Teaming up mature oxen

[Rob FLory]

Hi,
A lot of people have asked me over the years about putting together 2 mature oxen that have not worked together before. I never had any experience with it until this month, so I thought I would share the story of what I have done so far.

Last December I lost the nigh ox of a 12-year-old team. I planned on buying a team and selling the remaining ox despite the fact that he was still fit, as I had little hope of finding a mate. A fair number of people have expressed skepticism over putting together older oxen, but as my grandfather liked to say, “Just because something is impossible, doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be tried.”

I was fortunate to have someone offer me Chris, a 7-year-old ox of similar breeding and size to my off ox Jake. I brought him home and immediately tied him up next to Jake and groomed the two of them. I believe that grooming oxen is part of establishing dominance over them, so I thought they should each see the other groomed by me.

Chris had been worked single for most of his life. As he had been worked single and was used to walking right next to the driver, I yoked him on the nigh side, with Jake where he was used to working on the off side.

I let them stand in the yoke for some time, I forget now how long, maybe 15 minutes or so. Then I took them for a short, quick walk.

The walk was exciting but they were pretty well in control and I declared victory and unyoked them. After putting some horn knobs on Chris’ very sharp and long horns, I turned them out to pasture to begin working out their dominance. Jake drove Chris about 100 yards, and then the two of them stood head to hind for about an hour, taking turns trying to mount the other about every five minutes. Then I brought them into the barn and fed them, with Jake in his accustomed position.

It appears that Jake has maintained the upper hand(hoof?) in the dominance order. Chris outweighs him 2200lb to 2140lb, but Jake is leaner.

I took them out about 5 more times on the manure spreader and bobsled. They drove pretty well, but I had a couple of challenges. I think that Chris had little need to sidestep as a single, so I was having a hard time getting him to step out for hitching. I have yet to find a stimulus that causes him to step sideways. I have at least one more trick up my sleeve, but I have to make an apparatus for that. Chris is better voice trained than Jake other than the sidestepping thing.

I decided that since I am already trying all kinds of stuff that I haven’t tried before, I may as well try another, so today I switched sides. This puts Jake, who sidesteps better, where I need that more(for hitching), on the near side. Chris, who is more responsive to voice is out on the off side where he gets fewer physical cues with the whip. Chris’ horns are a lot longer than Jakes, so I like having them out of my face, and it is easier for Jake to step forward under the yoke while yoking if he is on the near side.

I walked them around the barn once on their new sides and it went quite well. I found I had to adjust my body position for backing from the usual position directly in front of the center of the yoke. They backed up straighter if I got next to Jake on the nigh side, where he was used to me being when he was the off ox.

I then hitched them to the manure spreader. The first trip out to the field was really wild and fast, and I did something I have not done in a dozen years, which was to put a lead rope on the nigh ox. The trip back from the field was still pretty wild and fast, but I did get to release the rope some.

The second trip to the field, Chris and Jake walked like gentlemen, and I never took the rope. By this time the field was muddier and they had a few problems when they failed to cooperate on pulling the load. I’m going to build their confidence by working them a lot more on lighter loads like the same spreader full but on frozen or firm ground. They walked back to the barnyard like gentlemen, but I had a little trouble backing the spreader into the barn because of Chris’ refusal to sidestep.

I was happy with today’s progress and am going to continue with them in the configuration we ran today.

That’s all for now. Please comment or ask questions.

Rob Flory
Howell Living History Farm

[Rod]

Interesting, nice to read about what you are doing. Always something to learn and I like reading oxen stuff. Keep up the reports.

[Carl Russell]

Hi Rob,

Great report. There’s nothing like a can-do attitude when pushing the envelope with animals. I also liked reading that you went back to the rope halter. I think too often people get into the mindset that once the fundamentals are completed they are done with. It is a great exercise to take these critters back to the beginning sometimes to make your point. Thanks for sharing. Good luck. Carl

[Howie]

I don’t believe that Chris had ever been hiched in a team before. There was no reason to teach him to stand over or to put in.

[mother katherine]

Rob,
Just read your story of beginning with Chris and Jake. They made out well, as I saw at Williamsburg.
oxnun

[Oxbow Farm]

I was really saddened last year when I saw pics of the oxen and Bud wasn’t in them. I realized something must have happened to him but didn’t know what until stumbling onto this forum. That team got me hooked on oxen, it took quite a few years after leaving Howell before it happened but I knew I had to do something with working cattle. I got to meet Dana at the oxen workshop the Huppe’s and Drew Conroy did in 2004, I told him how well the boys had done at the Billings Farm Plowing Match and he was really pleased. I’m sure he was happy that a team he had done so well with had ended up in such a perfect life for oxen. Bud had a great life and outlived 99% of the bull calves ever born in New England that year I guess.

