[Kevin Cunningham]

Sounds like hawk or owl to me missing head is classic owl, but during the day I would guess hawk.

[Kevin Cunningham]

That is great to see, It gives me hope for the future. Does anybody know if that wagon of his has a dump bed or is it a manual unload at the end of the route?

[Kevin Cunningham]

Pictures are always good for websites the more the better. nice job!

[Kevin Cunningham]

I can’t believe I am the first one on the map in CA/OR any body else out there?

[Kevin Cunningham]

Doug,

They look great. My calves should be around that stage sometime this winter. Just because I’m curious….. What size yoke are you in? how old/how big are they? and what breed?

[Kevin Cunningham]

I found it interesting that the drivers used similar voice commands. There was some use of the whip for sure but surely a lot of yelling to get the animals to run like that. I would be curious if they are saying similar words or if just the sounds are the same.

Humans have this innate sense of competition. Anytime there has been some free time from the business of feeding and sheltering ourselves we look to our neighbor and say hey I bet you my ox is faster than yours…. Wanna race?

[Kevin Cunningham]

The dairy I got them from has mostly holstein/jersey crosses. They used to have only pure bred holsteins but have been crossing and breeding to get better grass fed genetics. I call them Jersey/Holsteins but the reality is that they are probably more mutts than anything else. Basically they were very cheap and I know the dairy farmer so I trusted his decision for picking the calves out.

[Kevin Cunningham]

lets try again

well I may not be able to do it I can’t seem to make it show up.

[Kevin Cunningham]

So after a quick interenet search it seems like madrone will be the best available local wood I could use for a yoke. It is a diffuse porus hardwood. It is common a firewood around here because it burns hot and long. We already have two cords of it put up for the winter, but I would still like to get some oak and fir to “diversify my portfolio.” The trick with madrone is going to be getting a long straight piece of appropriate diameter. I am also worried about weight because it is so dense and heavy. Well for this first yoke I found a nice staight peice of fir that we milled this spring. This way I get to test out the design, maybe even a couple of times. I must say that this is part of the reason I am drawn to working oxen. Where I live I am going to have to teach myself about draft as there are not alot of people doing it. None that I can think of. I am enjoying the process of training the teamster while training the team.

[Kevin Cunningham]

It is good to know that I can use a lighter wood for the first yoke. I live in fir and redwood country, hardwoods are hard to come by, but a good straight grain peice of fir would do the trick. On that note, the most abundant hard woods in my area (far northern California, think Oregon) are madrone and tan oak. Any idea how they would be for a yoke once I need to start pulling something?

I have been tying the halters together and the nigh calf (Joe) hates it and fights and twists his head. Tex, the off calf dosen’t seem to mind. I put Joe on the near side because he is not as well behaved and I figured I could keep a better eye one him. Maybe he dosen’t like having something tug, although I try to keep the line as slack as possible, from both sides? I have the feeling it would be better if I just hurry up and get a yoke together.

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