![Photograph print of a lithograph entitled, The American Mammoth Ox, Brother Jonathan. Collection is a photographic print.Series VII.1, Photographs, Box 7.1/2, file "II. Big Ox [1839]," USDA History Collection, Special Collections, National Agricultural Library.](https://i0.wp.com/www.cowhampshireblog.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/05d2b0734042e2fc11dfdd5924b49bc6-300x263.jpg?resize=300%2C263&ssl=1)
Photograph print of a lithograph entitled, The American Mammoth Ox, Brother Jonathan. Collection is a photographic print.Series VII.1, Photographs, Box 7.1/2, file “II. Big Ox [1839],” USDA History Collection, Special Collections, National Agricultural Library.
My regular readers know, due to my blog title, that it is mandatory for me to throw in a bovine story from time to time. I came across a marvelous lithograph of a great ox, and heard a tale immediately mooing.
For those who don’t know the difference between various cattle i.e, cow, bull, steer, heifer or ox here is a quick guide. A cow is always female, and has given birth to at least two calves, and they have a visible udder. A bull is an adult male bovine, with his reproduction organs still intact. A steer is an adult male bovine that has been castrated. A heifer is a female less than a year old that has never produced a calf. An ox (or oxen if more than one) is a bovine trained for pulling carts, wagons or plows, also known as draft work. Although a female technically can be trained this way, usually the preferred gender for this work is a male And then of course there are stags, bred heifers, first-calf heifers, and free-martins, but I’ll leave those cattle for another day. Continue reading →
Granite State Christmas by Fat City Band
![Photograph print of a lithograph entitled, The American Mammoth Ox, Brother Jonathan. Collection is a photographic print.Series VII.1, Photographs, Box 7.1/2, file "II. Big Ox [1839]," USDA History Collection, Special Collections, National Agricultural Library.](https://i0.wp.com/www.cowhampshireblog.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/05d2b0734042e2fc11dfdd5924b49bc6.jpg?ssl=1)
