whats the difference between an ox and a bull?

Question

for my project, i am illustrating the chinese zodiac story, which of course has an ox in in. its very difficult to find an ox picture, that isnt a musk ox (they live in cold, i want china based animals) i find many of bulls tho. so if they r near around the same thing, can i just use a bull? or is there a difference?

Answer 1

The word oxen comes from aurochsen, the ancestral animals from which all cattle were domesticated. Oxen are usually draught animals and are usually neutered males whereas bulls are definitely breeding animals.



If you want something Chinese then get a picture of a Chinese water buffalo the oxen (cattle) used in China and the Far East. They are a different species from European domestic cattle. There are tons of pictures of them.

Answer 2

These answers so far are completely ignorant ! An Ox is any of many species of domesticated bovine (cattle) used as a beast-of-burden. Two common uses are as draft animals for pulling carts and farm machinery. The sex of an Ox MAY BE EITHER a cow or a bull, there is NO connection between the sex and the definition of the word Ox ! Males are often castrated to control temperament and so 'bulls' and 'bullocks' (a bullock is a castrated male cattle specimen), along with cows are used as Oxen (Oxen being the plural of Ox). The word 'bull' ONLY means the adult male of MANY species, NOT ONLY cattle. Some other examples are elephants and crocodiles. And so, of course an 'Ox' and a 'bull' are given birth by a 'cow'. Likewise, a 'cow' is ONLY the female of MANY species NOT ONLY cattle. It is merely the case that the word is used commonly to describe cattle in general. Some examples of other animals with the females called cows are elephants and walrus's.

Answer 3

Oxen are the ancient creatures from which domestic cattle were sellectively bred from. A bull is a male, a cow a female, collectively they are cattle in a similar way to a man and a woman are both human. You don't really get castrated bulls becasue they have no use in agriculture, however you do get castrated bullocks, i.e. young male cattle that will become steak in about 18 months time. They are castrated to promote growth and prevent aggression. The chinese year of the Ox is just a translation, I know a chinese person who would translate the chinese into 'cow' therefore any picture of any cattle, male or female should be accurate.

Answer 4

You can use a picture of a bull, so long as the scrotum isn't shown.



Now, I don't want to cow anyone or give you a bum steer or fill your minds with bull. However, since you oxed the question, I'll answer. An ox is a male that has been castrated after reaching sexual maturity. If it is castrated before reaching sexual maturity, you get a steer. If not castrated, you have a bull. Steers are raised for meat, oxen for draft animals, bulls for breeding.

Answer 5

Yes, some Oxen are bulls... but only the males! Bull is a term used to describe the male in a certain family of animals. A male elephant could be called a "bull elephant" just as a male oxen is considered a bull (or as a male buffalo or bison are). But to answer your question properly... No, Oxen are not the same as "dairy cattle" or "domesticated ungulates".



There are plenty of oxen pictures (I just checked on google images).

If you feel you really can't find "Good" pictures of oxen, then I am sure for illustrations sake you can just use a picture of a male cow.

Answer 6

In Britain the term 'ox' was generally reserved for a bull used as a draught animal. That is, one use to pull a plough, cart, or whatever. A bull was only kept for serving the cows. (The word oxen, is a rare form of a Saxon plural; brethren is about the only other similar plural in common use.)

Answer 7

My be the male buffalo is the bull. Sitting Bull was an Indian knowing just the buffaloes.

The male cattle is the ox.

Answer 8

An ox is a castrated bull.

Answer 9

Oxen are the castrated version of a bull. They're the same thing.

Answer 10

penis length of the bull is 15 inches longer