Butterfield Acres Petting Farm — Attraction in Alberta

Worst place ever! Okay this is a long review however I'm not holding back, this place should be shut down! First off the cost just to get in is way too much for what is there.

Okay so the place stinks of animal poop and I get it, it's a farm but I lived on a farm and lived in a farming community and yes it doesn't always smell pleasant but this place was beyond rank. The horses pen had about a foot of crap surrounding these fully grown horses and "trapping" them into a tiny space in the already too small pen. The horses wanted to come over to us when we called them but couldn't do so because of all the horse crap around them. There hooves where caked in crap. As for their so called attractions they were all very half assed. The pony ride is about 40 seconds long, the horse had some kind of muzzle on it to prevent it from bitting (it was NOT A FEED BAG.) Why even use a biting pony for a ride for children??? The milking of the goat, hah what a joke! So basically it's a very young and clearly unexperienced girl sat on a stool and without helping or instructing the kids how to do it or letting the kids take turns.

And now here is the worst part of it all, NOT A SAFE PLACE. I had to help a woman who was cornered with her small child by the goats in the pen. I had to move the goats away from her as they were pushing them and hoarding the woman and child. About 10 mins after that my son who was on the outside of the pen NOT EVEN REACHING OUT TO THE GOATS, JUST WATCHING, was bit by a goat. The goat reached thew the fence and grabbed his one hand then pulled it threw the fence and just held on!! It wouldn't let go and was biting hard. My son screamed at the top of his lungs, I quickly pulled the goat off. My son was crying and screaming and NOT ONE EMPLOYEE CAME TO SEE WHAT WAS GOING ON! We went to the admission booth and said a goat bit my son!! We want to get him out of here NOW AND GET HIM CLEANED UP and we want our money back! She said go to the other office. So we went over and I asked about a first aid kit or disinfectant anything and they offered a ice pack. Which wasn't even an ice pack. And the woman asked if we washed his hands after (keep in mind my child is still crying in pain) I said yes but we need more then that (their "hand washing stations " are jugs of water that drip out water and watered down soap) and she said "well soap is the best anti bacterial technology they have out there these days" NO IT'S NOT! Then she opened a drawer and pulled not a first aid kit but a box of band aids. She put a band Aid on him and that was it. Almost seemed as if this was a regular thing! She didn't make any notes on what happened or care to perhaps find out which goat had done it (it was NOT A goat nibbling it was clearly being aggressive and should have been taken out of the pen that was exposed to the public) WE didn't get a refund as we figured they wouldn't bother with one anyways (clearly they need the money since the place is a fricken mess, and they can't afford a first aid kit) The staff look like they are all under age and have zero farm experience. And was NO STAFF keeping an eye on things. The place is completely unsupervised which in my opinion is irresponsible since they are running a "zoo". And the goats just jump over the fences and roam around. There were a few sheep that got out of their pen and when we told the girl at the admissions booth (the only employee we could find at the time) she shrugged it off and didn't do anything. The sheep where headed to the parking lot and public road!! The animals all seemed depressed and agitated. I would be too if I was surrounded in pee soaked hay and piles of crap. STAY AWAY FROM THIS PLACE! It's a waste of money and not sanitary what so ever. Had to throw out my shoes when I got home as they were soaked in piss and crap. And we smelled so bad my mother who is a farm woman herself commented that as soon as we walked in she could smell animal feces and pee. It...

Hi Moms and Dads!

I am looking to share my story about a situation that I recently encountered regarding a Butterfield Acres summer camp.

My family has struggled with a nasty stomach bug for the past week and a bit. And to my surprise and devastation, my son got it again for the second time the morning of his first day of camp. I called Butterfield acres and they outright refused to move his camp dates. They told me I could give the camp away (370 dollars) or I could bring him the minute he stopped puking.

My son has now missed 3 of 5 days and will probably not make the camp at all. I want to be responsible and do what’s right for him and let him rest and make sure he is better before he attends. I also feel like bringing him in too soon (as they suggested) would jeopardize the health of all the other kids and camp leaders. But regardless of the lost money- he is in tears and completely heartbroken because he has been looking forward to this. He thinks it’s his fault he can’t go because he is sick.

