Latest market price:
The price of a yak is about1-20 thousand, but the price of yak will change with the weight, and the prices of different regions and varieties will be different!
Suitable areas for farming:
Distributed in Sichuan, Qinghai, Tibet, Xinjiang and other provinces (regions) in China. In addition to China, Mongolia, Central Asia of the former Soviet Union, India, Bhutan, Sikkim, Afghanistan, Pakistan and other countries adjacent to China have a small distribution.
China is the birthplace of yaks in the world, and 90% of yaks in the world live in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in China and its surrounding six provinces. Among them, there are 4.9 million yaks in Qinghai, accounting for 38% of the total number of yaks in China, ranking first in the country; Tibet has 3.9 million heads, accounting for 30%, ranking second in the country; Sichuan has 365438+ 10,000 heads, accounting for 23%, ranking third in the country; Gansu has 880,000 heads, accounting for 7%, ranking fourth in the country; Xinjiang has 654.38+0.7 million heads, accounting for 654.38+0.3%, ranking fifth in the country; Yunnan has 50,000 heads, accounting for 0.4%, ranking sixth in the country.
Breeding technology:
Yak grazing in most areas adopts the method of dividing grazing grassland according to different seasons and then grazing in groups; In a few areas, grazing is carried out in groups.
1, division of pasture
The climatic conditions of yak distribution area belong to alpine grassland climate, with only cold and warm seasons and no obvious four seasons. So pastures are generally divided into summer and autumn, winter and spring, that is, summer and autumn (warm season) and winter and spring (cold season) pastures. The division is mainly based on pasture altitude, topography, distance from residential areas and traffic conditions. In summer and autumn, the pasture is selected at the top of shady slope with high altitude, cool ventilation, few mosquitoes and sufficient water. In winter and spring, the pasture is selected near the settlement, with low altitude and convenient transportation, which can shelter from the wind and snow.
Some areas where yaks are distributed belong to high mountains and narrow valleys. Although the total area of grassland available for yak is very vast, it is divided into relatively sporadic grasslands by deep valleys. Often, the grasslands used by a village, group and household are scattered on several ridges, and each yak group only uses one or two ridges. So there are also pastures divided into spring, summer, autumn and winter. Only in spring and autumn, the grassland has a short use time and a small area, which seems to be a transition grassland from winter grassland to summer grassland or from summer grassland to winter grassland. In this area, gullies and forest-side grasslands are mostly used as winter pastures, meadows at the end of ridges are used as summer pastures, and hillside areas are used as spring and autumn pastures.
2. Organization of yak herd
In order to manage grazing, make rational use of grassland and improve yak production performance, yaks should be grouped according to gender, age and physiological conditions, avoiding mixed grazing, making cattle relatively quiet, feeding and nutrition relatively uniform and reducing grazing difficulty. Yak herds are generally divided into:
(1) Lactating cows, also known as dairy cows. Refers to a herd of lactating yaks. Each group has about 100 head. For lactating yaks, they should be assigned to the best pasture, where conditions permit, they can be properly fed to produce more milk and breed in estrus as soon as possible. A considerable number of lactating yaks are female yaks that continue to produce milk when they have not calved in that year, and they can be grouped separately when the number is large.
(2) Dry cattle, also known as dry cattle. Cattle refers to the herd consisting of dry female yaks that have not calved and female yaks that have reached the age of initial mating, each herd 150 ~ 200.
③ Young cattle. Refers to a group of weaned cows less than one year old. Young yak is lively and gregarious, which greatly interferes with the mixed grazing of adult cattle. Therefore, it is generally appropriate to group separately, and the group is small, with about 50 heads.
④ Young cattle. Refers to a group of cattle from one year old to the first mating age. Each group 150 ~ 200 heads. Cattle of this age are fertile. Therefore, in addition to potential bulls, it is best for bulls to be divided into groups and grazed separately to prevent premature mating.
⑤ Fattening cattle. Refers to the cattle composed of all kinds of cattle that will be eliminated in the late autumn of that year, which are fattened and eat meat. Each herd 150 ~ 200. When the number of cattle is small, breeding cattle can also be incorporated into this herd. For these yaks, they can graze in remote pastures to make them quiet, walk less and gain weight quickly. Conditional areas can also be supplemented appropriately to speed up fattening.
However, the organization and division of the yak herd and the size of the herd are not absolute. In order to improve the economic benefits of yak production, each region should reasonably graze in groups according to local conditions according to the topography, grassland area, management level and yak number.
