How to Handle Farm Visitors

7thswan · #21 06/25/13, 12:50 PM

My number one-NO running or screaming. All of my/our animals are treated calmly and kindly-always. Running or screaming means Danger. I would run to help a injured person or scream or expect my Dh to yell if he needed help(serious help) other than that no yelling or running. Beyond that , if the kids can get those 2 things thru their head, I belive they can settle down enough to learn and enjoy animals. Keep them away from your Koi pond

phrogpharmer · #22 06/25/13, 02:31 PM

I have given tours to 4H and FFA groups as well as to some of my colleagues in the aquaculture business. I've also had to give inspection tours to some State Dept. of Ag. and to some IDF&G people.

I will occasionaly get a call or email from someone who says "I'm in the frog farming business too, we should get together at your place and compare notes." I have to explain that I don't have any interest in how they raise their animals and I am not set up to have visitors. Besides the disease factor, the last thing I need to do is show someone exactly how to go into business against me.

katlupe · #23 06/25/13, 05:15 PM

I would just tell them politely that farm tours are not possible. If someone gets hurt on your property, it is not worth the hassle. We never have visitors here and I would never encourage it either.

Ernie · #24 06/25/13, 05:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by katlupe

I would just tell them politely that farm tours are not possible. If someone gets hurt on your property, it is not worth the hassle. We never have visitors here and I would never encourage it either.

How are they going to get hurt if they're touring it with you? Just how dangerous is your farm?

If someone gets hurt on my property, it's because they fell down in the driveway or something. I live in a homesteading state and they could sue me all they want and not take anything. I have no insurance either, so there's nothing for them to go after.

I did have one of my nephews run smack dab into a cactus patch last year, but he's 13 years old and I considered it a self-critiquing lesson about not running around and not looking where you're going.

Oh, and my mother-in-law got stung by a wasp. (hehehehe)

Jennifer L. · #25 06/25/13, 05:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chickenista

We don't allow 'visitors' either.
We used to sell animals from the farm, but people wanted to 'shop' the barn for a danged hour instead of just picking up their chicks and leaving.
'That's a pretty rooster. How much for him> I've got $5."
(about my flock sire and they could not understand why I wouldn't sell etc.. ad nauseum)

This. I had a pen of turkeys for sale once, probably 50 toms and hens. I pointed out "These are the turkeys for sale. The other pens are not for sale." And so they would go right by the sale turkeys and point to the others and then get grumpy for me not wanting to sell the others.

I live in a summer resort area and when I milked cows, people would stop several times a month to want to visit at milking time. I always allowed it as I thought it was good for people/kids to see farms, but I have a free stall barn and parlor and it's not the EIEIO type of barn: Parents kept the kids close for the most part.

I could not care less if anyone wore inappropriate clothing! I told the Moms "just treat it like a grass stain".

My uncle (also a dairy farmer) had a sign on his barn door, no visitors at milking time. I think it worked a lot of the time for him.

Conhntr · #26 06/25/13, 06:02 PM

Friends, neighbors, and family only
(In that order)

I saw that sign hanging on a farm i deliver to. Seems apt!

Part of my requirements when looking for a place was good privacy. Ive been here 4 months and have had ZERO unexpected visitors!

I was thinking of putting some funny sign like

"If you can read this your in range"

At the end of the driveway but it hasnt been necessary.

I make sure my property is legally posted no trespassing (laws vary by state) generally gives you more rights if someone is on your property!

chickenista · #27 06/25/13, 06:09 PM

Oh.. and we still sell birds often.
But..
I agree to meet them off the farm.
I usually offer to drive 20 minutes in any direction to meet with them.
That way I sound like a nice person.

SueMc · #28 06/25/13, 06:47 PM

Twenty-five-30 yrs ago, when the children were young, the grade school teachers would walk the kids down for a "farm" tour. We had three acres on the edge of a small town with goats, kids, chickens, geese, etc., and if they were really lucky I'd have a mole that I dug up for them to see.
It was always fun and I would do it again anytime. We do take a mule or cow to the library for the yearly "petting zoo" now. Despite my smart aleck remark above, I love to introduce the animals to kids who might not see them otherwise. We live in an ag. area but very few farmers have livestock anymore.
Back in the day, the teachers made sure the kids acted right and weren't afraid (like now) to discipline the kids if necessary. Also, bio-security wasn't even in our vocabulary then.

