04/26/2026
I was taught early on that if I didn't have anything nice, not to say anything at all. This was a comment posted this evening on one of our farm page posts.
Just a few facts for whoever this anonymous person is, who is looking to bash our business and family.
We did lose 3 water buffalo this winter. They died about a week apart, one after another, with no symptoms until less than an hour before death, at which point there was nothing that could be done to save them. It was not due to starvation, though we still have few answers about specifics. Our team of vets, the University of Guelph and their pathologists, as well as our nutritionist have no clear explanation, even after post mortems and plenty of investigation into every possible avenue. We spared no expense in trying to find answers.
This was a devastating blow for us, even more so because we still have no clear answers as to why. Which also means, we don't know how to avoid whatever happened happening again. It is hard to move forward without fear of losing others when you don't know why it happened in the first place.
The unfortunate side of Water Buffalo is that they are not well studied and are not common here. While they are generally treated as a large cow, because they are a similar ruminant animal, they are also absolutely not a cow and have their own unique needs. Now, not all of those specifics are well known.
There is a saying in farming as well. "When you have livestock, you have dead stock." And while this sounds awful, it is the reality of farming. Not everything can be fixed or understood, despite our best efforts or monetary investment. Sometimes awful things happen. Sometimes animals die and sometimes we cannot fix whatever is going on, no matter how hard we try. It doesn't mean while we lay there with a dying animal we aren't going over every scenario of what we could have done differently or what we must have messed up, though. Farming is one of the only jobs where you are totally responsible, yet also completely powerless at the same time.
I am an open book. If you have questions, please ask. But don't bash us publicly, while hiding behind a fake profile. At least have the decency to use your real name and ask for details if you feel you know better than all of our professionals involved.
