# What is an ox? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 30, 2022, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-an-ox/972518 "2022-09-30T20:51:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2022, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-an-ox/972518/41 "2022-10-01T18:41:27Z")
> [@themapleleaf](#): > > So if I don’t castrate my bull, and yoke him to a cart, he’s an ox? If I yoke my cow beside him, she’s also an ox? Well yeah, except your cart has been smashed apart and your two ‘oxen’ are doing the nasty. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2022, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-an-ox/972518/42 "2022-10-01T20:34:42Z")
> [@themapleleaf](#): > > I always assumed an ox was what a male cattle individual destined to be a bull became after he got castrated. It’s a steer if it’s being raised for beef, and an ox if it’s used for work. That’s as American a definition as you’re going to get. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2022, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-an-ox/972518/43 "2022-10-01T21:18:53Z")
> [@WellHelloThere](#): > > Why would it matter what work the rest of the cow did while alive? Why not call it beef tail, like beef tongue for instance? Just speculating but oxen are generally bigger than cows so I would guess there’s more meat in an ox’s tail than a cow’s tail. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2022, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-an-ox/972518/44 "2022-10-01T21:26:02Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I’d be surprised if draft horses were significantly faster than oxen at pulling wagons and plows. Be surprised. Horses are **twice as fast** as oxen pulling a plow, and they don’t tire as fast. The development of the horse collar allowed plowing to be done in **half the time**. Meaning that a team and driver could plow twice as much land as they could with oxen. Meaning twice the crops per farmer. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2022, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-an-ox/972518/45 "2022-10-01T23:20:32Z")
Steers - raised for meat, generally are slaughtered between 3-3.5 years old. Whereas oxen live up to 15 yrs. I’d imagine they put on some bulk after their first 3 yrs. I found that photo, but don’t know how to post it here. Impressive beasts. > [@silenus](#): > > Horses are **twice as fast** as oxen pulling a plow, and they don’t tire as fast. How about mules? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2022, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-an-ox/972518/46 "2022-10-01T23:35:23Z")
_Mules - a cross between a male donkey and a female horse - can do an equivalent amount of work as horse - or more - with less food and water. They also suffer less injuries and live longer than a horse._ _“Three mules can do the equivalent work of two draft horses on half the feed and not get hurt doing it.”_ ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2022, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-an-ox/972518/47 "2022-10-01T23:41:13Z")
I’m trying to remember a passage - I think it was from a Wendell Berry book. A character was describing the different amounts of damage a mule, horse, and cow would do coming down a wet hillside. I forget which one he said was a total disaster. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2022, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-an-ox/972518/48 "2022-10-02T00:14:09Z")
Animals castrated very young grow bigger. It has something to do with not having to put energy into building a reproductive system, so it just goes to growth (per our last vet, and IIRC). The tom cats I’ve had who were neutered before about 4 months were huge, but the ones who were neutered older (generally because I acquired them when they were older), didn’t get any bigger than female cats I’ve had. I’ve even read contemporary descriptions of castrati, and they apparently tended to be quite tall and somewhat portly. So It’s not surprising that oxen are huge. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2022, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-an-ox/972518/49 "2022-10-02T00:28:46Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats2](#): > > I guess if you’re making stock, you take the bones out. But taking the bones out of oxtail stew would be a crime against humanity. Huh, i guess I’ve never made stew. I make oxtail soup. And it’s a production. Saute a lot of onions, brown the oxtail, cook the onions and meat for hours, then strain the broth and laboriously pick the meat off the bones. Chop the meat, toss it into the broth, and chill until i can pick off the layer of fat. And then add some veggies and cook into soup. It’s delicious, but i only do it once or twice a year because it’s so much work. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2022, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-an-ox/972518/50 "2022-10-02T00:38:47Z")
Is there a generic word for animals of that species, with no regard to sex or sex-life-status, or whether it is intended for working or food or whatever? A word that would encompass cows and bulls and steers? I had thought “ox” was the word, but it appears from this thread that “ox” does carry some baggage with it. Something like “cattle”, except that “cattle” refers to a group, and I’m looking for a word that refers to an individual. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2022, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-an-ox/972518/51 "2022-10-02T00:44:30Z")
