Luz Farms — Attraction in Matteson

My boyfriend and I went here for cow cuddling and goat snuggling. From my understanding, the scheduling process was really disorganized, and our second hour ended up being double booked with another couple. Upon arrival, we were greeted at our car by an extremely jumpy dog. Immediately we got scratches all over our arms. It was really annoying and an off putting way to start the experience. I’ll say the owner did lock up the dog after this, but in my opinion, he should have never let the dog run freely to our car in the first place. The owner talked for a long time about all the cows, which wasn’t really needed or information that was all that interesting. Hanging out with the cows was super fun. We were not informed during the booking process that we’d be feeding the cows. The cows basically pin you up and will nudge you with a lot of force if you’re not feeding quick enough. This activity was pretty intense. It was fun I just would have appreciated a heads up. We got quite messy, but once they were fed they settled in for the cuddling. Unfortunately due to the double booking we moved on to the goats a little quicker than I would have liked, but the owner did give us an option to stay with the cows longer (I just didn’t want to be rude to the new couple coming in.) The goat snuggling was pretty disappointing. The were biting at everything and one took out a big chunk of my hair. They weren’t cuddly at all. We ended up leaving early because there wasn’t much positive interaction to be had with the goats. If I were to go back, I’d definitely only schedule the cow cuddling. The owner was very nice and understanding, but this place needs much better organization. We also felt it was pretty overpriced, and the pricing wasn’t super clear when scheduled over the phone. My boyfriend had to call to schedule over the phone due to an issue on their website. The lady was a little dismissive and didn’t make the final cost clear at all. It’s a good activity. I would just wear clothes and shoes you’re willing to get super dirty in, and make sure you properly secure...

Such an amazing place!

Plan on arriving 15min before your appointment for orientation / waivers.

You’re literally pulling up to someone’s home, it can be easy to miss if you’re not watching for your turns.

They run it on their property so be prepared to just be pulling up to someone’s home.

Dan and the cows were amazing! Ask him anything! He’s very knowledgeable and will to tell you everything you like about his wonderful herd.

Some AdVice: It can be a little intimidating.

Cows look much smaller from a distance. When you are in a 15x15 pen with 1800 lbs of muscle and Dan says go a head…. Give her a squeeze…. Be prepared! :)

Children: Kids are welcome 5yr and older … but their attention spans might not last an hour and I’m not sure “younger ones” would want to get that close to an 1800lb cow.

Dan and his crew do everything they can to keep you informed as the cows will get up and move around while you’re in there!

Stay away from the butts! Cows can and do kick back and sideways…. But I don’t see there being any issues with these cows.

Every cow we met was all about “okay… give me loving now please!”

Face those fears and be prepared to hug a cow! I know…. Sounds easy…. But you’ll feel it when you’re in there surround by thousands of lbs of cows!

We will be back!

Just be aware…. They are very strict concerning times / appointments. If you’re more than 15min past your appt time your appt is canceled and your deposit is lost.

You are allowed to re-schedule once if need be, but after that your deposit is lost.

They were very accommodating for us and we were grateful…. however they are running a business and we don’t want to leave the animals waiting!

They don’t take credit cards… So bring cash day of for your final payment or be prepared to make a final CashApp / Venmo payment when...

This was our first ever harvest host visit. We were running late but Luz accommodated us. She met us as we arrived and let us know where to park. She had to go to work early but let us know Dan and her grandson Nick would be there in the morning to greet us. The area that we parked faced the field and treeline so it felt like we were camping alone in nature which was really nice. The next morning Django their Pit/lab puppy greeted us, super friendly and cute. We watched Nick clean up the pen for the cows. Dan welcomed us in and explained their beef butchering process and how it differs from store bought. It was very insightful. He showed us the different cuts of meats, we tasted some honey and smelled the beef tallow. In the end we purchased beef tallow, honey, eggs, several cuts of beef and pork. Dan graciously gifted us with some freshly picked veggies from their garden as well. As we were leaving Caramel, one of the goats and some of his pen mates bid us farewell as we left to our next destination. It was such a great way to start our journey and we would definitely...