We have visited the Small Breeds Farm and Owl Centre before with BattleKid and we thoroughly enjoy it. Last August Bank Holiday weekend, on our way to Chester, we visited again and thoroughly enjoyed our visit.
The Small Breeds Farm and Owl Centre is privately owned and run, and is located in Kington in Herefordshire. It is open from 10.30 to 5.00 (4.30 in winter months), every day of the year, even on Christmas Day.
As usual during our last visit, we went clockwise, starting in the incubation room where we saw newly Southern-white faced owls. BattleKid wanted to hold them and was quite confused as to why he couldn’t. From there we made our way through the barn area where we saw my favourite of all the animals at the Small Breeds Farm, the Boer Goats. I love them.
It took a little bit of coaxing to get BattleKid to help me feed them!
We then went into the small animal’s room which houses rabbits, guinea pigs and chipmunks. The various birds were next to be visited before we turned our attention to the farm animals in the outdoor enclosures.
BattleKid had a great time giving feed to the horses and goats. The Boer goats passed us on the way to their enclosure and one made a beeline for the feed bucket on its way past (see our vlog below).
After finishing in the main farm area we stopped at the tea room for some lunch, and as it was such a nice day, we sat outside on the picnic benches to enjoy toasted sandwiches and baked potatoes. BattleKid hogged a whole potato and baked beans with cheese to himself!
Nicely full and satisfied, we visited the Owl Garden to see all the various owls which include tawny owls, barn owls, the snowy owls (my personal favourites) and BattleDad’s favourites, the great horned owls. We had another great visit to the Small Breeds Farm and Owl Centre and were so lucky that it was a lovely day weather-wise at the start of that bank holiday weekend.
Tickets cost £9.00 per adult and £6 per child*, with animal feed buckets costing £1 each. The Small Breeds Farm and Owl Centre is wheelchair accessible and a mobility scooter available to loan on site.
The tea room serves both hot and cold drinks and food and there is a picnic garden and barn, should you wish to bring your own food and drinks to enjoy.
Something that I discovered during our last visit was their owl experiences which are available. There are two, the Owl Experience and Owls by Moonlight.
The Owl experience is available during breeding season (approximately March to July) costing £78pp (age 14 years and above only), which take place between 8.30 and 10.30am and must be paid for in advance. You get an introduction talk with a Senior Owl Keeper, a guided tour of the owl garden before opening and trip to the incubation room. You also get to prepare breakfast and feed it to the owlets. You get up close and personal with tame owls and have access to the rest of the Farm afterwards. You can share your experience with 1 other full paying person.
The Owl Centre also run an Owls by Moonlight Experience, which takes place on certain evenings between 7 and 9.30pm. In this experience you explore the Owl garden by lamplight with a Senior Owl Keeper. There is an interval during which you are served soup and a roll. You then get the chance to get photos with hand-reared owls and have a chance to take your own photos in the softly illuminated garden at the end. This amazing experience is available for those aged 16 years and over for £32pp.
I’d love to return when BattleKid is older to enjoy these Owl Experiences.
The Small Breeds Farm and Owl Centre is definitely worth a visit if you are visiting the Kington or Herefordshire area. A visit takes about 3-4 hours to fully enjoy. And it is a great family day out, particularly with younger children, who can get up close and personal with animals of various sizes. Even if you are visiting South Wales (where we live) it is also worth the drive up to visit (it takes us just over an hour to drive there).
If you’d like to get a sneak peek at the Small Breeds Farm and Owl Centre, why not watch our little vlog from our most recent visit below.
Thanks for reading.
Cath x
*Prices are correct at the time of writing this post.
**We were not asked to write this post.
I bet the newborn owls were so cute, this sounds like a nice day out. I went to a falconry thing and there were loads of owls there and they were fascinating to watch x
Oh I’d love to visit a falconry too. They’re such beautiful creatures.
That looks like a lovely place to visit. One of my dearest friends loves owls and she would adore the owl experience.
I definitely want to do one when BattleKid is older!
Not my thing as I’m not great around animals but the kids would absolutely love it! (and so would Chris!)
I’m sure they’d enjoy it x
I love the sound of the Owl Centre. Sounds like a really good day out!
It’s really good!
This is quite affordable. I would love to take my kids to a farm like this in the summer holidays.
It’s good value for money considering you can stay all day x
That looks very nice and your little one will have great memories of this for a long time for sure!
I certainly hope so. I’m sure we’ll revisit it sometime when we’re back in the UK x
This looks a great day out and the owl experience sound amazing. I’ve not heard of anything like these before. Monkey would love feeding the goats too, they look very cute!
It’s a great place and somewhere we will miss now that we’ve left the UK!
I’ve not heard of this place. I’ll definitely think of visiting during the summer holidays. It’s not that far from us and seems great value for money x
It’s well worth a visit Kerry. Try pick a sunny day and take a picnic, I’m sure the girls will love it x