Working Cow

TeachMe · #1 10/19/06, 04:00 PM

Does anyone here keep a tri-purpose cow--for milk, meat, and draft? I know that bovines used to be more common for draft purposes and then horses became more popular. It seems to me that on a small holding it would be beneficial to use a cow (which you might already own and maintain for milk and meat) for draft rather than keeping another animal (horse, mule, other). If you have tried this, what was your experience? Does the breed of cow make much difference or is it mostly training that matters? Thanks for reading, have a good one.

Pat · #2 10/19/06, 05:27 PM

Most of the draft cattle were / are Oxen usually of a large breed. Most draft animals are males too... there is so much time you can't use her if she's bred and pulling is a strain.

They moved away from Oxen because they are very slow also.

Pat

michiganfarmer · #3 10/20/06, 05:07 AM

I have thought about this myself. I know a guy who raises sementall feeder cattle. I know another guy who used to buy them and finish them for beef. He said they get much bigger than holsteins, and they are very mild mannered. I just learned this a few days ago. I was thinking their large size would make a good draft animal, and their mild temerment would be good for milking. I dont know how trainable they are, but I am going to look into sementall for a tri purpose animal.

tyusclan · #4 10/20/06, 05:25 AM

I read an article years ago in a magazine (can't even remember which one now) about training cows to work. It made a lot of sense to me. Instead of training steers who don't do anything but work when you need them, you can train a cow, and you can have a calf coming along as well as milk if you want to milk her. It wouldn't hurt a bred cow to work as long as she didn't have to do anything too heavy late in the pregnancy.

TeachMe · #5 10/20/06, 07:05 AM

Thanks for the replies so far.

I'm not sure why the idea isn't more popular, as it seems that it would make the cow more versatile and useful for the input provided. Yesterday when I was searching I found an old post by Haggis which stated that the switch to horses from bovines was more about status than anything else (Ox question ). As far as breeds go, I would assume (since I don't know much about cattle) that a pure dairy breed might not be the best for draft, but what about a dairy/beef cross instead of a specific breed bred for draft? Again, any input is appreciated, have a good day.

lgslgs · #6 10/20/06, 09:42 AM

We have a draft cow, but she won't be used for meat or milk - just as a lawn moooooer, draft animal and riding cow for her natural lifetime.

She's also shaping up nicely as a herd guardian for our goat herd. As she's gotten bigger she's started putting herself between the goat herd and any possible source of danger (like barking dogs, unfamiliar people coming into the driveway, etc.)

She's a Hereford/Shorthorn cross and also happens to be a Freemartin (female born twin to a bull calf - very likely sterile.)

She's still quite young, but already very handy for light pulling (a couple of tree stumps on a sled) or to help move a downed tree trunk. She's also saved us a lot of gas money that would have gone toward keeping paths and clearings mowed. She makes some mighty fine contributuions to the compost heap, too!

Lynda

Tabitha · #7 10/20/06, 11:22 AM

we worked with cows. It was not a matter of preferance but of necessity. we did not have that much land, we could not afford another draft animal. there were different kinds of homestead. the really poor and small ones were the ones that had no draft animal at all and kept goats for their milk animal. to exist on such a small holding the family had some kind of craft going, like making wood shoes, kitchen implements like wooden spoons, rakes and scythe handles, snuff boxes, twig brooms etc. the next one up would be an one cow holding, the cow had to pull the wagon, which was one cow size, and usually this size hoilding also kept a goat or two. we were a two cow outfit. the cows pulled the plow and the wagon to haul hay and potatoes, mangels and turnips etc home. to take grain to the mill only took one cow. we had a woodshop on the side, or you could say we had a woodshop and farmed small time on the side. whichever. we made furniture, windows and doors and the coffin if someone died in the community. My grandfather was very artistic and also carved, made fancy candlesticks for churches, and repaired old furniture for museums. you could not make a living on a place with only two cows. the cobbler who repaired everybody's shoes also had two cows, so did the guy who ran the community pub. a farm big enough to have a pair of draft oxen was big enough to live off the farm. and someone who kept draft horses was considered a big farm, where you did nothing but farm and could also hire a hand.
cows were a bit slow. I have some pictures of my grandmother leading the cows while my uncle is plowing. My godmother had four milkcows and they worked with the cows.

james dilley · #8 10/20/06, 03:15 PM

The French used to use the Charlias ,For draft and milk. As well as meat , from the steers. I read this bit of imformation..From A collage text book. On beef cattle in the south..

