,000 pound animal like Jericho would only eat about 10 pounds of

feed a day, which is minimal compared to a traditional beef or dairy

They eat between 3 and 6% of their body weight a day

Jericho is definitely somewhat of a little celebrity and a local celebrity for sure

Lots of people stop by and take a look at him and get selfies with him

My friends and family think it's pretty special that they can know Jericho and be up close

and personal with him as well. It's definitely a privilege. What does the future hold

You just never know. Jericho is 20 years old and you just never know

He could become the world's oldest yak. Every day is a blessing to have him around and he's just added a whole other level of

excitement and blessing to our family and our farm here