Why we don't allow visitors?

Why do we not allow visitors?

We get this question a lot. So I'm going to answer our reasons why...

When we first started breeding, we did allow anyone to stop by because we felt it was great to share and we understood most buyers wanting to see our operation.

Doing it this way went smooth for about a year and half until we had some incidents. Once we announced we were 'Closed to the public' it definitely opened my eyes. We had several buyers get upset and swear we had "something to hide" but truth is there is numerous reasons why we closed our property to the public and I'm sure we aren't the only ones. We understand making this choice costed us a few interested buyers and probably a few more in the future. I'll admit at first I questioned if I made the right choice but I have come to realize it was one of the best decisions for our family and our animals.

1) Liability

Since some insurance companies won't cover accidents when it comes to animals, we just couldn't risk it.

2) Theft

We've known a few breeders that have had their animals stolen over the years. Thankfully we haven't had to go through this but I do know several that have had this unfortunate event happen.

3) Murder... Yes you read that correct

In 2016, a dog breeder was murdered. Lori Heimer's case remains unsolved. It is still undetermined on what the motivation was and if any of her animals were stolen. She ran 'Lori's poodle patch'. The last thing that was known was she was meeting a possible puppy buyer.

4) Biosecurity

Here we believe in biosecurity. I will list our procedures below when I have the time. Pictures will be taken soon.

5) ARA= animal rights activists

A topic most people would rather ignore. I've stayed quiet over the years about this subject. Even though I've been quiet, doesn't mean I haven't paid attention. I've seen and heard too many stories about ARA's pretending to be interested buyers just to gain access to breeding farms, facilities etc. The lies most of them spread have been found untrue. Due to the ARA I've seen some good breeders and farms have their animals seized for some phony reason or another. Or instead of calling animal control, the ARA go in themselves and steal animals at night claiming they were uncared for when in reality they were perfectly healthy.

6) Our personal encounters

When they are interested in animals not for sale...

I was out feeding the chickens when a random man dropped by. He had been told by a friend (who had bought a chicken from us a few weeks before) that we might have more for sell. We had 2 hens for sale at that time. So I took him back to the pen. He didn't want either of them but instead he wanted 2 of our breeding hens, I told him they weren't for sale. Apparently that wasn't a good enough answer since he said he would add $10 to the price (was about $30 less than what I paid for them). Again told him no, he got an attitude saying he wouldn't recommend us to anyone. He spun out the driveway all because he didn't get his way.

When children don't listen...

A lady and her father stopped by. They were about 20minutes late and I didn't think they were even going to show up. Her excuse was she had to stop multiple times because of her daughter who was maybe 3 years old at the time. I understood because we've had to do the same (thankfully we weren't late though). Anyways I took them in the back to show them the chickens for sale. After a few minutes of talking, her daughter started following my bantam cochin pair that were loose. I told the little girl that wasn't a good idea. The mother joked about how she did that at her house all the time. So I watched the little girl as I continued to talk. I went inside the pen to get the other chicken out of the house to show her. That's when we heard the daughter scream. Guess she cornered the rooster and he flogged her. When the child ran to the mother, she had a scratch on her arm. Of course the mother wasn't happy and said my animals would definitely not be coming to her property because they were aggressive.

When parents don't pay attention...

Had a couple come out to buy some chickens, they brought along their 3 kids. We didn't mind the children because they went to play with our son on the playground. After getting the chickens loaded up, we stood there and talked. The parents didn't once look over at the children. When I noticed they were going to talk for a few, I excused myself to go to the bathroom. Once I came back out, I became angry at what I saw. The kids were over at the mini pig pens. Their children were running beside the pen and jumping at my pig (she had 2week old babies with her). I quickly went to the parents and asked if they could get them to stop because it was scaring my babies. The mother said “They are just having fun, that's what boys do”... I'm sorry excuse me? My blood was boiling at this point. I was pissed. The mother had the nerve to get an attitude with me because I politely asked them to leave my property.

After the last incident, we discussed if it was time to be closed to the public. We considered the incidents above, the numerous time wasters and possibly risk of diseases. But our minds were quickly decided for us once I talked to a friend a few days after this. Our friend allowed a man on her property because he was interested in a baby goat she had posted for sale. He said it wasn't what his wife was wanting and left. That night he stole half of her herd. After hearing that, we decided it was just not worth it.

We understand not everyone will agree with our reasons for not allowing visitors to our home, and that is perfectly fine. We know we will lose some potential buyers because of this decision along with our method of doing sales. And again we are fine with that. Yes not every breeder will agree with this post and for the ones who allow visitors that is their choice and I applaud them for not having a bad encounter, but this is our reality and our choice. We will meet anyone interested in a public place (preferably during store hours). We also encourage you to go to our sales process page (under policies) as we do things a little different than most breeders.