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Nat(wasIxy)
ParticipantWell, personally I don’t know where this thing about slow brown swiss comes from – mine was really quick and clever and eager to please – loved jumping and doing tricks. Anne’s ‘Circe’ showjumps, and went to replace bruno isilker’s sybil – another showjumping swiss!
sadly I just had mine slaughtered as he had learnt he could get away from me and from there his behaviour just got worse and worse and he started using his horns on me…
Jerseys are too highly bred in this county IMO, they are small and dainty, skinny etc. I would still prefer ayrshire, or BRITISH friesian (very different to holsteins) or something that occurred to me today – gloucesters!
texas longhorns seem very tough and athletic, a lot are used for riding already. Also, coat colours! what a range!
Participantsaddle don’t look too comfy!
I’m riding Angus regularly now – it’s fantastic!
Participant@Gulo 4164 wrote:
they can pull more in yoke, but if they only have to pull a few feet it doesn’t tell you much. Maybe in a real work situation, even if the collar system allows for less power (contrary to what i’ve read, but let’s assume this for argument), they might still be more comfortable
Yep – agree.
I think cattle can pull *enough* in collars – I’ve seen loads of pictures of cattle in collars ploughing – that’s heavy work!
I prefer a head yoke to a neck yoke; I agree that it makes use of that pushing power they have. But they don’t push and fight like that all day, whereas they might be pulling logs all day. So even if you get more power in a burst from a headyoke, I’d still rather less power and more comfort for longer in a real life working situation.
Also, my ox is dehorned so no hope of a headyoke. 😀
Participant@bivol 11367 wrote:
india has draft oxen of different temperaments and body types to suit different needs: big heavy oxen for ploughing, and medium sized hot-tempered breeds for road work.
the zebu breeds imported were imported for their meat, so they were heavy plow breeds, not the road work ones.maybe you could “toon up” the dexters, so to say, but i don’t know what you’d get. it definitelly wouldn’t work in a single generation.
a good road ox needs, in my oppinion, to be at least medium in size, long legged, not heavy boned and rugged, but slender and athletic. it should also have an at least moderately alert temperament.
so my best choice would be 2/3 jersey 1/3 holstein. they can be found and bought relatively easy, being diary breeds.
jerseyXholstein is a fine cross. cross it again with j. and you will add more alert temperament, fine bone, and a lighter frame, though still larger and stronger than jersey.
ofcourse, it would need testing, but i think it would be good.marko
I meant to get a mini zebu, cross with the dexter and gradually (over many generations) scale up the size to get a medium sized animal. But given the cost of the minis that ain’t happening anytime soon.
plan b was the brahman – they are heavy, but at least bos. indicus! However, I’ve just discovered that there aren’t any brahman bulls approved for semen export to the UK 🙁
plan c would be start breeding something here. Not sure I agree about the holsteins! They are big, which isn’t good for athleticism, and they’re not known for their sound bodies, legs and longevity!! Pretty much the opposite of what you want. I’d rather go for ayrshire or brown swiss.
Our dexters are too small to be of much use, and I don’t relish the thought of trying to work them as they are a little bit ‘spicy’ – but that spicyness could potentially be harnessed for good! We have a stunning red steer who’d be perfect for work I think, but he’s good an attitude problem 🙁 I may ask if i could breed his mother to a brown swiss lol – AI!!!!! 😀
edited to add: I think texas longhorns have such potential! There are a handful of bulls approved for semen export to the UK apparently…just a case of saving up for the freight!!!
ParticipantJust what I wanted to hear people, as my new Ayrshire calf arrives in just over a week if all goes to plan 😀
Participantwoah…scrap that idea – two week old bull calf: £500!
ParticipantWe don’t have zebus or brahmans or anything like that here, but we do have a small number of mini zebus, and I have dexters so I’m wondering if over time I could scale them up…?
ParticipantI watched! fabulous – I LOVED the ox that put his own cart on – that was a seriously skillful move with the horns…only an ox could pull it off 😉
Participantoooooh my connection is too slow! can’t wait to see though, I think you’re 100% right about breeding and selection – here we only breed for beef and/or milk and then moan about oxen being slow. They never used to be; I think it was devons that were reputed to trot in harness just as horses do? I would love to breed for speed, but it’d take a lot of money that I don’t have right now!
Participant@mother katherine 11310 wrote:
Question of curiosity: why “Ixy”?
oxnunBecause I breed a rare breed of chicken called ‘ixworths’ – 😀
Participanthere we go:
ParticipantStruggling to post the picture, for some reason the link won’t work properly – I’ve saved to my computer but it takes aaaaaages for my connection to do pictures – If I get near broadband, I’ll do it 😀
ParticipantNot as agile? What do you mean exactly please?
The subject came up because somebody asked on another forum about logging some small woods with a heavy horse, and it was getting very complicated an expensive for them to find stabling etc. for this horse…so I said ‘why not oxen?’ and since then we’ve been trying to come up with a reason why you would choose a horse over an ox? what do horses have that oxen don’t?
After working with both, oxen are the clear winner for me, because I don’t find horses nice to be around even though I was a typical horsey girl when young!
ParticipantThanks for the keywords bivol! There’s pages and pages of pictures! Oxen must be/have been more popular in germany than england as in english there aren’t so many?
Are there many ox books in deutsch? Ich lernen deutsch auf dem schule fur funf jahre, aber ich bin nicht so gut! 😮 If only I was better!
I notice most of the oxen wearing collars rather than yokes, too. And I found my dream – a picture of three working abreast! It’s my ambition to work a welsh black, ruby red devon and white park abreast 😀
ParticipantMy current one is dehorned but that’s not my choice and I would certainly have kept them but he was kept with other de-horned cattle for a while too. If they are well trained and respectful they are no more likely to stick you than do anything else nasty to you. Also, NOT having horns doesn’t mean they can’t do a great deal of damage if they want to. A polled animal could easily smush you into the ground with it’s head alone! 😀
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