oxen training

jerzeygurl · #1 03/12/07, 09:13 AM

does any one here or has any one ever trained an ox?

we would like try our hand at it with our new youngun

Haggis · #2 03/12/07, 09:52 AM

Technically, an ox is a steer more than 4 years old, in which case, I have never trained up an ox, but I have trained up several young steers and at least one heifer; (I have to take an opportunity to tease a wee bit when I can).

I'll be using my 10 month old Milking Devon/Jersey "handy steer", Vercingetorix II, to clear brush and drag in firewood this year, and after my Jersey cows drop their calves they will be put in a Swiss collar and harness as well.

jerzeygurl · #3 03/12/07, 10:55 AM

im sorry if i used the term wrong...

but the only article i ve ever read said to start training your ox as soon as they are born

so

how do you start them(ive lost the article its here somewhere)

Haggis · #4 03/12/07, 11:20 AM

In a perfect world the calf (oxen to be) would never nurse, and they should be short tethered from the first instant. The object here are to have the calf bond to the trainer/drover, and to learn they cannot move about unless the trainer/drover permits it; then too, once he weighs 1000# to 3500#, according to breed, no halter or tether will hold him unless he "thinks" he can't break it.

Once they have their legs under them, two or three days old, they shoud be haltered and begin their training: first leading (Step-Up), then stopping (Whoa), then standing ("Whoa means until I say Step-Up"); eventually Gee, Haw, Back, Step-In, Step-Out and the list continues.

Teach him to let you lift his legs and inspect his hooves, and work on it until he doesn't fight it. Later in life, if he is to work, he will need his hooves trimmed on occasion, perhaps even shoes; an ox that choose to not lift his legs isn't going to, but one that thinks he must submit will from habit.

If you are training a steer and intend to keep him his lifetime, don't castrate him until he is on to 6 months old; they can develope urinary problems later in life and end their useful days too early if castrated too young.

Cattle are very smart and it becomes increasingly difficult to think of them in terms of beef; especially after they have learned to respond to 15 to 40 verbal commands.

jerzeygurl · #5 03/12/07, 11:29 AM

thanks( no he has never nursed)

michiganfarmer · #6 03/12/07, 12:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Haggis

In a perfect world the calf (oxen to be) would never nurse, and they should be short tethered from the first instant. The object here are to have the calf bond to the trainer/drover, and to learn they cannot move about unless the trainer/drover permits it; then too, once he weighs 1000# to 3500#, according to breed, no halter or tether will hold him unless he "thinks" he can't break it.

Once they have their legs under them, two or three days old, they shoud be haltered and begin their training: first leading (Step-Up), then stopping (Whoa), then standing ("Whoa means until I say Step-Up"); eventually Gee, Haw, Back, Step-In, Step-Out and the list continues.

Teach him to let you lift his legs and inspect his hooves, and work on it until he doesn't fight it. Later in life, if he is to work, he will need his hooves trimmed on occasion, perhaps even shoes; an ox that choose to not lift his legs isn't going to, but one that thinks he must submit will from habit.

If you are training a steer and intend to keep him his lifetime, don't castrate him until he is on to 6 months old; they can develope urinary problems later in life and end their useful days too early if castrated too young.

Cattle are very smart and it becomes increasingly difficult to think of them in terms of beef; especially after they have learned to respond to 15 to 40 verbal commands.

Very interesting Haggis. Ive seen lots of questions about trainning animals, but Ive never seed detailed intructions like this. thanks for the info.

Slev · #7 03/13/07, 05:34 AM

some good resource links:
www.modaox.us
http://prairieoxdrovers.com
www.tillersinternational.org
www.ruralheritage.com

Drew Conroy has also written very good books about oxen. Personally, I belong to Modaox and have one of Drew Conroys books. As well as attending a weekend training session from Living History Farms in Iowa. (I came in second place in the novice team driving compitition, and it was my very first time.) I couldn't remember which way gee and haw was, so I mainly tapped them on the ears for direction without speaking, is what saved me. Backing up to hook up and then going over a bridge was the hardest.

Haggis · #8 03/13/07, 06:22 AM

Congrats on the second place win. It sounds like you have a very well trained span of cattle.

I have finally settled on tapping the boss of the head for whoa, and tapping either the right or left shoulder for gee and haw. I know folks who tap ears, but my aim is not always so good, and when the varmint is bouncing along shoulders are easy to hit; just a tap and "Gee Over" of "Haw Over", and they're back on track. I do the same when I am turning them.