One benefit I can see of Chris right off the bat is color. Bud and Jake were so well matched that about the only way to tell them apart was horn shape, with Chris’s big horns and reddish tint I imagine it must be a lot easier to keep them straight in your head.

Tim

[mathuranatha]

Had half a dozen or so trained oxen at one time,a decade or two ago.All dead from old age now. Only used to work a pair at time usually, so I would swap them around with different partners and different sides so they were more flexible and versatile.

[CharlyBonifaz]

mathuranatha,
been trying to reach you a long while ago 😎
need to know how you fix the rubber/tire-shoes on the oxen….if this doesn’t fit here, may be you want to use pm? thanks in advance

[mathuranatha]

@CharlyBonifaz 16761 wrote:

mathuranatha,
been trying to reach you a long while ago 😎
need to know how you fix the rubber/tire-shoes on the oxen….if this doesn’t fit here, may be you want to use pm? thanks in advance

I gave up on the rubber tyre shoes after a coupler of years and made them out of all steel.Not quite as much grip as the rubber but much more durable and easy to maintain.Sort of like steel sandals with one loop at the front and 2 loops at the back and a leather strap that went around their ankle.We used to strap them on each morning and take them off at night .As they would wear down we would just weld new bars across the bottom.Did thousands of kilometres on the bitumen roads during the 90,s but havent put one on a bullock in probably 10 years .Anyway I’ll find one of the shoes and take a pic.There is one 20+year old bullock left who used to wear the shoes . I might be able to put a shoe on him but I think all the leather straps are totally deteriorated.I definitely want to get a young calf and get out on the road again .I bult a new light weight cart 3or 4 years ago with an axle that winds forwards and backwards to keep the balance neutral for hills.Still havent tried it yet .My email is mathuranathadas108@gmail.com — remind me if I dont get around to posting some pic as I have about 10 life times of things that need doing and lots of half finished projects on our community farm.
—- thanks mat—

[mathuranatha]

[IMG]http://www.flickr.com/photos/9445121@N05/4439975260/[/IMG][IMG][IMG]http://www.flickr.com/photos/9445121@N05/4439982424/[/IMG] @CharlyBonifaz 16761 wrote:

mathuranatha,
been trying to reach you a long while ago 😎
need to know how you fix the rubber/tire-shoes on the oxen….if this doesn’t fit here, may be you want to use pm? thanks in advance

[mathuranatha]

[IMG]http://www.flickr.com/photos/9445121@N05/4439978882/[/IMG]
another pic , can post more if required-mat-

[Rob FLory]

Hi All and a shoutout to “My Favorite Misanthrope”,

A couple of updates on Chris and Jake. We weighed them last weekend and Chris was 2500lb and Jake was holding firm at a very lean 2100. I noticed recently that despite extra boards between them and a shorter chain on Chris, he has developed a trick of snagging Jake’s hay with his horn and dragging it back to where he can kick it into his manger. No wonder his “program” has failed to take any weight off of him.

Jake lost his position as dominant ox, but is a much harder worker even at age 14 than Chris at 10. Jake has worn down or lost about half of his front teeth so it takes him a while to eat his hay, I’m assuming because it is harder to tear it apart into bites. I got a handle installed on an old forage chopper to give that a try, although once we get some loose hay back into the barn in June, that will help, too.

After several years of being pushed around by Jake, Chris is beginning to respond pretty well when I need him to put in/put out and they did a great job of backing the manure spreader into a tight spot yesterday.

Chris still holds his head down no matter what I do with his bows so I am calling that his own personal problem. Tim Huppe said that sometimes a twisted yoke will help an ox who just likes to keep his head down pull better. I have a twisted yoke but it is the wrong size so I took it off the “sell” pile and put it back in the barn, but Chris is just going to have to deal with the yoke I’ve got in this economy.

Life is Good

Rob

[mother katherine]

Rob,
You’ve been busy this morning: I was glad to read your posts. Glad to hear the boys are still active and learning. When are you hosting an ox event? I’ll be there with bells on.
oxnun

[Oxbow Farm]

@Rob FLory 17046 wrote:

Hi All and a shoutout to “My Favorite Misanthrope”,

Rob, I’ve got this special shampoo now, totally took care of the misanthrope thing!

Hope to get down there this summer and see you guys and Jake before he loses all his teeth.

Tim

[Tim Harrigan]

Rob FLory;17046 wrote:

Chris still holds his head down no matter what I do with his bows so I am calling that his own personal problem. /quote]

Rob: My off ox Abe has always done the same thing no matter how I adjusted the bows. I assume it is a personal preference and stopped worrying about it. When the behavior becomes a habit they are much less responsive to equipment changes and it gets harder to identify cause and effect. That assumes, of course, that the equipment is not causing pain. So you can not always assume that because an ox carries his head low that it is because the bow is set too high.

[Author]

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