Buffalo Spas, nose rubs and selfies: Life on the farm for a buffalo!!
We are proud of the care we provide for the buffalo who stay with us here on the farm. So, this week we have done something a little different and bring you a blog post about how we imagine one of our buffalo experiences living on the farm! We hope you enjoy this unusual perspective as you discover some in-depth insight into our work and gain a unique behind the scenes look at Laos Buffalo Dairy.
Wake up: After sleeping safe and sound, I’m excited to take you around my ‘home’ today. Never thought it would be the buffalo taking you on a tour, hey! As it is my first tour, be gentle. It is going to be full of fun!!
Breakfast: Hmm food. That telltale sound of boots against concrete signals breakfast is on its way. Excuse me while I tuck into a bucket (or two) of Napier grass with rice bran and corn. It is delicious and nutritious. I also receive a rub on the top of my head, and I like that too!
Morning milking: Next we head off to be milked. All the milking buffalo walk to the milking area and we stand while the milk is collected. The milking team are all very gentle and take care so I don’t feel any discomfort. Our delicious milk is used to make the dairy’s delicious products of cheese and ice cream. Only some of my milk is taken, the rest is for my calf to suckle to grow big and strong. My calf watches on curiously, and one day maybe she’ll give milk too.
Going for a graze in the fields: It’s time now to go and enjoy some natural grazing in the fields surrounding the dairy. Grazing is one of the highlights of the day! Before we came to the dairy, we were left to wander around to find food and sometimes worked in the fields. Here, we are only tied up to eat so we share nicely, and we go for a graze every morning. There is space for the calves to play in the fields. The team here keep an eye on us and make sure nothing untoward happens to us. Well, that’s enough of me talking, I gotta eat eat eat! I need about 30 kilos of food every day, and that takes a lot of eating!
Coming back to the shed: Standing together in the sun all day is not good for us. So, the staff take care of us and cajole us with familiar sounds and actions to head us back home. We sometimes look a bit clumsy walking together and occasionally we try and stray off, however, our caring staff notice and guide us back together. There’s a new calf walking with us today, sooooo cute! New calves are born here on a regular basis and bring some playfulness to our days.
My calf is with me all day: Animal welfare is top notch on the farm. I feel grateful to be staying here, as on some other farms I would be separated from my calf! I’m so glad they don’t do that here, I love watching her grow big and strong.
Going out to the mini farm: I love my role in helping to educate the visitors about the farm. The exciting part of the day is when my calf and I meet visitors from all over the world. Lately, though, there are way fewer visitors coming. We miss you! I hope you can come back soon.
Tourist milking demonstration: As today we have visitors, it is time for a hands-on fun experience. I watch as the team teaches the people how to milk me! Visitors are usually concerned they are going to hurt me; I wish I could speak and reassure them that it doesn’t hurt at all and to give it a try! Have you seen how my baby drinks milk?? Some turn out to be very good at milking. The milk from buffalo is highly nutritious for children!
Shower/wash: One of my favourite parts of the ‘Buffalo Spa’ here is the shower and wash!! First, the visitors pour water all over me and my calf. It feels so good because sometimes my skin gets dry and this helps to take care of that. Then, they brush my skin, which is a great feeling. As the star attraction, visitors always want selfies with me. So, I always strike a pose for them, and they capture a lovely memory.
Hand feeding by tourists: If washing and brushing and selfies are not enough: there is also time for feeding. I love this part, as I am fed my favourite food and happily chew while they take more photos. If I am feeling playful, I like to tug the food a little bit and pull people slightly off-balance. It always makes them laugh!
Lunch: And I am still hungry, and there is room for me to eat more! I eat a lot. Where I stayed before we did not receive enough food, I think, because it costs such a lot of money.
Relax in the water: Another part of the ‘Buffalo Spa’, the water, is my happy place! My skin gets hot and dry in the sun, and lying here the water is cool and soothing.
Nails : Once a month the ‘Buffalo Spa’ does my nails! This never happened where I lived before, and it helps so much because my feet start to hurt if my nails get too long. So much care and I get my nose rubbed at the same time - cute!
Afternoon nap: Hmm, it’s natural for buffalo to take an afternoon nap, so although it’s great telling you about my day, it’s time to sleep. Some buffalo work all day, but here there is the chance for me and my calf to curl up and sleep in the afternoons. See you in a few….zzzzzzz.
Watching the humans: Ah, hello again! I’m rested, feeling fantastic and ready to continue. The staff who work here take great care of us. And they can do that because they go away, sometimes to Thailand, for extra training. So, the people learn everything they need to look after us.
Watching evening milking: There are different breeds of buffalo on the farm. I know this because some buffalo go for milking twice a day; morning and evening. These buffalo look different to me, and are darker and bigger and their horns are different. These buffalo produce more milk than me. Sometimes the staff breed both types of buffalo together to make a bigger and stronger buffalo. I have a friend called Sofia, and she is a mix of my kind of swamp buffalo and the other breed of buffalo. These mixed breeds provide more milk which can be given to the children in Laos and help them get bigger and stronger!
See Susie walk the farm: There are so many ‘characters’ that make this dairy farm so special. Here comes one now! This person is the boss and she walks the farm every day at this time. As she walks, she is continually observing, noticing, asking questions and making sure everything is ok. If one of the other buffalo or I am sick, or we aren’t being looked after perfectly, she makes it better for us! We are all thankful.
Dinner: And now it is time for more food. I’m not quite full yet. I told you I eat a lot. I never get full! Dinner for me is a whole bucket of nutritious feed, and my calf takes all the milk she needs, while I eat.
Sleep: Oh, it is time for sleep. I hope you now understand how although the dairy farm looks simple from the outside, that it is quite complicated to run behind the scenes.
Thank you for following a day in the life of a buffalo today. I enjoyed your company, and I think you can see why I enjoy living here. I look forward to seeing you all on another visit to the dairy soon.
Mooo-ving update
We'd like to announce that in the early morning of 31 August 2020, the first of the 2 cow calves, that we have been waiting for, was born! He was born weighing in at 16kg. That's small compared to the buffalo who have been living on our farm and have a longer history of better nutrition that babies are now starting to weigh in between 25 - 35+KG! Cows here are generally smaller than the buffalo to start with, but that doesn't make them any less cute!
We are very excited for her/him to join our farm, as now we can find out how much milk mum will give. This information will help us with our nutrition program in conjunction with BPP and World Bank.
Did you hear?
We've partnered with Laos Airlines for their exclusive boarding pass privileges. Show us your boarding pass at Laos Buffalo Dairy within 3 days of flying and get a free dessert teaser of ricotta cake with caramel drizzle.
TOURISM IN NEED
COVID-19 has badly affected tourism and visits to the farm. In order to mitigate some of the effects of the loss of income this has meant for the dairy, we have teamed up with the Tourism in Need initiative that supports responsible tourism organizations affected by the pandemic. Through this initiative, travelers can support the dairy through the Give Today, Go Tomorrow fundraising scheme. Click here to find out more and to make a contribution to help us to pay farmers and team members, and continue to train farmers and work on our nutrition program.
