[Howie]

bivol

When you have time just send me a couple of those Boskarin calves.
They sure look nice!

[Howie]

If he is wearing a yoke he is not to put his head down other than to lean into the yoke.

[Howie]

For Rod

If the britchen is adjusted right it will sure help to keep the yoke in the right position. It is worth it’s weight in gold just for keeping the steer between the traces. I gives you a better place to carry your traces and such when you are not hitched to any thing too.
A good single ox can do it all !!

[Howie]

If you are just a little bit handy. If you buy a single yoke big enough for him now you can build the next size larger by just increasing the over all size.
If you buy a medium britchen you can buckle it down and tie up the excese now and let it out as he grows to about a ton plus.
I have a medium one on a 1800 pound steer now and there is still room to let it out more.

[Howie]

The britchen is purely for convience. But once you have used one you won’t be with out one. The drawing is pretty acturate, it is my grand daughter and her single Ayrshire.

[Howie]

A male animal will grow until about the time he reaches sexual maturity. If he is caturated early he will not reach sexual maturity so he will grow a lot longer than a real male plus he is not putting energy into the sexual thing.
I grew up with the understanding that a steer will grow until he is 7 and if you keep him on milk he will grow until he is 9. ??

[Howie]

The saddle should be back just far enough so as not interfear with the shoulder action. The traces will line up with the shafts when he puts his head down to lean into the load.
Put the eyes back on the shafts about a foot. Depends on the steer, you might want to use a longer steer some time.
I think this set up will work just as good with a fore head yoke. I have never used a fore head yoke but I hope to try one. They look right.

[Howie]

If you let a bovine decide what to push with it will always be the forehead.
Maybe they are smarter than we give them credit for.

[Howie]

We had a young man with a pair of Jersey/Hostien oxen which were great pullers. In our 4H club. His dad grew up in Germany with the three pad collars. He and his dad built a beautiful pair of three pad collars for the oxen.They could never get them pull near as much in the collars as they would in the New England yoke that I made for them.

[Howie]

The best way that I have found is a strong pair of shafts with an eye on top and one an the bottom. The strap from the saddle fastens to the top ones. A belly band fastens to the bottom ones. A chain or strap from the yoke fastens to the top ones and the hold backs from the britchen fastens to them also.

[Howie]

The year that May raised 5 calves I milked two quarts out of each front teat and bottle fed it to the pair of calves that are now my oxen. Then I let two other calves nurse the rest of her milk. When they were about five months old I replaced them with another calf. All five done great.

[Howie]

Your horn trainer is not missing a strap. It is missing the adjustment bolt that goes between the two eyes. If you look you will see the holes on the eyes are threaded. One has a left hand thread and the other has a right hand thread, there should be a rod between these with thrreads to match. The rod has a hole in the center to match up with the hole in the center of the face plate to lock the threaded rod to. The rod will adjust the tension to pull the horns in or push them out.
I have horn knobs for sale. Some I have in stock and I make some. The ones I make now is only one style, The brass has got so expensive!!

[Howie]

I am just wondering if the people who think their ox needs a padded yoke have their plow handles padded.

[Howie]

I think that it is wrong to say a cow should not be worked for a month prior to having her calf or a month after. I think you should be careful not to work her too hard but she could well do light work up until a day or two before and go back a week after, if things go normal.
The last year I had my working cows they hauled a load of manure the day before May had her calf and went back to hauling it about ten days after. That year May raised five calves, and Dazy raised three.
May is the mother of my off ox, he is one those calves she raised that year.

[Howie]

A pair of Shorthorn Cows could well plow 10 or 12 hours a day with a break for lunch if they are in condition.
Just remember that they are only about 75% the size of a pair of Shorthorn oxen so you should make some adjustment to the size of the plow.
If you work them very hard their milk production will suffer. It is hard to get milk and work out of the same pound of feed.
A good pair of working cows can be the most efficient item on the farm.

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