Episode 42 Homestead Holiday Guide Animals
Homestead Holiday Guide - Animals
Finding Reliable Caretakers:
Finding trustworthy caretakers for your animals is a top priority when planning a holiday away from your homestead. Here are some tips to ensure your animals are in good hands.
Reach Out to Fellow Homesteaders: Homesteaders understand the unique needs of caring for animals. Connect with local homesteaders who may be available to provide care or recommend reliable individuals. Neighbours are an excellent choice as they not only know your animals and property but they likely know you very will also. in my case I used the son of my next door neighbour he's an adult he drives himself and he is more than capable of looking after animals.
Professional Pet Sitters or Farm Sitters: Look for professionals experienced in caring for livestock or pets. There are many different services where you can find professional farm or house citters. one of the services that I used when we went to the US was a Aussie house sitting Website where you could key in the at type of animals that you had and whether or not you were prepared to let them living your house where you're away whether they needed their own caravan whether they had to be able to milk goats or collect eggs or feed dogs. being able to narrow you search down that way means that you can find somebody who is keen to do a good job for you because they'll get a review but also they're getting free accommodation while doing that small amount of work of looking after animals.
Schedule a meeting in advance to discuss your expectations, introduce them to your animals, and provide a rundown of daily tasks.
https://www.aussiehousesitters.com.au/
https://www.trustedhousesitters.com/how-it-works/find-a-sitter/ has 24/7 vet help line
Vet Recommendations: if you really can't find somebody you can always ask your local your veterinarian for recommendations on caretakers. Veterinarians often have contacts in the community who are knowledgeable about animal care.Or you can also look for recommendations on places like Facebook particularly if your rural area has its own page you can ask if there's anybody that's willing to house set or farm set for you. this means you would be looking at having strangers come and do it but if that's the best option that you can utilize then that's exactly what you need. family are only useful to do these kinds of things if they are actually able to talk after the animals and in some cases that won't work.
Preparing Adequate Food and Water:
Ensuring a steady supply of food and water is essential for the well-being of your animals. Here's how to prepare for their dietary needs.
Stock Up on Supplies:
Purchase enough feed, hay, and any necessary supplements to last through your time away. Consider a slightly larger quantity to account for unforeseen circumstances. As I said in last week's episode I try and buy some extra through the year so that when it gets to the end of the year at Christmas time or if we're looking to go away we have enough feed store it up so that I won't have to go out and buy a bulk amount before I go away. this means that I can spend my hard-earned money on my holiday instead of stocking up on Stockfeed. it also means that when I get back from holidays hopefully they'll be enough left so that I don't have to erase off and restock.
Automatic Feeders and Waterers:
Invest in automatic feeders and waterers to maintain a consistent schedule. These can be especially helpful for poultry or small animals. Anything you can do to make your farm sitters job easier is going to be beneficial to both you and them so things like automatic feeders and water is are definitely going to help. and if you're only going away overnight or even two nights you might find that you're able to leave your animals with automatic Waters and feeders and perhaps just have your neighbour looking and make sure that no animals are hurt or indistress. that makes for a very easy weekend to way.
Provide Instructions for Special Diets:
If any of your animals have specific dietary requirements or medications, provide clear instructions to caretakers. Include a detailed feeding schedule and any necessary information about portion sizes. If there's special requirements about how and how much they get fed and what types of things they are fed if you can either sort those kind of feeds into separate containers so that it makes it really easy for the farm setup or even prepare certain foods that's going to be a huge benefit before you go.
Importance of Clear Instructions for Animal Care:
Communication is key when entrusting others with the care of your animals. Let's explore the importance of providing clear and comprehensive instructions.
Create a Detailed Care Guide:
Develop a comprehensive guide covering feeding schedules, medication administration, and specific behaviors to watch for. Include emergency contact information and your veterinarian's details. Say it again and again making checklists and what needs to be done at what time what day is the best way that you can assist your farm set up to manage your animals. having a checklist that's very detailed that explains what needs doing when just means that there's no room for error as far as forgetting what was told or anything like that and I find that getting a display folder like a clear sleeved folder that you can leave documents in so that everything is at arms length they can just pick it up and flick through it anytime they need it. that's always worked really well for us in the past where everything detailed is in there and that way the farm set doesn't have to remember stuff they can go back to the book time and time again.
As I said last week farm sitters are human too and accidents do happen and sometimes those accidents happen on our watch and sometimes they happen on somebody else's watch. they're really important thing is not to hold any blame to anybody if you come back and you have an animal who's either been injured or has died because at the end of the day the farm sitter is going to feel just as bad about the whole situation is what you are. I can remember years ago far how sitting for a family that I knew and they had a pet rat and two cats and a dog and the cats and dog were no problem but the pet rats developed a massive lump on its side well there are way and they are away from about two weeks so I was terrified this rat was going to die of some cancerous growth while they were gone. turns out when they got back they told me that he regularly got a lump on his side and it would come up and then go back down again and given he was just a rat they weren't really that worried about him.
Trial Run Before Your Departure:
If possible, arrange for a trial run with the caretaker before your actual holiday. This allows them to familiarize themselves with your animals and routines. It's also a great way for you to be able to be comfortable with the person you're leaving to look after your livestock so having that trial run means you can watch how they interact with the animals and whether or not you're comfortable with that. it's a good idea to plan that trial run at least a little bit before just so that if there is any problems you can either I'm the mouth or find another farm setter. and having that kind of dry run process where you can check everything means that when you do go away on holidays you're going to be much more confident that you're not going to get phone calls and then there's not going to be any problems. and that means you're going to enjoy your holidays a whole lot more.
Regular Check-Ins:
Establish a communication plan for regular updates. Whether it's through phone calls, texts, or even a daily log, staying informed about your animals' well-being is crucial. Even though you are on holiday and obviously you want to be able to turn your mind off from your day to day and really enjoy the holiday I find that it's much easier for me to enjoy the holiday find know that everything is going okay at home. so that little bit of contact even if it's just a text message to say hey the animals are tracking OK we got this many eggs today the dogs are fine the goats are fine I've checked it those that would make me have a more enjoyable holiday knowing that everything's going fine. and the whole purpose of getting a pharmacy so that you can actually have that holiday and have that down time but you're not going to have a very relaxing time if you constantly worried about your animals so you need to come up with a happy medium.