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We enjoyed the trip and the welcome from the dogs, but the larger one I realised later had scratched the side of the car. Generally it was good, we enjoyed the donkeys and some of the goats. The Swiss goat were a bit crazy. There was some good exploring to be had to find all the animals. It was very good for our young one and he enjoyed the tree hut. I think for us, it is a one time visit, but worth a visit for little ones. …
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Date of experience: February 2021
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This place is fantastic. It’s large, beautiful, very well designed and taken care of, and the animals are all friendly. A lot of the animals roam free, which makes it extra special. There’s lots of shade and things to explore on the land. Couldn’t recommend it enough!
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Date of experience: January 2021
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We came away from visiting this site somewhat concerned about the state of most of the animals and their enclosures. Most of the enclosures had little or no grass in them, especially the ones with the horses and sheep in them. Some of the cages had had hay put in them but the animals seemed reluctant to eat it. Rather, they seemed to prefer the animal food pellets you could buy at the reception desk. In some cases we fed the animals long grass which we picked from outside the cages. The animals seemed very keen to eat this which is what they would normally eat if they had larger enclosures perhaps. We find it odd that there are many glowing reports on this site that don't ring true to the experience we had. The site struck us as run down and in urgent need of renovation. It felt like the operators were uncaring towards the animals but spent money on glowing advertising to attract visitors to the site. In particular the sheep concerned us because of their heavy unshorn fleeces and the fact that they seemed hot with limited shade to enable them to get away from hot the sun. They also seemed very hungry as there was very little grass in their enclosure. Overall we came away feeling that the animals were suffering from significant neglect and that the untidy site had seen very little maintenance for quite a long time.…
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Date of experience: December 2020
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Response from ronniej399, Owner at Whiti Farm Park
Responded 14 Jan 2021
Did it occur to you to bring your concerns to us, instead of showing the whole world how ignorant you are? Yes, most of the enclosures have little grass in them however the animals are all supplementary fed. (look it up if you do not know what that means) They are fed every morning before visitors arrive with all they require to keep them in good health. We have also experienced a severe drought followed by severe flooding in 2020 so grass growth is non-existent. As soon as a blade grows, it gets eaten. If you were to look at the physical condition of our pets, you will see that the animal's needs are being met. If this was not the case, how would we continue to be in business after 13 years and have created such a following with most people loving the place and returning year after year? I think the SPCA would have been on our case before now if we were in any way not treating the animals properly. If you had asked us when you were on-site and expressed your concerns to us face to face, we would have been able to explain away all your fears and enlighten you to the fact that most of the animals get to go out to graze on pasture regularly. Many get fruit and vegetables and their health is our number 1 priority. After all, they are our business! It is far crueller to keep mini horses in a paddock full of grass, because, like pigs, they don't know when to stop eating, and can become very ill indeed, unable to walk and worse. Their diet has to be carefully monitored. The reluctance of some of the animals to eat their hay is because ... they are spoilt, they are full and would rather have nuts instead of hay on the busy days. You hinted at larger enclosures ... sure if you do not mind walking an extra 5 km that the bigger enclosures will take. But then you would complain about having to walking too far and not being able to see the animals as they will be too far away. If their paddocks were bigger they would eat more and become even more overfed. No matter how big the paddocks are the grass would be in the same condition it is now. Sheep!- We shear them all at Christmas time. Have done for years! 1 a day so customers have a chance to see a live sheep shearing demonstration. We started that on the 26th of December, so you must have seen at least one that had been shorn. They are all done now. It seems you look but do not see. How can you say that they have no shade when both main sheep paddocks are 30% shade? The sheep actually cross the creek to the grass on the other side-so, if anything, they are overfed. We advertise very little compared to most in the tourism industry. More than half of our customers are return ones from previous years or by word of mouth ie: being recommended to visit us by a friend or a family member. These fans would obviously disagree with your views, as do we. A large percentage of customers are those driving past, so we spend very little on advertising. We did, in fact, win a $20k advertising package in a competition late last year, sponsored by 2 Degrees and Stuff media. Anything you see as an article in the paper has not been paid for and has been at the instigation of the press. We do put the needs of our pets well above advertising when it comes to the $$ allocation, so, you are ill-informed again. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and views, but it doesn't mean that they are the right or most well-informed ones. We work hard all year round to care for our animals and maintain the property. Before deliberately trying to sabotage a small business consider the negative implications your uneducated review could cause. I am however confident that the glowing reviews of those who have enjoyed themselves here at our park for the past 13 years will still out weight your opinion. This summer especially we have had so many people comment on how well maintained the park is. How happy the animals are and how much they enjoy our park. Please remember this is a farm in rural New Zealand and not a 1/4 acre section in suburbia. Because of this, you will encounter animal poop, a non-sterile environment and a few blades of grass out of place. Finally. We received a Trip Advisor Travellers choice award last year. This places us in the top 10% of attractions WORLDWIDE. This is not something we can control or manufacture ourselves. It is done by the public!
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Great value at $35 for 2 adults and 2 toddlers, takes around an hour and a half to go round everything with lots to keep the kids busy. The park is easy for young ones to walk around and the animals will all come and say hello with plenty of play equipment along the way for children, definitely worth stopping in when passing.…
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Date of experience: December 2020
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Great day out! Warm welcome from the owner, informative and the entry price was surprisingly low. Amazing range of animals to see and learn about. Lots to do-fun things for kids like tree swings and trampolines. Bring a picnic and stay as long as you want (no time limit). A really great Kiwi day out. Thank you Whiti Farm Park. We will be back.…
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Date of experience: October 2020
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