Versatile as well as powerful, oxen can plow fields, haul stones, assist in logging, and improve roads. This comprehensive guide covers all aspects of selecting, training, feeding, and caring for your oxen. You'll learn how to fit yokes and bows, address common challenges, and maintain your team's overall health. Whether you're looking for an economical alternative to heavy machinery on the farm or want to compete at the next county fair, Drew Conroy will help you achieve success with your oxen. Drew Conroy, PhD, is a professor at the University of New Hampshire. He has been teaching applied animal science for 25 years and has produced six educational videos on training oxen and making yokes. Conroy and his family also raise rare American Milking Devon cattle and train oxen in Maine. He and his teams have been featured in numerous movies and magazines. Operating Manual for the Mighty Ox
From plowing and hauling to logging and demonstrating traditional farming techniques, oxen contribute their trustworthy strength to many tasks. Calm and easy to work with, they are perennial favorites at farm museums, in municipal parades, and at county fairs. Here is the definitive resource to owning and working a team of your own.
With Drew Conroy's reliable advice, you will select your ideal animals, feed and house them properly, begin their basic training, fit them with a yoke and bows, and look after their health. Finally, you will take on the satisfying process of training your team to master the working skills you desire.
Farm with them, show them off, or compete with them – there is much to admire about the mighty ox. Acknowledgements
Foreword to the 2nd Edition
Foreword to the 1st Edition
Preface
1: Selecting the Ideal Team
2: Housing Your Oxen
3: Feeding Your Oxen
4: Principles of Training
5: Training Steers
6: Advanced Training
7: Training Mature Cattle
8: Yoke Styles
9: Making a Neck Yoke and Bows
10: Hitching Options
11: Oxen in Agriculture
12: Logging with Oxen
13: Working Oxen in Public
14: Competing with Oxen
15: Keeping Oxen Healthy
16: Hoof Care
17: The Problem Team
18: Oxen in History
19: International DevelopmentAppendix: Overview of Ox Breeds
Appendix I: Overview of Ox Breeds
Appendix II: Yoke and Bow Sizes
Appendix III: Calculating Proper Nutrition
Glossary of Ox Terms
Bibliography
Index
