"new" oxen: 2 months in

[Andy Carson]

I thought I would drop a note of how things are going with the oxen team. They surpassed my basic expectations of how much weight they ought to be able to pull several weeks ago so I now look at any additional weight/load as a “bonus” of sorts. I have no illusions that this is a world class pulling team, but they still give alot of “bonus.” It is really fun to work a pair of animals rather than a single. The power difference is just so big, esp when you are used to a single. The team has been running around alot when out to pasture, particularly on days they are worked lightly. It is so funny to see them acting like calves when they are so big. They are getting a much higher level of comfort with me and I am having to be strict that thier play is not for me. I am still using nose baskets, and likely will for the rest of thier lives. It makes everything so much easier and it’s an easy thing to snap on. Interestingly, the one that was smaller when I got them (Costello) is going through a growth spurt of sorts. He’s grown a full inch at the shoulder and might be almost two inches taller than his teammate now. The other oxen (Abbot) has just gained weight and muscle, and although he started off being substantially stronger than his teammate, I think the tables are turned right now. They work together much better now than when they were new to me. They start the load in unison, and have learned to navigate turns without rubbing the chain. I have stopped giving verbal commands, for the most part, as gestures and stick pointing seem to communicate things so much more efficiently. I can see why this kind of communication might not transfer to others very well, but I don’t expect this team will be driven by anyone else anyway. I have to think to remember the last time I whapped one of them with the stick harder than one might tap a spoon on the edge of a tea cup. I think that’s very nice. Not done yet, not by a long shot, but I feel good about where we are at as I think we have achieved a highly functional level of training. I want to give a very sincere thanks to everyone who has provided help and advice getting started, and especially to Vicki for letting me borrow her yoke for a while.

[Tim Harrigan]

That is great, Andy. I was just thinking tonight as I was walking in from stacking logs how things were going with your team and if you had any regrets switching from your single horse to the oxen. In some ways they are very different, but I think the similarities out weight the differences. I was also wondering how things were going with Kevin and his team.

[dominiquer60]

Thanks for the update Andy, it is great to hear about all of your progress and the enjoyment that you get from working your cattle. Mine have been rather rambunctious too, it is fun to watch their sparing turn into mutual grooming. When I feed hay out they will sometimes come to me at a good clip, but a stern shake of a finger and they turn the other way, I never let them forget who leads the herd.

[Andy Carson]

Mine sometimes get “food crazy” too. When I lead them to the sacrifice are of the the hitching post, I alwasy make sure there is a small amount of grain waiting for them so it’s a positive experience. Watching them try to be patient while I either unclip the lead or tie them is very funny. Food just makes them so happy. It makes other wise smart animals look very dim. Silly critters.

[Andy Carson]

@Tim Harrigan 34458 wrote:

if you had any regrets switching from your single horse to the oxen. In some ways they are very different, but I think the similarities out weight the differences.

I do not regret switching and think that a team of oxen are a better choice for my farm. I hate to go into the old horse vs ox thing again, but in my experience might differ from that of some others so it might be useful to list a few aspects that are different in my hands. This might be useful to someone.

Management time.
Oxen are definately easier to care for in many ways. Not suprising, really, that oxen have an edge here as horses are the most difficult and time consuming animal I have ever owned.

Feed cost.
I was expecting this to be an advantage for oxen, but it has turned to be almost a equal. Yes, I can feed them cheaper hay. I can save 50% on bale cost per bale, but then I feed 50% more hay. Right now, this is a wash. Perhaps when people sell thier excess hay from last year I can stock up and really save money. Grain cost has been equal as well because I am graining my growing oxen at about the same level as I was graining my mature horses. This will likley change in time.

Pasture
Oxen are clear winners when it comes to efficiently utilizing pasture evenly without overgrazing or tearing up pasture from running around.

Speed
My oxen are significantly slower than my horse. They can be pushed to walk at about the same speed as a horse walks, but thier endurance at this speed is very very crappy. They can work for a long time if the work can be kept slow. There are advantages to a slow speed though, and tillage is a good job for a slow speed.

Person-specific behavior
My oxen respect me, but I would never ask my wife to lead them from one pasture to another or work with them in any meaningful way. They have been exposed to people they have to work for and people who are scared of them. As a result, they try to figure out which type of person you are. Clearly, if they can intimidate someone, they will not behave. I try to keep such people out of the field because I don’t want them to learn that they can be intimidating. Horses do not do this much.

Farrier/Dentist cost
Clearly the oxen win this catagory

Grooming/harnessing/hitching
I have seen this listed as an advantage for oxen, but in my experience this is a wash. My oxen tend to get dirtier than my horse, so the grooming time is increased significantly. Also, the oxen really love getting groomed (eps having thier necks scratched) so I tend to spend a little more time on it as opposed to my horse who just wanted to get to work. The increased grooming time is compensated for by the much faster yoking time.

Power
Two oxen are clearly stronger than one horse. Are they twice as strong? Not right now, I would guess the power is about 150% of a single horse. Still, even if the power increases by 50% and the feed cost is the same, this is a functional increase in power per dollar or feed. This was the goal, and I think they accomplish it.

Life expectancy
This is somewhat of a touchy issue, but I am thinking that if I want to start my next team from calves (which I do) I should start thinking about getting some calves maybe next year or so. That way, the next team will be ready to do heavy work before I run a risk that age starts to slow or stop my current team. This can be done with horses too, but the time to get “too old” seems longer and it is so easy to bank on buying another horse or set of horses when a current team breaks down. This means that for a while, I am going to be spending time working two sets of animals (unless I can learn to work them together). I will have to see how this going with my time, etc. A perfect animal would have a longer lifespan.

[Kevin Cunningham]

Thanks for the update Andy it has been neat to track your progress as mine also progress. I’ll post my own little update as a diary today as well.

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