Can I train a 5 yr old cow to pull?

[hillsidehome]

Hi, I’m a new member here and so excited to have found this forum! My family and I would really like a draft animal to help out with the occassional farm chores (hauling manure, hay, stones from the garden, etc.) but as we only have 3/12 acres it can’t be a huge animal. I already own a 5 year old milking Jersey and her 10 month steer. So my question is: is it possible to train a 5 year old cow to pull? Or is it too hard to train them when they are that old? Would it be better/easier to train a younger animal? It’d be grand if I could use my steer – he’s already here, and is such a giant, gentle baby – the only drawback is he still grabs a snack now and then from mom. Or should we look into purchasing an already trained ox? As we are so new to this any thoughts, suggestions, or advice from you experts is greatly appreciated!

[Baystatetom]

@hillsidehome 34061 wrote:

Hi, I’m a new member here and so excited to have found this forum! My family and I would really like a draft animal to help out with the occassional farm chores (hauling manure, hay, stones from the garden, etc.) but as we only have 3/12 acres it can’t be a huge animal. I already own a 5 year old milking Jersey and her 10 month steer. So my question is: is it possible to train a 5 year old cow to pull? Or is it too hard to train them when they are that old? Would it be better/easier to train a younger animal? It’d be grand if I could use my steer – he’s already here, and is such a giant, gentle baby – the only drawback is he still grabs a snack now and then from mom. Or should we look into purchasing an already trained ox? As we are so new to this any thoughts, suggestions, or advice from you experts is greatly appreciated!

I don’t see why you couldn’t train either of them. I have always broke mine when they were young calves so I have no experience with the older ones, however I have read plenty about cattle being broke at age 4. I am sure you will have your trials but at least they are big enough to go to work right away verses waiting for a young pair to grow up.
My inclination would be to work with the steer, start by teaching him to lead on a halter, then introduce him to your yoke,collar, whatever.
~Tom

[hillsidehome]

Tom,

Thanks for the advice. My steer is already halter broke and leads real nice so that is food for thought.

I do have some more questions though. Considering my small space, is an ox economical? I think the limit would be 1600 pounds – anything under that is better! Or should I look into goats as a source of draft power?

Another thing I’m unsure about is the amount of work and which animal will best fit the bill. Like I said, I live on a small homestead so the jobs aren’t major and sort of spread out. For example, if I had an animal now, I’d be using it to haul compost to our gardens, clean out brush/ junk, and other odd spring-cleaning jobs. After that I’d probably not need it to work for about a month. Come fall I’d use it to haul hay, compost, and an occasional log and till in the garden. Can you do that with an ox: not work it for a month and then put it to work? Will an ox fit that need or is it like a horse in that it needs constant, consistant exercise?

~Audrey

[oxman]

While it is very possible to train older bovines (depending on temperament), it is best to start while young. An ox will indeed work at any time he is needed, even after a month of non-use. Just remember he will be soft muscled, and energetic, but will remember his training directives.
Carmen

[Vicki]

I agree that either your cow or steer could probably be trained without too much trouble. The steer might be a good choice for a couple reasons. First, the steer is younger thus will probably accept your leadership more easily. It would be great if he is already halter trained and handled, and respects your space. (A ten-month Jersey steer is probably pretty frisky, though, so let him play around some in a paddock before you take him out for lessons.) Secondly, the steer will be able to devote his calories and his attention to working, whereas the cow has her cycles and lactation and calf rearing.

The jobs you describe would fit a single Jersey ox well. You may need a larger yoke as the steer grows.

You could purchase an already-trained ox, but if you enjoy spending time with the steer (or cow if you use her) and can commit to training, he/she will be “yours” and you won’t need to spend money on another animal.