3. Rational utilization of pasture
The utilization time of forage grass in summer, autumn, winter and spring mainly depends on the growth and climate of forage grass, which usually takes half a year each. In the early summer of each year (April-May), the whole group will start grazing after grouping, and the grassland in winter and spring will be transferred to the grassland in summer and autumn; Every year before winter (11~ 65438+February), after counting the number of stocks, they will be transferred to winter and spring grassland. However, due to the influence of grassland area and climate, pasture is often underutilized in summer and autumn, but overutilized in winter and spring. In this way, the contradiction between supply and demand of grass and livestock is great, and there is a seasonal imbalance. Yaks in winter and spring are basically in a state of semi-starvation, and their weight loss is serious. The demand for yak milk and meat products is growing rapidly, and the market price is rising, which is out of balance with the price ratio of wool and meat. Raising yak has higher economic benefits and more income than raising other livestock. In addition, influenced by the traditional concept that cattle are wealth, the number of yaks continues to increase, while the number of sheep and goats has declined. In this way, the proportion of yak in the grassland livestock species structure is unbalanced, which makes the unreasonable proportion of cattle and sheep even more unreasonable. The contradiction between grass and livestock in winter and spring grassland has further expanded, and there has been a serious phenomenon of overloading and overgrazing. Therefore, in actual production, we should optimize the yak population structure, control or reduce the development of yak population, so as to rationally utilize grassland resources and improve the quantity and economic benefits of yak milk, meat and other products.
According to the growth of the pasture and the size of the cattle, the yaks migrate to the pasture every 10 ~ 40 days. Its relocation direction and route should be basically fixed, year after year. The distance between two grazing areas shall not exceed 20 kilometers. There are two ways of migration: first, people, livestock and tent facilities migrate at the same time. Yaks basically don't eat food during the migration process, and then graze in the new pasture. The other is that people and tent facilities move to new pastures, and yaks eat grass as usual, instead of following people and things. Only the grazing direction is towards the new pasture, and gradually close to the new pasture, grazing in the new pasture at night.
In winter and spring, the interval between moving pastures can be extended. Generally, it will move 2-5 times in cold winter and spring. If the yak herd is small, a certain amount of supplementary feeding can be given conditionally, and it can be kept still in cold season.
4. Shed ring
On the grassland where yaks graze, there are almost no grazing facilities except shed pens, some simple breeding racks and roadway circles with vaccination.
Yak sheds are only built in winter and spring pastures and are only used by cattle at night. Mostly based on local materials, there are permanent, semi-permanent and temporary types.
① Mud circle. Mud pen is a relatively permanent grazing facility, which should generally be built in residential areas or winter and spring pastures not far from residential areas. One or more laps per household. Mainly used for lactating cows and young cows.
The height of the mud circle wall is 1 ~ 1.2m, and the appropriate size is 200 ~ 600 m. On one side of the circle, a scaffolding is woven with wooden boards or wicker, and the soil is pressed on it, so that the shed will face the sun.
The mud ring can be built in a single ring, or two, three, four or five rings can be connected together. The circles are separated by earth walls or wooden fences, and there are pillars in the middle. In a circle at the top, a roadway can be built in this column for vaccination, drug filling inspection and so on.
② dung circle. This is a temporary grazing facility made of cow dung. Yaks entered the pasture in winter and spring and began to pile up around the pasture. The method is to pile up a layer of fresh cow dung every day with the height of 15 ~ 500px. After a day and a night, the cow dung was frozen, and the next day, another layer was piled up for a few days. There are two kinds of dung pens: first, there is no top circle, such as a four-circle fence, in which adult yaks are kept, which is large in area and can protect against wind and snow. The other is the top-circle calf yak, which looks like an inverted crock, with a horseshoe-shaped base and a diameter of about1m. The piles in each layer gradually shrink until they reach the top, and the height is about 1m, just enough to close 1 calf. The opening of the circle is opposite to the main wind direction, and a stake is nailed outside. The calf and yak are tied to a stake and can freely enter and exit the circle door. Some hay can be padded in the pen to keep warm.
③ Turf ring. It is a semi-permanent grazing facility and can still be used in the second year after restoration. In winter and spring, choose a shelter from the wind and sun, delimit the scope, and enclose a circle with turf within the scope. Turf pile is about 60 ~ 2500 px high, which is used for Guanlan yak and pack cattle.
(4) wooden fence. Use the leftover bits and pieces of logs to form a circle, and a roof can be built to close the yak calves. Wooden fence can be built in a corner of the mud circle to form a circle, that is, choose a corner of the mud circle, enclose it with Xiao Mu fence and open a low door. The pen is covered with straw mats, allowing calves to enter and leave freely. At night, the calf will be kept in a cage, isolated from the female yak, and the female yak will camp at night to eat grass so as to milk the cow the next morning.
