Not “unavoidable.” You work. I know what it’s like to lose ten pounds in twelve days after a bad blizzard. So if this guy’s animals did not have proper shelter, water, or food “because the weather was bad,” he should find another line of work.
Yes, you work. But if the barn floor is dirt...and after 21 days of brutal cold where animals can’t be turned out for extended periods of time...that dirt floor is going to be an unavoidable mud pit. All the cleaning and straw bedding isn’t going to change it.
And yes, I know very well how it is to work hard enough to lose 15lbs. in 2 weeks.