On the subject of the "tapping" I use a buggy whip with the "stinger" cut off the end, but if I were to try to teach someone else, a beginer (which I suppose everyone is until they die of old age), to use the goad on a very small calf, I would tell them to use a 3 foot piece of flexible foam insulation; the kind used for 1" pipe. Cattle have very thick hide but they can feel a fly walking on them; they will respond to the goad because they don't want it to touch them, not necessarily because it hurts. In point of fact, there is no reason to hurt them. When I lay my buggy whip in front of my steer Vercingetorix II's muzzle he stops as suddenly as if a brick wall had appeared in front of him. Cattle will soon learn to respond to the goad being held near the place where they used to be tapped, but if they don't, the slightest touch/tap will remind them; that is assuming they were properly trained in the beginning.

francismilker · #9 03/13/07, 08:59 AM

This all sounds time consuming. I know it could be an adventure if you have a lot of time. I never realized training was so intensive! With the development of small gasoline engines a few decades ago, life go a whole lot easier for us! ( That is, unless you want to try your hand at homesteading.)

michiganfarmer · #10 03/13/07, 09:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by francismilker

This all sounds time consuming. I know it could be an adventure if you have a lot of time. I never realized training was so intensive! With the development of small gasoline engines a few decades ago, life go a whole lot easier for us! ( That is, unless you want to try your hand at homesteading.)

My thought is the enjoyment of farming/homesteading comes from the time spent with the animals, among other things.

Haggis · #11 03/13/07, 10:44 AM

10 or 15 minutes each day, or twice a day, when the calf is small, will work wonders. When they are older, and stronger, they won't know to do anything except key into whatever the trainer/drover wants; at this point they can have put some miles on them.

15 minutes a day = 7.5 hours of training a month, which in turn has them at 45 hours of training by the time they are 6 months old and ready to start doing real work.

jerzeygurl · #12 03/13/07, 11:01 AM

ok silly question, when you tap do you tap on the side you want them to turn away from or the side you want them to turn towards??

btw he absolutely hated the halter(but it doesnt fit) should have seen the look on his face lol

Haggis · #13 03/13/07, 11:30 AM

They will turn away from the tap or the presence of the goad. If I want my steer/cow to turn left, I say "Haw" and tap the right shoulder or ear, if I want my steer/cow to turn right, I say "Gee" and the left shoulder or ear. Gee is hardest for me when working a single animal, as I stand on the left of the beast and the animal has to turn away from me; when working two animals the "off" ox works as a break and the "nigh" ox pivots around them and to the right

If you are working a pair/span/yoke of cattle you can use your goad as a break for one animal (telling it to Whoa) while using your goad and telling the other animal to Step-Up. This will bring them round in a circle or just ease them over a bit; depending on how far one needs them to travel. Kinda like driving a bulldozer and breaking one track while allowing the other to pull ahead.

**gone-a-milkin** · #14 03/13/07, 08:39 PM

just wondering..do you mean your new little longhorn calf? or a different one? those longhorns seem kinda wild to me. lotta people use em as roping calves. would they make good oxen?

jerzeygurl · #15 03/13/07, 08:55 PM

some guy rides a long horn steer with saddle and all, brought him to the old timey thing. Its a drive to get to there but always worth it.

Right now he thinks we are his mamas as he knows no one else, he isnt full longhorn. our girls arent bad, just werent handled, the smallest will eat out of my hand and can be pet, and she was wild when we got her.

**gone-a-milkin** · #16 03/13/07, 09:37 PM

I always thought it would be fun to have a steer/or cow to ride...but then again ...HORSES.

I was only wondering. How cool! Starting a training project like that w/ such a new baby. Just like foal imprinting, really...

can not wait to hear more about it. maybe he will plow the garden? or You could use him in the Dixieland Stampede?

Me, I already have a horse that I dont ride and NO new AG projects, except flora, this year.

jerzeygurl · #17 03/14/07, 08:27 AM

i have 3 horses i dont ride, i got the cows afterwards or I would never have gotten the horses. Hope to be rid of them soon, I have a mule and donkies that have the temperment I like, and will get to work with them more when the highstrung ladies are gone...

The main thing he is just to pretty to eat, and I dont normally have problems eating livestock, I just think his value is his looks, and even if we dont keep him he will be worth more trained than as beef.

we have a lot of rocks that need moved ect in areas that tractors fear to tread