Train My First Yoke of Oxen or Buy a Yoke of Oxen to Train Me?

James,
i am sure alot of people will not agree with me on this but i know that the ponies that we raised from foals and broke are much easier to handle.we know everthing they know because we taught it to them.you both will learn along the way, but in the end i think its much more rewarding.an experienced team will/ can teach you alot.but we as humans do not learn from animals as easily as animals learn from us.again just my experience.
Rob

I agree completely with Droverone. I did just the same thing this year. I got a grown team this spring and plan to start a pair of calves whenever they are born. I will likely be making a trip up to NY/New England to pick up the calves sometime this year. I’ll let you know when I am going and perhaps we can car-pool and split gas. My calves won’t take up much space, and I would likely have room to haul back a team (as long as they aren’t huge). The pickings are slim in western PA, and you will likely have to travel a ways to find a mature trained team. Do you have your eye on a team? What breed are you looking at?

P.S. Don’t count on the team training you. They are probably going to challenge your leadership sooner or later, and you are going to have prove yourself a confident and capable leader and trainer. Spending time with the previous owner is a good thing and I’m sure your class with help a lot.

I’m glad to hear you are considering ox power for your farm! There’s no right answer about starting steers or getting trained ones, but consider the pros and cons of each.

Countymouse is doing it probably the most ideal way, but not everyone can do that. My opinion: train your own from young calves and learn together. They will bond with you and read you like a book, and you will read their every nuance. They will learn to do the jobs you want done, how you do them, in the place you are, under your leadership. They will be YOURS. Find mentors either in person, and/or by email and forums like this.

A trained team may be trained for something other than what you want them to do. It just depends. They may be champions at scoot competitions, but can’t work for hours in the woods or in the field with various equipment. They may pull like carzy, but don’t know how to hitch to a tongue. So find out what the team you are considering actually does. If you’re a capable trainer/driver, they can certainly learn new tasks and routines from you, but you will encounter ingrained habits which can be frustrating and mysterious. It will take time for them to read your cues also, and they will test your leadership qualifications.

There are advantages and disadvantages to each option. My preference is to have my own oxen for whom I am the primary driver/trainer. An experienced team can be good education, too, especially after you get some experience yourself, but I think it’s easier to learn to lead working cattle by training them.

I am going to be getting started in farming with draft animals soon.

The important fact of this thread is this sentence.

I do farm with oxen, and I do train calves. If this person is seriously going to to do farm tasks with oxen then that is what he needs, then he needs to bring on a pair of calves of his own training. I do not know of any breed that as calves can do farm work in any capacity for several years. My mentors Howard Van ord and Bud Kluchnik, showed me that your desire to do more and more can lead to overusing and souring a pair of calves. Some new englanders are only pulling or showing but both Howard and Ray Ludwig sold “Using teams ” last year and they would have ideal for this theoretical situation! I have watched many people, like Tim Harigan said, that do under work their young teams and then seem perplexed at the fact that they will not do the assigned tasks. There are great teams out there if you look and spend the time and ask the tough questions. If you don’t get an answer that suits you, keep looking.

Ps

And make sure you get good new yokes, good equipment is cheaper in the long run.

“Life on a farm is a school of patience,
* * * * * you can’t hurry the crops*
* * * * *or make an ox in two days”

Everybody here has made great points. I prefer to train my own but that requires waiting a solid three years before they can be worked for any duration. However I did manage to get a good bit of work out of my two year olds this past spring. If you do decide to buy a older team be sure you know what they were broke for. I had several show teams that followed every command and put on a great performance in the show ring, however they would baulk at a heavy load. When breaking my current team I concentrated on pulling and put less time into the fancy stuff. The result is a team that will give me 110% on every load but isn’t necessarily well behaved in public. I don’t care if I have to yell “step in” four times before they do it as long as they pull the log they are hitched to all the way from stump to landing. My point is, decide what is important to you and make sure the team you are buying fits the bill.
~Tom

Milking Shorthorn and Milking Devons are two of the best breeds in my mind. The differences between them can all be positives or negatives depending on what you are looking for. In my opinion Shorthorns are not dummy but Devons are smarter. Devons are smaller making them a little more handy unless you really need the bigger Shorthorn. I like being able to see over them. Devons are quicker to cover ground. Some people say that Devons are too fast for them to keep up but if you are going to do field work and are in shape I would say it would be a positive. Good and bad specimens of either breed can be found. Devons are generally considered to be more hardy. I tried my best not to be too bias.

There are several teams listed on Rural Heritage that sound good but I don’t know any of them. A phone call or email to some of the 4-H leaders would also be a good idea. They should be able to point you to a well trained and well conditioned team.

Practicing your training skills on heifers is a fantastic idea.

Anyone selling oxen should be more than happy to give you a lesson with the cattle. Don’t have them just demonstrate their capability. I would try to get them to send you some video of that before you make a deal if possible. Have them teach you how to drive your new oxen. Pay close attention to how they drive. What specific commands do they use? How do they use their voice, goad, and body position? How do they house, feed, yoke and hitch them?

I welcome yinz to the Burgh even though I just moved out an’ ‘at! GO Stillers!