The people I always say no to are the folks who ask if they can bring thier kid down to ride a horse or mule. No way, never, which is a shame cause I fondly remember the people who would take me riding when I was a kid and so horse crazy. I'm just not willing to lose the farm because someone gets hurt. Seems like everyone sues now.

emdeengee · #29 06/25/13, 07:14 PM

We never had any problem saying no. When we lived in the city we did not let strangers or even acquaintances invite themselves to our home or to our place of employment. Why should the etiquette be any different for people who live and work on a farm?

There are a lot of petting zoos and farms that are geared up for tourists. And by geared up I mean also having lots of liability insurance.

am1too · #30 06/25/13, 07:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by katlupe

I would just tell them politely that farm tours are not possible. If someone gets hurt on your property, it is not worth the hassle. We never have visitors here and I would never encourage it either.

These days this is beginning to more my line of thinking. Yes I would love to have visitors, but the potential problems are not worth it.

hiddensprings · #31 06/25/13, 08:58 PM

Thanks for all of your input. I'm going to have to re-evaluate our policy. You all have made excellent points about biosecurity, safety, etc. I am really just OVER people. I think I'm turning into that scary old lady that the local kids say "don't go to her house, she's a witch".

Miss Kay · #32 06/25/13, 10:09 PM

We let very few people in but family showed up with the city kids and ran like wild things right through my garden, stepping on everything. They also loved chasing the animals. After that I said no more until we met this really nice family at the farmers market. They had 6 kids which they only fed real food and those were the best kids I ever met (I'm thinking it is related somehow). After being a customer for awhile she asked if they could bring a picnic and tour the farm so I said yes. What a grand time we had. The kids never ran, they listened to me and did exactly as I said and were rewarded by lots of animal kisses and got up close and personal with all of them. I'd let that family come back any day. The great nephews again, not so much!

Ernie · #33 06/26/13, 07:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Miss Kay

We let very few people in but family showed up with the city kids and ran like wild things right through my garden, stepping on everything. They also loved chasing the animals. After that I said no more until we met this really nice family at the farmers market. They had 6 kids which they only fed real food and those were the best kids I ever met (I'm thinking it is related somehow). After being a customer for awhile she asked if they could bring a picnic and tour the farm so I said yes. What a grand time we had. The kids never ran, they listened to me and did exactly as I said and were rewarded by lots of animal kisses and got up close and personal with all of them. I'd let that family come back any day. The great nephews again, not so much!

You can generally tell the families that are going to be trouble on the farm. The kids are running wild in the grocery store, or they're standing there pestering their mother about something they want, or they're all being pacified with little hand-held videogames.

But generally if you see children that are disciplined and well-behaved outside the farm, they're not going to cause you trouble on the farm.

But I lay down the law real quick if any visitors get out of line and I'd not let problems develop to the point that you described. Even with nephews and nieces.

katlupe · #34 06/26/13, 08:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ernie

How are they going to get hurt if they're touring it with you? Just how dangerous is your farm?

If someone gets hurt on my property, it's because they fell down in the driveway or something. I live in a homesteading state and they could sue me all they want and not take anything. I have no insurance either, so there's nothing for them to go after.

I did have one of my nephews run smack dab into a cactus patch last year, but he's 13 years old and I considered it a self-critiquing lesson about not running around and not looking where you're going.

Oh, and my mother-in-law got stung by a wasp. (hehehehe)

In our state of NY, if someone breaks into your house and gets hurt, they can sue you. My homestead has horses and a child could get hurt or bit by a big horse very easily. I am not saying they would, but they could. If they fell on your property or got cut by a nail or anything, you would be responsible for their medical bills at least. You never know what other people will do and why take the risk if you don't have to? My homestead is not as dangerous as most, since we do not have a lot of animals, but it is a work in progress and there are projects all around. Even in a normal house, there are things for others to get hurt on.

