[dlskidmore]

Well, I’ve come full circle. I had a pair of oxen-that-weren’t, and I’m right now planning a pair of Wiltshire Horn sheep. I’m thinking of doing a head yoke, I’ve seen some of those in other cultures on goats…

My little garden wagon is in rough shape (bent frame), so I’m thinking of picking up a new wagon with larger wheels that can handle our rough terrain:

https://www.pinecraft.com/amish-made-large-stained-goat-wagon.html

[dlskidmore]

I’ll probably need to upgrade my farm insurance before I get much use out of the trailer. We’re looking at doing some patchwork on it in the spring when it’s warm enough to expect consecutive outdoor work days…

[dlskidmore]

Sorry, I apparently haven’t been checking the box to get e-mail notifications of replies…

What’s your Facebook username?

[dlskidmore]

I’m slow, but continuing to follow good advice. 🙂

My 16′ bumper tow stock trailer arrives tomorrow. It’s old, it’s rusty in spots (buying it from the south, nothing like northern rust), it looks a bit beat up, but it’s in my budget and serviceable. I’m excited.

[dlskidmore]

I didn’t notice that this thread had revived!

Yaks are still ridden today in Asia, similar concept. If you had someone in your party too infirm to walk, an animal large enough to ride would be essential, and if your party is limited to trails that will fit the wider animal, then you could use all wider animals.

Smaller animals are more maneuverable and less visible, but you have much more work to saddle up the same amount of gear onto more animals.

Horse vs. Oxen is a matter of speed vs survivability. A horse needs higher quality feed when working than an ox, but if you’re in an active escape situation, you might want to move faster than walking speed.

I agree, actually making farm decisions based on this is likely unwise, I started the convo because someone was pushing me to make farm decisions based on this. It does give us an alternate look at our favorite draft animals and discuss pros/cons from another angle.

[dlskidmore]

Did this website move? I can’t get to it.

[dlskidmore]

Breed may affect ideal castration age, as well as intent. If you have a large, slow growing breed but are not going into competition pulling, you might castrate later than if you have a smaller, faster growing breed and want to maximize adult size.

[dlskidmore]

Hi. I have not been around here much, but I did start my calves.

http://eddyridgegrassland.com/category/about-us/farm-doings/oxen/

I won’t be putting every oxen video on my website, you might also look at my farm’s youtube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCe4N5S5gwgRBdCQMrepoTsg

[dlskidmore]

Two and a half months until oxen lessons. Loosing sweet deal on hay land next door, so who knows what my situation will be while raising them up to the point that they can start doing hay. (We have a contractor hay on shares, if there’s less hay around to share, then my share will likely be smaller.) I think I can cover the costs of buying hay for two years, but I might not replace the next few ewes I cull. I saved some lambs from this year’s crop before I got the news, debating the merits of calling the butcher and adding one more to my RSVP, but one is the last of her line, and the other is a very nice lamb…

[dlskidmore]

Dry here in western NY. We’ve had a few rains, but not more than the soil can handle. Grass taking a bit of a beating in high traffic areas with no snow to protect it and not enough sun to grow much.

[dlskidmore]

I’m sure I do want a smaller breed for my second pair, but I hear such good things about the temperament of the Brown Swiss, and the males are much easier to get than the females. I could probably get freemartians at a good price, but the dairy business has been breeding against twinning a long time, so it’s unlikely that I’ll be able to get a pair of them the same age near me.

Would it be better to delay castration or will they get too hard to handle before the hormones start slowing their growth?

I’ve had a few great danes, so I know a little bit about giant breed issues, should have realized I’d need to translate that to cattle. The other thing we do with danes is keep them very lean when growing to slow growth and prevent bone and joint problems.

One thing that won’t transfer well from dogs to cattle is feeding lots of chicken feet for joint support nutrition… Any special nutritional concerns with large breeds of cattle?

[dlskidmore]

One thing to consider is not just total amount of feed, but type. How much can the elephant gather on his own between shifts vs the horse? Can he browse in a woodland environment or must he have good pasture? A major advantage of the ox is that in good weather he can harvest most of his own feed…

[dlskidmore]

There are a lot of started ox teams on Facebook. I’ve been really tempted but everyone advises me a beginner should start with bottle calves… This seems like a good way to go for my future replacement teams though…

[dlskidmore]

*wave* That’s a long border, but you’ve got a decent chance of being a couple hours from me. If you’re interested in oxen as well as horses, you might also look up Spring Meadows Farm:

https://springmeadowsfarm.wordpress.com/learning-opportunities/oxen/
(Millerton, PA)

I’m still in learning mode myself, planning my first calves in April, first loose hay harvest with them in 2017…

If you’ve not bought your homestead yet, I suggest you think very carefully about the size. Large enough to make a little money and justify the maintenance of a team, or small enough to be able to afford all the maintenance costs out of your day job. Have a plan C for the situation where you can’t find a contractor to do big jobs right…

[dlskidmore]

Harder to overmilk by hand. Quality of the vacuum pulse modulation and auto shutoff with machines matter.

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