5. Management of grazing yak herds
Yak's temperament is strong and unbalanced, showing rough, wild, timid and easily surprised, but it likes to live in groups, and the conditioned reflex established by training is not easy to disappear, so it can better obey orders. Therefore, a large group of yaks usually only need one herder to graze, and it is not easy to get lost. According to the characteristics that yaks are easily frightened, herders should not follow yaks after they enter the pasture, so as to avoid yaks wandering around and eating quietly. In order to prevent cattle from attacking wolves across the border, herders can choose a highland that is at a certain distance from yaks and can take care of the whole cattle.
The way to control the yak herd to obey the command is that the herdsmen use specific calls and passwords, accompanied by throwing small stones. Beating stray yaks with pebbles is usually done with bare hands, and the throwing distance is as far as tens of meters. When the distance is far, you can also throw it with a whip. The falling stone, its swishing sound in the air and the whipping sound of grazing whip are all warnings and signals to yak. Yaks will judge the direction they should go according to the falling point of stones and the source of sound. Pastors use grazing whips to drive yaks forward, gather or disperse. Yaks walking far away from cattle will adapt quickly when they hear the sound of whips and flying rocks and falling rocks.
The grazing system of yak herd varies with the type and season of yak herd. The general principle is: leave early in summer and autumn, and return late in winter and spring, so as to facilitate foraging, grasping fertilizer and providing products.
(1) grazing in summer and autumn. The main task of grazing in summer and autumn is to increase milk yield, do a good job of grasping fertilizer and breeding, so that yaks to be slaughtered in that year can be slaughtered before winter, while other cows can only lay a good foundation for wintering and spring. After entering the summer and autumn season, we should strive to get yaks out of the winter and spring pastures as soon as possible. When moving to the pasture in summer and autumn, the daily trip of yaks should be 10 ~ 15 km, and they will move to the destination while grazing.
In summer and autumn, it is necessary to graze early and return late, extend grazing time and let yaks eat more. When the weather is hot, let yak ruminate and lie down in a cool place at noon. After grazing, gradually grazing from lowlands to ventilated and cool mountains; From forage grass with poor quality or palatability to forage grass with good quality; Yaks can be allowed to eat again on the grassland they grazed on the first day. At this time, yak is hungry because it has just come out of grazing, so it can choose grass with poor palatability, which can reduce the waste of grass. When grazing in pastures with good forage quality, it is necessary to control the cattle and let yaks feed horizontally in rows to ensure that each cow can fully feed and avoid waste caused by trampling on forage or uneven feeding.
When grazing in summer and autumn, change and move the grassland in time according to the arranged grassland or rotational grazing plan, so that cow dung can be evenly scattered on the grassland, and at the same time, the trampling on the grassland, especially the grassland around the fence, can be alleviated. This can improve vegetation conditions, increase forage yield and reduce the infection of parasitic diseases.
When the resettlement site is more than 2km away from the pasture, it should be relocated to reduce the time of entering and leaving the pasture every day and the physical consumption of yak. /kloc-yak with calves for lactation should be moved once every 0/0d, and the grassland should be changed every 3 ~ 5d. Grazing should be carried out according to the grazing plan of the pasture, and it is not allowed to rush to release grass or rush to release grass, so as to avoid rushing cattle to find grass every day, which will have adverse effects on yak health and pasture.
② grazing in winter and spring. The main task of grazing in winter and spring is to protect fat and fetus. Prevent yak from being weak, make cattle safely overwinter and spring, and give birth to pregnant female yak safely, so as to improve the survival rate of calves.
Grazing in winter and spring should be sooner rather than later, and make full use of the warm time at noon to graze and drink water. Put distant hillsides and shady mountains on sunny days; Close to grazing in snowy days, and shelter from the wind in depressions or mountain bays. The grazing cattle marched with the wind. Pregnant yak should avoid grazing on the ice beach and should not drink water in the morning and on an empty stomach. Yaks that have just entered winter and spring pastures are generally strong and fat. They should try to choose remote pastures, mountains and slopes without snow, and postpone grazing in winter and spring pastures near residential areas. There are many snowstorms in winter and spring, so we should pay attention to the weather forecast and quit grazing in time.
When grazing on grassland with uneven or poor quality pasture, it is necessary to adopt a decentralized grazing method so that cattle can eat more pasture in a larger area. Winter and spring are the weakest time of the year for yaks. In addition to herd grazing, supplementary feeding should be strengthened in areas where conditions permit. Especially in snowstorm days, severe cooling and cold caused serious damage to weak cattle. Generally, grazing should be stopped and supplementary feeding should be carried out in the shed to make the cattle spend the winter and spring safely.