> [@WellHelloThere](#): > > Why not call it beef tail, like beef tongue for instance? Why not call it oxtail? In cooking we have lamb and mutton. Lamb is young, mutton is old. We have veal and beef. Veal is young, beef is old. We have chicken and capon. Capon is a castrated chicken. Oxen are bigger and older than steers raised for slaughter. Those were probably the tails used for cooking, and the name stuck no matter which castrated male cow ended up contributing the tail. > [@Keeve](#): > > Is there a generic word for animals of that species, with no regard to sex or sex-life-status, or whether it is intended for working or food or whatever? A word that would encompass cows and bulls and steers? A dairy specialist once informed me that “cattle” is appropriate for an individual bovine which can’t be classified any other way. As is “bovine” itself, I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2022, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-an-ox/972518/52 "2022-10-02T00:48:06Z")
The horses are obviously faster animals general. I didn’t think they’d be suitable for groundbreaking. Probably not for a guy who only has one. I think one large horse vs. one large ox is not telling but a pair of horses may be more coordinated working together. Oxen are well known for their ability to walk forward, turning them around at the end of rows coulda been a major pain. Horses are much smarter and could help the process instead of hindering it. I think the horses would still need more maintenance than the oxen but they would be more versatile much more suited to taking for transportation pulling carriages or even large carts on local trips. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2022, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-an-ox/972518/53 "2022-10-02T00:49:08Z")
> [@StarvingButStrong](#): > > > [@RivkahChaya](#): > > > > Also, the oxen are only $11 apiece (or $12, if you don’t know where to shop). ⁢ > > Are those current prices? Surely not. I mean, if nothing else, an ox is about a thousand pounds of meat and hide, right? ⁢ I thought maybe this was a joke referencing the game Oregon Trail (the only time most of us have ever been a "pioneer going west), but it doesn’t seem like you had any other option but oxen. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2022, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-an-ox/972518/54 "2022-10-02T00:51:21Z")
Yes, but saying “a cattle” to refer to just one sounds weird. Just another oddity of the language. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2022, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-an-ox/972518/55 "2022-10-02T01:03:58Z")
I had an essay question on a college exam about cattle. I tried to use as many different words for the animal as i could think of. Cattle, bovine, cow, calf, heifer, bull, steer, ox, kine, veal, beef, maybe some others. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2022, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-an-ox/972518/56 "2022-10-02T01:10:45Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > Very little meat per se, but the joints are rich with cartilage and other gelatiny goodness so ideal for stews and rich soups. All of which will be pronounced in a working ox, versus a relatively coddled steer raised for meat. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2022, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-an-ox/972518/57 "2022-10-02T01:29:24Z")
> [@Keeve](#): > > Is there a generic word for animals of that species, with no regard to sex or sex-life-status, or whether it is intended for working or food or whatever? A word that would encompass cows and bulls and steers? > > I had thought “ox” was the word, but it appears from this thread that “ox” does carry some baggage with it. Something like “cattle”, except that “cattle” refers to a group, and I’m looking for a word that refers to an individual. Modern English is notorious for lacking that word. _Ox_ or _neat_ would have served at one time but they are now archaic. I believe _aurochs_ and _ox_ are etymologically related but I haven’t looked into it. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2022, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-an-ox/972518/58 "2022-10-02T02:08:16Z")
I thought so as well, but looking into it, I found the same as you. I assume it’s a reference to something, but damned if I can figure out what. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2022, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-an-ox/972518/59 "2022-10-02T08:23:06Z")
Looking online for the Oregon Trail: > [@](#): > > Teams of 10 to 12 horses or mules or six yoked oxen typically were used to pull one of these {prairie schooner] wagons, with mules and oxen generally preferred. I found one source online that gives prices of life stock in 1855, and work horses were about twice the cost ox oxen ($200 each for horses and $200 for two yoked oxen), so using oxen would be a quarter of the cost. Another reason given for oxen was the horses tended to be stolen more along the way. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2022, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-an-ox/972518/60 "2022-10-02T11:23:36Z")
Boy, I had no idea they used such huge teams. I woulda thought 2 - maybe 4. Driving a big team requires considerable skill beyond that of a typical sodbuster, no? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-an-ox/972518.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-an-ox/972518.md?page=4)