There is a lot of confusion between these two standard terms, cow and ox. The difference between cow and ox is very clear among the people, but in between children, there is still confusion about whether they considered both the animals as the same. So let me tell you that they are different from each other.
Cow vs Ox
The main difference between cow and ox is that the cow is a female cattle animal. On the other hand, the ox is the male cattle animal. In simple words, the male cow is known as an ox.
The cow is a large animal that is generally raised by the people so that they can get meat or milk from the farm. Cows are specially raised as the livestock for meat like beef or veal; they are also seen as the dairy cattle for milk because of which people generally raised adult females of the large animal.
An ox or oxen are the cattle that trained over four years so that they can do the work. Ox is the animal that is generally prepared to pull plows or carts. Ox is generally the male cattle that have been catered. This animal works typically in a pair.
Comparison Table Between Cow and Ox
| Parameter of Comparison | Cow | Ox |
|---|---|---|
| Gender | The cow is basically the female cattle of the animal. | Ox is basically the male cattle of the animal. |
| Works | The people raise the cow as the livestock of meat, and it is also a source of milk and some dairy products like cheese and butter. | Ox is the draft animal. They are used for plows, sleds, and pull carts and also used for traditional agriculture. |
| Trained | The animal does not train cows. | Ox is an intelligent animal because the people have trained them for doing the work correctly, |
| Used for | The owner does not train a cow; they are basically used for providing the dairy product. | They are trained by the owner and used for traditional agriculture, etc. |
| Physical structure | Cows do not have the muscle like oxen, but they can give birth to at least one calf as the female cattle. | Ox is an animal that is muscular, sturdy, and massive. |
What is a Cow?
The cow is basically the female cattle that can give birth to calves or are two half years old. The cows who are younger and not being able to give birth are called heifers. In traditional agriculture, cows have historically and regularly trained so that they can work like an ox. in this way, a family can use these cattle to supply milk and plowing the field, and reproduction.
A cow can do the role of oxen, and they also give farmers to choose the work replacement from his animal, so that the farmer does not have to buy the new males who are used for training and easily be replaced by the current working animal when they have grown old. Female cattle that do more than one work are basically smaller than an ox, but they are very useful for small animals. Cows are the cattle that are grown-up as livestock meat and also for milk. As the cattle are very useful animals, the other useful thing is their dung, which is used for manure or fuel.
What is Ox?
An ox is also called a bullock in someplace like India and Australia. They are bovine trained for a draft animal. They are regular catered male cattle because of which they are easy to control. In some places, cows or bulls are also used as the replacement for ox. These cattle are used for transport like pulling carts, riding and hauling wagons. The ox is used for threshing grain by trampling, transportation, and used for powering the machine that grinds grain; they can also supply irrigation for another purpose. Male cattle are used for skid logs in the forest, particularly in low impact select cut logging.
Ox are generally worked in pairs for easy or light work like bringing household items from the excellent road can be done by one animal, but for heavy work, two animals are needed to do the job. If they have to carry a heavy load, then nine or ten animals are needed for doing the work. They have been trained so that they can respond to the signals of the bullock, ox-driver, or teamster. The command is given to them by verbally and body language strengthened by a long pole, a whip goad. In early times the ox-driver was known for their forthright languages and loud voices.
Conclusion
As there is very little difference between cow and ox but we can tell that they are different from each other. As the primary differences between cows and ox are mentioned, it will be easy to differentiate by the people.
The cow is the female cattle raised as livestock meat by the people, whereas ox is the male cattle that are raised so that they can carry the bullocks, traditional agriculture, and other work. Sometimes cow is also used as the replacement of ox.