working cows vs oxen

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  • January 3, 2009 at 10:30 pm #40053
    bivol
    Participant

    hi!

    what i was thinking was to compare working cows to oxen . at first this may seem silly, but i was going to make the comparison if you have limited land and don’t use the team everyday.
    historically this was an important chioce, with smaller farms having cows.

    for example which is more managable? an old neighbour of mine told me that cows were not as stubborn as oxen.
    for jobs that are mostly light to medium, the hardest being hauling a cart of hay drawing a mower or plowing a garden.
    i plan to focus on beef cows as they usually don’t have excess milk, and are because of their sound feet and heavier body better suited for work.

    also cows being lighter, if they have hardy hooves by nature, wear them more slowly.
    which eats more: a pregnant cow of breed x with enough milk for the current calf, or an ox of the breed x?
    also, mind that cows DO replace themselves.

    January 3, 2009 at 11:07 pm #48984
    Crabapple Farm
    Participant

    I think that it all has to do with what you expect to get out of your animals. If you are looking for a draft animal primarily, then steers will be better than cows. If you are looking for calves or milk primarily, with only occassional draft use, then cows make more sense.
    Being pregnant and lactating are each roughly equal in caloric requirements to working hard. A working, pregnant, lactating cow will need more quantity and quality of feed than a steer of the same breed to stay in good condition. Even though the steer will be larger. Given unlimited access to feed, the steer will eat more, because his larger digestive system allows him to. He’ll just get fat.
    Hoof wear is a balancing act – I don’t particularly like trimming cow feet, so I’d rather have an animal with sound feet that wear down as they grow, and don’t need much in the way of trimming. Of our cattle, it is the jersey cows whose feet tend to get overgrown (which is not a plus).
    -Tevis

    January 4, 2009 at 7:35 am #48987
    sanhestar
    Participant

    we live in a historical rather poor (income wise) region of Germany. Up until the 1950s a lot of farming was done with the local cattle breed and most people used the cows because they couldn’t afford to keep an oxen solely for working. The cows gave milk, work and calves.

    It has been said that you will need more animals for the same task (don’t know if I read it hear or somewhere else).

    I’m in the same spot and tend now heavily towards cows.

    January 4, 2009 at 12:08 pm #48985
    fabian
    Participant

    in my area in Germany (also poor ) all work was done with cows. There were nearly zero oxen for work.
    studies from the 1930’s say, that it is more economally, to work with cows if the farm has less than 7 ha (17,5 acres).
    I also use cows, because I don’t have enough work for oxen (even in summer). The cows bring a calf every year, which has two advantages:
    1. they will bring income and
    2. they won’t get fat.
    It is a challenge, to keep an ox slim (by feeding) if you don’t have so much work for him, that he will stay slim automatically.
    The disadvantage of cows is, that they are more capricious, particulary when they are in heat (just women 😉 )

    With a sorry for my clumsy English !
    Wolfgang

    January 4, 2009 at 11:45 pm #48982
    Howie
    Participant

    An ox is eating for one plus some food for energy. If you are not working him the energy goes to fat, which you have no use for.
    A working cow should be eating for three plus energy. If you are not working her the energy will go to the calf that should be inside her and the calf at her side.

    January 5, 2009 at 2:10 am #48988
    sanhestar
    Participant

    Assuming that I manage a working cow the same way as a dairy or calves-for-meat cow (don`t know how you call them in English).

    Who`s to say that I HAVE to keep her pregnant and with a calve at her side all the time?

    January 5, 2009 at 2:29 am #48983
    Howie
    Participant

    You don’t have to breed her at all but, too get as much out of her as possible she should be producing a calf every year.

    January 5, 2009 at 12:02 pm #48986
    fabian
    Participant

    @sanhestar 4540 wrote:

    Assuming that I manage a working cow the same way as a dairy or calves-for-meat cow (don`t know how you call them in English).

    Who`s to say that I HAVE to keep her pregnant and with a calve at her side all the time?

    You MUST not have her pregnant all the time. I had a cow, which had two times a rest of calving. But at the fall of that years, she fatter than it would be good for her, because she had the same pasture than her mates…..
    And if you won’t breed them, but they are healthy, you will have every three weeks conflicts with your neighbours

    January 5, 2009 at 12:17 pm #48989
    sanhestar
    Participant

    well,

    what a luck that the summer pastures are far away from every building 🙂

    I know what you mean. We have a dairy farm as neighbors and I now every time when he has to inseminate one of the cows.

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