I understand it’s a business and they need to feed the animals, but at the same time the business exists to make kids happy. The camp he was in was NOT full and the camp I wanted to move him to has TONS of room. They are just being greedy. They want to keep our money and make more money on the spot they would have moved him to.

They said they prep for each child, but the activities and schedules are repeated. It is generic and there is no prep really!

This to me is so disappointing. They care about their bottom line and nothing else. Not the happiness of kids, or the fact that parents have to save money and might not be able to afford to buy more camps. The owners at Butterfield Acres don’t even care about the feelings of a child, they just talk about about my son as a means to pay for feed for there animals. It’s so heartless! And just to make it clear again, I never wanted a refund. I just wanted to change dates. I even offered to pay extra administration fees.

I spent a min. of 500 dollars there a year for the last 5 years, I am at a loss for words! I feel they treated us like garbage instead of working with me to help make a 4 year old boy happy. Loyal customers mean nothing to them!

At the very least I would like to share my experience because for a 4 year old boy or girl - it’s heartbreaking to find out you have to miss out over something you can’t control. And to a family that has to plan their finances, it’s even more devastating. Knowing you gave these heartless people 370 dollars of your hard earned money for absolutely nothing. I say heartless because there was absolutely no reason at all they couldn’t change dates other than they are greedy. None at all.

So buyer beware at Butterfield acres. If you buy a camp there, it’s a gamble. You are gambling with your money, but even more importantly - with your child’s feelings.

It is also important to mention that their website is misleading. It says they charge a $20 administration fee to change dates. But they send you the fine print AFTER you have already paid and only allow changes 30 days in advance or to a week prior! How could anyone possibly know they were going to get the stomach flu 30 days in advance???

Sheep in wolves clothing!

If you think what they are doing is wrong, please 👎🏻. Maybe if enough people 👎🏻 we can persuade them to change the sick policy?

Thanks for taking the time to read this. Please feel free to share it with others. The more people know the better! I want to prevent this from happening any other family.

Dominika

I would also like to let everyone know that I have called almost every preschool summer camp in Calgary and Airdrie, and every single one of them assured me that if the camps were not full that they would 100% move dates!!! That tells you exactly just how much the owners at Butterfield care about you...

Pre-purchased special tickets for the Barnyard baby days and went with my fiancé and 13 month old. Brought our baby jogger because we knew it would be uneven ground and it was a good choice. This was our first time and for the price, I expected a bit more value. It was great seeing baby animals and my son did enjoy it the most he could at that age. My biggest issue was that during our almost 2 hour visit a big semi was parked right in the middle of the farm. And of course it was parked there for over half an hour in front of the washrooms being extremely loud and disturbing the experience. I literally had to raise my voice/yell to my husband because it was so noisy. I couldn’t even breastfeed my son in the nursing room because it was scaring him and that alone ruined my visit. I could tell other families were bothered by the noise as well, so I searched for a staff member. After some searching, I found someone and they said the previous day been busy and the septic tanks were full and chuckled about it. I asked why this couldn’t be done before the farm opened, and they kind of just shrugged and chuckled once more. I walked away and we continued walking around because we already paid $55 for the visit and wanted to give it a chance. Come to realize we also didn’t enjoy the music being played. It was a mix of what we could describe as old, sad, depressing country music. I actually love country music a lot, but their choice of music was weird and it didn’t seem to make the visit any better. I would have loved to hear som upbeat music to help energize the experience. It just felt like the music was out of place, and also quite loud as well which also didn’t help the atmosphere.

They don’t have any type of real food options either. They had things like pop, simple hotdogs, and s’mores so make sure you bring your own snacks/food/beverages if you plan to stay long.

This really wasn’t the best first time experience and I would have rather gone to the zoo and used my money there; because the value is better there. I’m sure this is a good place for toddlers and older children since there is lots of room to roam and learn. Tractor ride was okay too. Animals looked happy and well cared...