Farm sitter wanted for two weeks Sept 25 thru October 9. You would arrive the day before we leave so that we can meet and greet all the creatures at our beautiful Chester County farm.
The house is a 4 BR 3 bath home on six acres with a barn, chicken coop, goat pen, garden, and is about 30 miles outside of Philadelphia. There is a hot tub for relaxing, and occasionally hot air balloons passing over the house that you can watch from the second floor porch.
Local attractions include an alpaca farm across the street, a dairy with Friday night "cheesy happy hours" that include live music and a wine bus, Lancaster Amish sights, St Peters Village, the Horseshoe trail, and an amazing local restaurant that often takes months for a reservation. And they are worth the wait.
Duties would include two small dogs that mostly hang out in the house or fenced yard, and accompany you to the barn and pastures for chores. No meds or special needs. Two indoor cats that you may or may not see... one litter box to clean.
Three horses that get grain and hay twice daily, turnout to appropriate field (both accessed from barn, no need to halter or handle unless you want to,) and an unfortunate amount of mucking and cleaning.
Two miniature goats that want nothing more than to invade your personal space, mess up whatever your doing, knock over baskets of eggs, and generally cause trouble. They need a brief cleaning, small grain twice daily, and water checking.
15 Chickens that are in a predator proof coop. Sometimes I let them out in the evening, and sometimes there is collateral fox damage, but its a circle of life. They need feed and water, and collect eggs once daily.
There is a garden that will likely still be producing greens and beans and tomatoes
It sounds like a lot, and it probably takes an hour to two hours a day total, and the timing is not critical, so if you want to go sightseeing and you dont get home until after dark, that's fine... nobody is going to die from getting fed late.
I really want to find someone who would enjoy the getaway to a nice area, who loves animals and ideally has some horse experience, to share our home. Don't hesitate to include references from past house sits, and thanks for considering a stay at Hilltop Haven