[Tim Harrigan]

Vicki: Yes, the mud and snow, and I manage to get my feet tangled in brush now and then back in the woodlot.

I do not take Will and Abe off the farm very often, once, maybe twice per year. They are solid as a rock on the farm, not much startles them. When I do get them out I am always surprised by how many ways I see that things could go bad. Kids are the greatest potential problem. They tend to run in packs, are loud and will run in from any direction. And people with dogs can be a fright if they don’t realize dogs need to be controlled. Last fall I was pulling a wagon and while we were unloading a kid reached up and poked Abe in the butt with a stick. Abe jerked the wagon, of course, but he held steady and no problems, but those are the things that can ramp up real fast. The point is, when you get a lot of people around that have no experience or understanding of large animals you have to be on full alert. Cattle are not comfortable with unfamiliar things and you never know what they will perceive to be a serious threat.

As I have said before, if you want to do parades or fairs or shows, great. But start young and go often. Build their ability to withstand the confusion that comes with those events. I think in those situations I ask more from my team than I ever do with logs, stoneboats or other loads. Protect yourself and your team. Its not fair to ask too much.

[Tim Harrigan]

Yes, Rod, that is the counterpart of the teamster using a pointed stick to teach the steer what appropriate personal space means. I stepped in towards my team this spring to avoid some low branches and brush and got the side of my foot pinched. My fault. My foot hurt for two weeks. I always wear steel toes, even under rubber boots, but I don’t think they have ever stepped on the toes.

[Tim Harrigan]

You just need to stay with it. Practice stop and go every 30 feet heading away from the barn and do it 20 or 30 times per day. Also, if he is pulling a load that he has to work at to pull he will be glad to stop. Stay with it and use the goad if necessary. They will figure it out.

[Tim Harrigan]

Yes, it will be a little more difficult because it will be more independent, bigger and stronger but it should not be a problem if you communicate a clear sense of behavior and expectation.

[Tim Harrigan]

Yes, I can see where you would want a larger bearing surface if you had significant tongue weight. With most cart loads the horizontal load is not as great as with a tillage tool or stone boat so there would tend to be less rotation of the yoke beam.

I have heard there will be an ox event at Ecomusee d` Alsace in Ungersheim, FR in the next few weeks. Will you be going?

[Tim Harrigan]

With cattle we typically use terms like ‘put in’ or ‘put out’, or ‘step in’ or ‘step out’. With oxen verbal commands are primarily a wake-up call alerting them that you expect something other. They will respond to a verbal request but their first inclination is to gather more information by checking out body language and other physical queues because we do not have the physical link from hand to mouth as with horses and mules. So if you want a more rapid response on a tight turn for instance it takes an additional touch and perhaps a visual sign like stepping back and away if you want them to ‘haw to’ or hold the load and swing to the left.

Donn is right about the silence. My best days with Will and Abe are when I don’t say much of anything. Something changes when I keep it quiet. They seem to watch a little closer and take a little more responsibility in the process. They will begin to start, stop and turn with a slight turn of the wrist or change in position if I am next to them. I think they appreciate it. And I appreciate the simple sounds of a quiet team at work. Small stone, big ripple.

[Tim Harrigan]

If you have a dropped hitch point the bows will rotate back into the shoulder between the neck and the point of the shoulder when the team is pulling a load. An elliptical neck seat allows the yoke to rotate yet still maintain a nearly constant surface contact area with no pressure point such as you would have with a flat surface with a square corner such as a 2×4 for instance. A completely flat surface would have an advantage if the load was straight down on the neck. But the line of force is typically 14 to 18 degrees from horizontal.

This is with our North American-style yoke. I believe animal comfort is greatly enhanced with the elliptical design with our yoking tradition.

[Tim Harrigan]

I do not have much experience with water buffalo but we had a team at the MODA gathering two years ago and they seemed quite agreeable. I think they would get along very will with your bovines. I am sure there are some differences in temperment and other mannerisms but they were not obvious with casual observation. I would go about training them the same way I would a bovine of that age. First gain their trust and teach them to lead with basic commands, then develop age-appropriate expectations for behavior and level of work. Should be fun.

[Tim Harrigan]

When did you become aware of this problem?

[Tim Harrigan]

Oxen that are mature steers can overwinter just fine on corn stalks. Mature steers just have to meet their maintenance requirements and it does not take very much or very good forage to do that. Young and growing steers with not gain well on cornstalks without supplemental feed. Cows with calves will likely loose weight. Feeding oxen is not like feeding dairy cattle. With the amount of work most oxen do the greatest challenge is to keep them from getting fat. I remember seeing Simmental cattle in some of the milking herds in Europe. They are dual purpose cattle (in Europe they were anyway, Simmental in the US are beef animals) so maybe that is their feeding frame of reference.

I think your reference to 200 lbs of feed per day would be a green chopped forage rather than a dry hay or dry corn stalks. That amount of green chop would be equivalent to 40-50 lb dry hay.

[Tim Harrigan]

Rod: The perfect temperature for comfort for the common breeds in the northern states is 30-40 degree F. In the first days when it warms up to what we think is really nice weather it is actually pretty uncomfortable for them. Keep an eye on them, early spring is a good time for Ivomec, give them time to get in shape and acclimate. He will likely be fine. Any chance he had pneumonia as a calf?

[Tim Harrigan]

If a team is reasonably well trained, reins or ropes to the halter along with voice commands and the goad to touch one or the other ox to speed them up to tighten a turn could be very effective. A little tug on the rope would focus their attention and make them a little more responsive and maneuverable. And there are times you may want to remind them that their attention needs to be on you. I have thought about experimenting with reins but my team does fine with the things I ask them to do with voice and touch. But it depends on what you are asking your team to do, and where. Reins would make most folks feel a little more confident driving from behind, and would probably make most teams a little more responsive.

I agree with Vicki, again, though. While nose rings do not have to be abusive the potential and perception are there for everyone to see and question. In our part of the country that would be a take-home message that you would rather have people forget.

[Tim Harrigan]

Hardpan: It is certainly possible to drive a team of oxen alone and from behind, and it can be done with voice, ropes to the halter or more restrictive ways as discussed in this thread. But in some ways driving from behind without heavy restraint is a step up from driving from the front or side so it will take a commitment. So the question is, do you really want to work oxen rather than horses? If you are not sure you might be better off with horses.

[Tim Harrigan]

It is a little hard to tell because the yoke is twisted in the picture. But I think it might be one inch too big. Is the bow hitting the point of his shoulder? Does he act like something is bothering him? It is a little hard to tell from your pictures.

[Tim Harrigan]

Bivol, great links! Really good stuff. These are some of the best pictures and descriptions of small-scale hay making that I have seen. And I had never considered the romantic possibilities that were pointed out by Andrei. Thanks.

[Author]

Posts