Move over cows, local family moves yaks to pasture

BERTHOUD - Calling it a healthy alternative to beef, a family in Berthoud has begun raising yaks - as in the Himalaya kind of yaks.

"It's very tasty, it's very, very lean," Stephen Gillette said of yak meat. "It's supposed to be very good for you."

Stephen's son, Jason, started all this in the name of health.

"He had some tests run and his cholesterol was pretty high," Jason's mom, Katherine, said.

Jason did some research and decided yak meat would be better for him than beef. He then found there was a type of yak bred specifically for warming climates.

The Gillettes bought three of these yaks - horns and hump included - earlier this year with the hope of breeding them.

"It's a great experience," Katherine said.

The yaks, according the Gillettes, are very docile.

"They eat less than cows," Stephen said, "They love to graze."

Aside from meat, the Gillettes say the yaks will provide milk and wool.

"Their fur is better than sheep wool," Katherine said.

The family acknowledges how odd the yaks look among their horses and cows.

"Our neighbors, they think we're crazy anyway," Katherine said with a laugh.

But the Gillettes add they are not alone in this idea. They say yaks are being bred all over Colorado in places like Castle Rock, Elizabeth and Montrose.

Eventually, their young yaks could top 1,000 pounds. The three they have now, though, will not be slaughtered.

"We can get close to these guys because they're our breed herd," Katherine said.

That is why the three have names: Max, Maddie and Maggie.

"The longer we're around them, the more we enjoy them," Katherine said.