Idle-Hour Ranch - Ranch in Troy - 4845 Fenner Rd, USA

Love this place. Think more of a petting zoo then zoo and your expectations wont be let down. A lot of people complain about there not being information on half of the animals but again petting zoo, the staff is overly nice and can tell you whatever you want to know about any animal. Even more people complain about habitat sizes but most of them are bigger then the ones at youngs dairy and massive compared to the size of the traveling Petting zoos. All animals seemed happy, chunky, and healthy.

This place was awesome! We had so much fun! We can't wait to come back next summer and enjoy even more animals!

Feeding the animals was nice kinda expensive but fun experience

This was my first time visiting the ranch. I think the staff have good intentions but they were not professionals. I felt like I had walked onto the set of Tiger King. Both my 8 year old daughter and I were uncomfortable with the facilities provided for the animals. The wolf, wallaby’s, camels, foxes, sloth and other non-farm animals were in conditions not suitable for wild animals. These animals were in small cages (wolf, fox, sloth) or chained to posts (camels) and the heat was too much. There was little space for the animals to move or roam (except for the sheep, goats and cows). We came to this place specifically for the Sloth Encounter which was over priced ($175 per person). Not only were the conditions for the sloth small, the “sloth handler” was not professional and he seemed to have little care for the sloth. He did not treat it was patience, care and compassion but instead tried to get it in the “best position” for our pictures. When the sloth handler tried to reposition the sloth, it became EXTREMELY irritated and uncomfortable. It would hiss and move as fast as possible away from the handler (which is slow because it’s a sloth). This happened a few different times, to which I finally said, “No need to move the sloth, we are fine. We will take pictures where the sloth is most comfortable.” My daughter and I were both very uncomfortable with the handler and his handling of the sloth. Although we were allowed to touch the sloth, it simply did NOT like to be touched. It would try to get away or turn its head to bite us if we touched it too long. After seeing this reaction, my daughter and I didn’t touch it again. We left it be in order to make feel more comfortable. Not only will I not return to this facility, I would recommend to others not to support a place that has little professionalism or standards of care in the place for their animals. Although I think some of the staffs intentions are good, I think the living conditions need to be significantly improved (especially for the sloth, wolf, fox and wallaby’s).

Great local place, get feed and ride animals. They have a small playground also. Definitely worth coming. Better than the zoo just because we get see them closer, touch, and feed them. How can you not love family owned ranch??

Based on reviews, we were expecting something fun where they rescued the animals and had a great habitat for them. Instead, it’s a run down, dilapidated farm where the animals barely have what they need. Their enclosures are bare ground, dirty, just have tiny dog houses for warmth (some don’t even have that) and have nothing to enrich their habitats. This was so depressing and left me incredibly angry. The ponies and camels were saddled and roped into one spot and hadn’t moved the entire time we were there… just waiting to be ridden. When we were leaving, I asked if these animals were rescued and the person working there said it started off with the owner buying camels to provide for church functions and then they just grew from there. Some were rescued, some donated, some sought out and bought. This is small scale tiger king all over again and this place should be shut down.

Absolutely worth the visit! Went with family for my birthday & it was a BLAST!!! Friendly Staff, Awesome Ranch! We saw and pet and fed so many animals. They had potbelly pigs, a little monkey, chickens, camels, little kagaroo lookin things, sheep, goats, pony, water buffalo, cows, llamas, different birds, that's all i can remember... then they had a HUGE corn maze, which was also a Scavenger Hunt.. took us an hour and 15 mins to complete (the sun set half way thru the maze, so we had flashlights!) Was intriguing and exciting... lots of laughs too! 😄 Then there were other little Games and activities. Including kids jumping in a "hay pile" area, a huge pool of hard corn kernels to play in (even the adults enjoyed it!) Lol... then they lit a bonfire / firepit & we laid out blankets and unfolded our camping chairs, roasted hot dogs, maple chicken sausages and roasted marshmallows and made smores! All while watching a movie (Disney's "Tangled") projected onto the side of a big white barn... was truly a memorable day!

Very small animals farm. But they take good care of those animals.