[fabian]

1. I trained my first cow when she was nearly 4 years old. Now she is 16 and the best I ever had.
2. We have in Germany a book from the 1930’s which says that a farm smaller than 17/18 acres is more economically worked with cows than with oxen or horses.
3. If you don’t have so much work it’s better (my opinion) to work with cows because they do not only the work you have to do for them but also produce milk and a calf every year. This is a profit more for you. AND it keeps the cow slim. Most oxen I have seen up to know which do not work often and hard, were to fat for being healthy or it was a big challenge for the teamster (with a lot of effort) to limit the diet for them. The cows can graze as much as they want: with a calf beside and even without work they remain in a good condition.

Wolfgang

(sorry for my clumsy English)

[hillsidehome]

Thanks so much for the advice all you folks have offered! This is a really great forum.

And Fabian, your post has encouraged and inspired me to go ahead and try out my milker. I don’t know why the thought of using cows as a power source never occured to me before – maybe because it isn’t the “thing” around here. If it doesn’t work – oh well. But it’s worth a try! I already have my Daisy, already know her quirks; I have trained her with a few small things like stepping up when I say “UP”, stepping back when I say “Back”, coming when called – which works 50% of the time. 🙂 And she’s naturally curious. LOVES people and attention.

I did consider my steer, but he is still so young that if he were to take to it readily I still couldn’t use him right away for work; plus he has no horns. My cow on the other hand is already full grown and has horns.

So how did you train your cow? Do you have any other tips you’d care to share?

(By the way, your English was great!)

~Audrey

[fabian]

The most difficult of training was to get her halterbroken. We bought her from a dairy farm and she was used to be tied but not used to be lead with a halter. When that worked, I walked with her through the forrest and the fields teaching her the commands.
The next challenge was not only to teach her to pull, but to teach her HOW to pull because to that time I used the forehead yoke, the common system here, in the past a „working-cow-area“. Meanwhile I use the American style neck yoke and it is much more easier to teach them to pull. May be that this depends on the fact that the cows are used to be captured in a fence while they get fed. This winter I trained a 2,5 year old cow and she never declined the bow around her neck.
After 2 times walking with the yoke she pulled at the 3rd time the empty sled and then I increased the load.
The commands do my cows learn when I bring them without a load or being yoked to pasture. So it’s a permanent training.
Another challenge is the cows get away from their calves (even mother cows) . I myself had never problems with this. But my neighbour, who is a professional mothercow farmer, always wonder that I get my cows away from the calves. I think it’s a kind of confidence : They know that they always come back to their calves. I onlx had one time problems, not with the cow but with her calf: calf was born in July, never been apart from it’s mother. When I hitched up first time in winter, the tied calf nearly hanged up in the barn. Luckywise I noticed it before leaving the yard. This video was taken at that day: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5K6k194Siik
When the calves are used to be left alone for some hours from early age it is not a problem. But remember my „golden rule“: Rumen filled, udder empty.

I hope that I could help you a little bit and encourage you to do your work with a cow.

Wolfgang

[Anonymous]

Oxfam has commissioned some research to see if milk yield dropped significantly in cows that were worked on a regular basis and the answer was no. Have you thought of a cross-breed? Some British farmers have put their cows to buffalo bulls. The hybrid might be stronger than either parent as is the case with mules. If you want a really big ox try putting a Hereford bull to a Frisian (Holstein) cow. The Hereford is only small but the offspring seem to have hybrid vigour.

[Nat(wasIxy)]

I would try the cow if you don’t have a lot of work for it to do, then at leats if you do stop working her, she still has a job – I made the mistake of going for a large steer as my first ox, and ended up with a large, hungry, bored and energetic animal on my hands getting fatter by the day…jerseys are particularly amenable and if she is responding well to you already, making further little steps won’t hurt! Our 10yr old cull cow had never been on a halter in her life, but we didn’t know that when we decided to start walking her in from the field in one – we went out, caught her and she walked back to the farm with us as though she’d done it every day. It was weeks before we asked her previous owner and found out she was completely unbroken!

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