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Do Oxen have a purpose in the modern day?

 
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Let me start this thread with the fact that I know VERY little about ox and oxen. There is a gentleman locally who keeps a team and always has them at the county fair and parades. Outside of the neatness of ox, I am wondering if they make sense for a homesteader today or not.

My understanding is that oxen are a living breathing powerful 'engine' to haul/drag/move things. Are there specific areas or terrain that oxen might have an advantage over a modern convenience such as tractors?

Perhaps someone who already keeps cattle or other livestock might find oxen convenient due to having feed/housing/care already on site that could be utilized for all creatures which might make them desirable?

Long story short, help me convince my wife that keeping ox would be super cool and valid.
 
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we still have people (mostly elderly) who plow with horses and oxen. Not many, but some. Generally the properties are too small to merit a tractor, or located in such a situation that a tractor might not make it in (access through a forest, rocky slope, etc) or would be risky (i saw a field that was really steep once).
There is a tradition of mule and oxen trains here that is kept alive for show purposes too.
I would love some oxen, but unfortunately I know from training horses (and dogs, sigh) that this kind of skill takes a while to train and needs to be exercised often. In all that spare time I don't have. Maybe I could teach the dog to plow my garden, which would be the ultimate multiple-birds-one-stone thing.....
 
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I have no experience with them, but I want to share these videos from one of my favourite youtube channels which might be of interest.

The first one is only available in Spanish but has subtitles. The others have an option for an AI generated translation.

The carters and their hard life in the mountains. Taming of oxen for the transport of wood


Handmade YOKE with a WOODEN TRUNK. Manual carving of this agricultural piece by an expert


Plowing the Field with Cows. The Yoke and Other Traditional Farming Tools | Documentary


1500 kg stone roller pulled by oxen to flatten land as in the past
 
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Tereza Okava wrote: I would love some oxen, but unfortunately I know from training horses (and dogs, sigh) that this kind of skill takes a while to train and needs to be exercised often. In all that spare time I don't have. Maybe I could teach the dog to plow my garden, which would be the ultimate multiple-birds-one-stone thing.....

My bold. Unless your have uses for the same or similar skills multiple times per year, this would be tricky. If there is wood to be moved in the winter, crops to be sown in the spring, goods to go to the markets weekly summer and fall, and you had will to do this rather than just jumping in a truck, they could be no less useful, because I'm sure the tasks still need doing, but fossil fuels don't need to be fed and watered daily!

Teaching your dog to plow would be a neat trick! I always prefer to have "pets with benefits"!
 
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