Bull as oxen?

[retiredbop]

Can an intact bull be a tractable oxen, or will he be too "bull-headed" and dominant to be reliable?

[Jennifer L.]

No, no, no! Absolutely not! Under no condition!

Bulls are unpredictable and while 99% of the time a particular animal could be as easy as pie to get along with, the other 1% he would kill you if he got the chance. As in smash you into the ground and grind you into it.

Never, ever, take a chance on a bull like that. Ever.

Jennifer

[woodsman]

It all depends on a bull doesn't it? You should try contacting Old Order Mennonites or Amish as they're probably the only ones who still have expertise in that field.

[ksfarmer]

Originally Posted by Jennifer L.

No, no, no! Absolutely not! Under no condition!

Bulls are unpredictable and while 99% of the time a particular animal could be as easy as pie to get along with, the other 1% he would kill you if he got the chance. As in smash you into the ground and grind you into it.

Never, ever, take a chance on a bull like that. Ever.

Jennifer

Pretty much says it all.

[ladycat]

I agree with Jennifer L. We've had some bulls that were relatively gentle (for bulls), but they can have a hair trigger temper. Even the "tame" ones can't be trusted EVER.

[haypoint]

Yeeee Haaaa

You could sell tickets to that!

[KSALguy]

testosterone is a wicked drug, not to be trusted in the beings with out higher awareness, even in humans its not to be trusted compleatly,

the very concept of useing any animal to accomplish a manual task is dependent on being able to trust and controle that animal, testosterone is the wild card that makes it impossible to compleatly trust and controle that animal no matter how docil and friendly you think that animal might be,

[retiredbop]

Forgive my ignorance, but does that mean that a steer or gelding are devoid of testosterone?

[Otter]

Originally Posted by retiredbop

Forgive my ignorance, but does that mean that a steer or gelding are devoid of testosterone?

They are free of any appreciable amount of testosterone, as the main source has been removed. There are other glands that produce tiny amounts, even females have tiny amounts of testosterone in their systems. But it's like comparing that tiny creek the grandkids hunt crawdads in with the Niagara. A steer and a bull are Totally Different animals.

[KSALguy]

thats a very good comparison Otter, yes Castrated animals are no longer producing testosterone in any amounts able to make a differince, the sooner you castrate an animal the less masculin features it will have as well, a steer that was castrated early on will look more like a cow than a bull, the older the animal is when castrated the more male it will look,

[tyusclan]

Originally Posted by Jennifer L.

No, no, no! Absolutely not! Under no condition!

Bulls are unpredictable and while 99% of the time a particular animal could be as easy as pie to get along with, the other 1% he would kill you if he got the chance. As in smash you into the ground and grind you into it.

Never, ever, take a chance on a bull like that. Ever.

Jennifer

Ditto!

I agree with everyone else. It's a really BAD idea.

I have heard of milk cows being trained to work, so you kinda get two for the price of one.

Here's a link if you want some info on oxen:

http://www.ruralheritage.com/ox_paddock/index.htm.

An excellent book on the subject is "In Praise of Oxen", by Drew Conroy.

[dk_40207]

I had read in "Oxen a Teamster's Guide" by Drew Conroy (which is a really good book) in Cuba they work bulls as oxen sometimes not even working them until they are several years old which are dairy breeds. They ring them and they way it reads is they really work them hard using whips and causing a lot of pain to the ox. It also says that they are very dangerous and should not be atempted by a novice.

[woodsman]

Many cultures now as well as in history used bulls as draft animals. Working bulls allegedly make better breeders, being exercised and more fit. It probably takes real talent to handle big dangerous animals like that - and a bull size set of brass ones.

[KSALguy]

people who worked bulls in history probably did little else than work with the animals, constantly working with them training them and the like, now days people dont have the time to truely work and bond with anything to the same extent as they did back then, what with jobs and lives and such, if you train a desexed animal to do something and dont have any hormones to throw a wild card in the mix you can leave things for a time and come back and work again with maybe some minor tweeks here and there and still be fine, do that with a hormon charged animal and you wont have near so much luck, best case senario you would have to start over from square one, worst case you end up dead or in the hospital,

[woodsman]

I agree - I couldn't see this as anything else but a full time commitment.

[DianeWV]

Most people that want to train oxen to work, start with small calves (babies) and begin working with them as soon as possible. It takes several months/years (on-going process) of training. So this is an animal that you plan on keeping for several years. As you know, bulls as they age tend to get a little roguey, sniffing out the neighbor's cows and may want to challenge the neighbor's bull. Consequently, over the years, you may encounter problems with the bull. That would be quite a shame, given all the time and effort of training to work. A steer, over the long haul, would be the better fit.

[pyrobear]

Originally Posted by retiredbop

Can an intact bull be a tractable oxen, or will he be too "bull-headed" and dominant to be reliable?

i will tell you like i tell all new breeders " never never NEVER trust a bull ! "