arcticow · #9 10/21/06, 02:29 AM

I have a pair of Highland cows that will be pulling firewood this winter when not too cold.They have to milk, make a beef calf or replacement heifer & work. Can't afford not to have them do it all.Not with feed prices in AK.

jnap31 · #10 10/21/06, 03:08 AM

Good thread with my very limited land I was wondering the same thing, I thought it would be a good idea to train two dexter to the plow. Could I use my bull on one side and a cow on the other or if one animal is stronger/bigger will it not work? Also I cant afford to keep oxen on about 2 acres so does anyone plow with bulls?

jnap31 · #11 10/21/06, 03:20 AM

here are some in Cuba plowing
http://www.istockphoto.com/file_clos...d.php?id=91643

here is an interesting blog about them and a trip to a poor farming family in mexico
http://www.learner.org/jnorth/1997/c...h/Prieto2.html maybe they were really oxen not bulls and they did not know any better. another reference to bulls for plowing this time in peru near the bottom part of page. http://instruct1.cit.cornell.edu/cou...ion_page_2.htm

mamahen · #12 10/21/06, 07:42 AM

Is there anyway to work them without a yoke? I'd like to teach my calf, but with just one animal, I'd like to use something else??

tyusclan · #13 10/21/06, 08:01 AM

I have seen one ox worked with a horse collar turned upside down, using hames and trace chains. Don't remember exactly how they did it, but it worked.

lgslgs · #14 10/21/06, 10:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mamahen

Is there anyway to work them without a yoke? I'd like to teach my calf, but with just one animal, I'd like to use something else??

When Connie was a calf, we just made a collar out of an old bed sheet, ran 2 PVC poles off of it and attached a cheap Walmart sled. That would carry several big logs with enough weight that she could learn about pulling. We have a lot of steep hills, so we also tied a rope to the back of the sled to use as a brake for steep downhills.

She really like her pretty pink pulling collar.

Now we're finishing up a set of hames for her, using instructions from Rural Heritage magazine.

We sure moved a lot of wood last year, though, with less than $10 of pulling gear!

Lynda

mamahen · #15 10/21/06, 10:55 AM

lgslgs, do you happen to have any pics of that first set up?

lgslgs · #16 10/21/06, 01:09 PM

Sorry - I don't have any photos.

The collar was just a plain old bedsheet. I twisted it a couple of times and then we just put it on her like a necklace and tied it into a collar with a double knot - much like knotting a sweatshirt around your waist.

At first a length of clothesline to each side of the collar and then on to the front of the sled. Then we fancied it up by cutting two PVC poles and running the clotheline sections through them to give us a bit more structure.

It was about as fancy as when you knot a bedsheet to make a kid's Superman cape.

We also used to actually tie one of my sweatshirts around Connie's neck the way that you'd see folks in TV commercials wearing a sweater tied around their neck. We just did that when it got too warm to keep wearing a sweatshirt on a walk - and because we thought she'd look funny wearing it.

Go grab an old sheet and try it out. If there's a lot of extra fabric flopping around, just give it a twist or two and tie again. Once your calf has it on it should be pretty clear where you want to tie on the side ropes.

We expected that it would take her a little while to get used to the sound of something dragging behind her, but she led just fine from the start. It really was amazingly easy.

When we put weigh on the sled, she actually seemed to enjoy the feel of leaning into the collar and pulling against the weight - especially when we were going up hill.

We started out just moving a couple of logs a day. After the first week, my husband had a couple of logs on the sled and one fell off. As he went to pick it up, Connie just went ahead and delivered the logs to the gate and waited for him to get there to give her a cow treat. (We used apple flavored horse treats as a reward.) She was only about 6 months old when she started with this.

Lynda

JulieLou42 · #17 10/21/06, 09:26 PM

Go here for info on riding steers and training them for draft animals...

http://www.ridingsteers.com/

wilderness1989 · #18 10/21/06, 11:28 PM

I had a pair of registered Texas Longhorn steers that I used for draft and riding. I started out training them as calves. They enjoyed the attention and the treats.

james dilley · #19 10/22/06, 12:10 AM

From reading the Book Beef cattle in the South. It states that over half the cows that went over the Oregon trail Pulled the wagons. And A foot note there are single Yokes for working A single animal.

lgslgs · #20 10/22/06, 09:28 AM

I believe that you can get single yokes from Berrybrook Ox Supply http://www.berrybrookoxsupply.com/

We're making hames instead of a yoke because Connie doesn't have horns.

There's a woman who works a single ox who has some good info on her harness set up. She's at: http://www.prairieoxdrovers.com/collars.html

Lynda