[dominiquer60]

Sounds like a great event, we are always looking for more events to include on our Draft Animal Power Network Calender as well, http://www.draftanimalpowernetwork.org/events_calendar.html.

Happy Skidding,

Erika

[dominiquer60]

good point Geoff, I know my body is thankful for the variety of work that farming provides, it is more forgiving than my night shift job where it is the same motion with my hands and shoulders all night long, yuck.

[dominiquer60]

Well said Carl, things are always easier said than done.

I can see that if fuel gets to a certain price, keeping as much the same and merely substituting the engines for animals would cut a bill for you. That’s practical? It might not go far enough for some of us…but we don’t own those farms so what the hey?

Remember that some of do own farms where simple substitution of animals for engines will not allow us to yield the same results as we can with tractors. I can rake all day with animals and get what we need to done, but I can’t expect to accomplish what a 100 Hp tractor and a discbine can do in one morning with animals. We are only 5 people and we somehow are able to manage 300 acres of hay, small grains, corn and pasture. If we did not these fields would likely grow over and/or get developed. We few people could not do this with animals. If the land owners decided to buy a team and tend to their individual lands them selves and we dropped back to our 80 open acres, 4 of us driving teams would then be a manageable possibility if the desire was there.

Erika

[dominiquer60]

John,

Cornish crosses are usually the same/very similar to what is used in the big broiler houses for large scale production. There are different strains and some variations from hatchery to hatchery. Some are only simple hybrids and some are double hybrids having 4 separate lines crossed to make a very vigorous growing bird. Most brand name chicken companies have their own favorite strain that they use, but for the most part they are all similar to the untrained eye.

If anyone is looking for a Great Pyrenees guard dog a local animal control officer is very active at rescuing dogs of this breed and often will have a couple to choose from. She tests their livestock friendliness with her own poultry, goats and sheep before she places them to farm homes. I can get her # if anyone is interested, she is located in Petersburgh, NY.

Erika

[dominiquer60]

A farm with 500 oxen and 250 teamsters sounds like what I would call a working community not a farm. However if one person did own and employ all of these cattle and teamsters, it would be an industrial Ox powered farm, not entirely different in theory from the industrial tractor farm with a fleet of 200+ Hp tractors, it would just us less petroleum. A farm of this size goes way beyond the size of a farm that a family can tend to comfortably. The family sized farm is the ideal sized farm in my eyes, much less land and you have a small farm, need more than a couple generations to work the land and you have a big farm. Perhaps this is over simplifying, but simple works for me.

Erika

[dominiquer60]

Bivol,

I Don’t know who the author of this article is, except that her name is Tess Taylor and that she works for the paper. The people that she interviewed are for the most part involved with our group here and represent a high level of their craft, they were certainly able to impress upon her the reality and importance of using draft animals.

Erika

[dominiquer60]

I would assume so Wolfgang. Many don’t understand what they are writing about or think that they are interviewing an expert that in real life has no idea what they are doing. This article focuses on some well known teamsters and farmers and doesn’t make light of the fact that these folks are performing serious work that results in jobs, incomes and good role models. Generally this type of article makes me cringe, but this one did not at all. Also I heard that this article made the front page of the dining section and the picture of the man with the handsome pair of Swiss steers took up a 1/2 page, so this was given a very prominent place in a very well known paper. It is good to see honest sustainable work featured to an audience that does not realize that it still exists.

Erika

[dominiquer60]

At the Low Impact Forestry Workshop last Fall there was a young 4-Her that brought an 8 month old pair of steers. They where able to quickly modify a small log-rite so that he could move logs with his steers. He had a blast and from what I understand, his mother left with the info to get one for his Xmas present. So it is certainly possible.

Erika

[dominiquer60]

I had a nice drive out your way on Monday Sean. Took 80 a ways and then Chyle Road out to my friends on Richfield Hill, what beautiful county. I only saw one team out, a nice 4 up of blacks harrowing the family garden on high ground. Wish I had more reason to go that way more often than once a year, it is still picturesque with many small farms. It seems like as soon as I go west of my friends place you start to see the bigger dairy farms like the 2000+ one near Rt 8. Maybe I will try some different back roads next year when I get my seed potatoes.

Keep those boots dry,

Erika

[dominiquer60]

For some reason I am still not receiving emails about these posts, you may want to email the group too.
Erika

[dominiquer60]

“Lucas is always the troublemaker,” he noted, patting the blond steer. “He’s been restless all winter, but then he gets stubborn.”

For Mr. Ciotola, the most challenging aspect of working with his oxen is finding the time it takes to break them in.

“The best pairs need to get worked every day, and that’s hard for me because I have to do other work during the winters,” he said.

Even though Lucas and Larson now stand 5 feet tall and weigh 1,500 pounds each, they are not yet fully grown. Over the next two years, they will each gain 500 pounds and grow two feet. At that point, they will easily be able to pull 4,000 pounds. Mr. Ciotola wants to have them in prime shape for logging, plowing and haying.

After this season’s first expedition, they stood calmly in the dung-scented paddock, rolling their eyes and flicking their tails as Mr. Ciotola brushed them. Larson ambled off to eat some hay.

“Even when it’s tough with them, it’s better than spending a day with a tractor,” he said.

Then again, there was that time when he nearly took a horn to the groin.

“A tractor doesn’t do that either,” he said.

[dominiquer60]

Great video Tim,
These are the type of things that should be collected in one place like DAPNet. As we progress as an organization and gain some additional active help, this is the type of educational tool that will be wonderful to have in a draft animal library.
Erika

[dominiquer60]

A good braid adds a little class to any fine turnout, good job.
Erika

[dominiquer60]

For some reason I did not get an email that this thread was active today, I just came across it by accident. Perhaps you should email the group to insure that everyone knows what is going on. I don’t have an opinion about what Lawyer should be used.
Erika

[dominiquer60]

Laneck that’s certainly a different pee and worthy of your situation, hope things improve for you soon.

Erika

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