GaMntHomestead · #35 06/26/13, 08:15 AM

My problem is that we live/work on a farm we do not own. We work a poultry farm and the owner lives several hours away. He has let us have our own animals here but that has turned out to be a problem since when he comes to visit the farm he usually brings some of his grandchildren. Well he doesn't make them mind and they have went into the animal stalls/pastures without permission and on several occasions left the stall doors open when they come back out. They chase my goats, and yell and kick at my dogs. It drives me crazy. I don't want to risk my job, but on the few occasions I have said something to the children the boss looks at them and says something like "yeah, keep the stall doors closed" but then that's it, nothing else. Grrrr. I have even taken to padlocking my stall doors, but my son looked out the window one day and saw a mom, dad, and two kids in the pasture anyway(only way in is through stall doors). The son had one mf my goats by the horns pulling on her! We weren't home so weren't able to say anything to these people, who we didn't know because the bosses extended family feels they are allowed to send anyone they know to the farm at anytime without asking. The owner only has 2 horses here, no other animals. So when people want to "visit" a farm and animals it is mine they are being sent to visit. :-( On another occasion we had strangers pull up and say their son had went into our horse pasture, which has electric wire(he went under the bottom wire), because when they drove past one of the horses was laying down and they were worried about her. WHAT? Are horses not allowed to lay down and enjoy a rest now and then? And what if a stud was in there with the mare, or the mare was mean? Then I am sure we would have been sued if the child had been hurt even though they took it upon themselves to go into a strange animals pasture to check it cause it was basically resting.

Ernie · #36 06/26/13, 08:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by katlupe

In our state of NY, if someone breaks into your house and gets hurt, they can sue you. My homestead has horses and a child could get hurt or bit by a big horse very easily. I am not saying they would, but they could. If they fell on your property or got cut by a nail or anything, you would be responsible for their medical bills at least. You never know what other people will do and why take the risk if you don't have to? My homestead is not as dangerous as most, since we do not have a lot of animals, but it is a work in progress and there are projects all around. Even in a normal house, there are things for others to get hurt on.

Ah. NY. Say no more, friend. I understand. I'd probably be as cautious as you are in that situation.

I have small children that live here all the time, so we tend to try and keep things a little safer. We also don't have any animals larger than a goat, so it'd be hard to get accidentally injured by them.

There are some children who just seek out danger. We had a family stay with us once and they had a young son who just sought out trouble. Every time you'd turn around he was in the knife shop trying out the grinder, or playing with the welding machine, or crawling up under the backhoe. I love curiosity in a child, but I despise disobedience. After you're told not to mess with something, don't mess with it!

Most of the dangers here come from natural things that would be dangers even if this wasn't a farm. Snakes, wasps, fire-ants, itchweed, etc. And many of those are self-critiquing lessons. There's a fat rattlesnake that lives just outside my workshop on the north wall. He doesn't come in and I don't go poking around his hole. We have sort of an arrangement. Rattlesnakes are probably the most polite of all of the desert critters ... they try really hard to warn you before they have to kill you.

ChristieAcres · #37 06/26/13, 11:18 AM

A good thing to remember? All the folks who have happily toured your homesteads know where you live and they will remember during a SHTF scenario...

Ernie · #38 06/26/13, 11:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lorichristie

A good thing to remember? All the folks who have happily toured your homesteads know where you live and they will remember during a SHTF scenario...

I pray that is so and that they make it here safely. With more hands I could feed more people.

It may be that the Lord's only purpose for this goofy old fool is that I help feed other people in a crisis.

I've never had a bad experience with visitors. And I don't think anyone has ever left my farm with the thought that "come SHTF, these folks will be easy pickings."

ChristieAcres · #39 06/26/13, 11:49 AM

Each homestead has a "capacity," and if that is already full (i.e. friends/family), there are no more rooms at the inn, so to speak (i.e. only so much food to go around).

Here, it is incredibly foolish not to prep as we are overdue for an earthquake! When that occurs, there will be road closures.

Everyone I know who has a homestead hears the same thing, "I am not worried. Anything happens, I'll be coming to your house..."

Ernie · #40 06/26/13, 11:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lorichristie

Each homestead has a "capacity," and if that is already full (i.e. friends/family), there are no more rooms at the inn, so to speak (i.e. only so much food to go around).

Here, it is incredibly foolish not to prep as we are overdue for an earthquake! When that occurs, there will be road closures.

Everyone I know who has a homestead hears the same thing, "I am not worried. Anything happens, I'll be coming to your house..."

My house has a capacity, but the homestead really doesn't. There's miles and miles of empty land around me. The only thing that keeps me off of it is that the county courthouse has deeds that say I can't walk around out there.

When the SHTF, those absentee landowners and their courthouse deeds aren't going to stop me from feeding anyone who shows up.