Windmill Animal Farm

Located in Burscough, Windmill Animal Farm is a family run farm of rare breed and exotic animals. Honestly, coming away from this place we were all blown away – the staff are lovely, animals are so friendly and there is so much to do and see.

When you arrive at the farm, there is a main car park that does have quite a few spaces, however we arrived at 9.55am (opens at 10) and then by 11am, the car park was totally full, even going into the overflow.

When you walk through to reception, you enter the little shop – enough choice to treat your little one, but not enough to be stood around for ages while they explore the toys options. Walking through reception, you enter the courtyard that has rooms for party hire (Dexter is totally having a farm birthday party one year), toilets, café/restaurant, and indoor and outdoor seating.

I must add that there are loads of hand washing stations and sanitizer dotted around the place – for general hygiene, because you will have all of the animals licking food out of your palm, so you will definitely want to give your hands a good clean – so this is already in place for Covid safety.

At reception, you can buy a bag of animal feed, £1 per bag, and it went far. You can feed all of the animals apart from the horses and pony’s.

Farmyard Friends

I absolutely love animals, so absolutely any excuse to cuddle and hold them, and resist kissing them! The first animals we met, where guinea pigs and rather large bunny rabbits. I got to hold an adorable ginger guinea pig, and Dexter was so happy about it, he stroked it off his own accord and just kept chuckling to himself – probably thinking “this is a rather unusual dog”. We had a cute rabbit perched on the bench next to us, and it was still sat there when we were leaving.

Next to the guinea pigs and rabbits, are goats! Oh my gosh. I held a baby goat that was 6 days old called Gary, he was to cute, and Dexter thought so too, I have never held a baby goat before, so I was definitely not passing this opportunity – so gentle, dog-like and irresistible. The goats were the first animals we fed, so we just put some feed in the palms of our hands, and they knew what to do – if anyone is scared of doing this, do not be afraid, they are gentle – all they do is lick your hand – super cute!

You then enter a sheltered barn, where you can meet and feed cows (a Dexter Cow too), Goats, Llamas, Alpacas etc. They all pop their heads either through or over the top of the paddocks, because they all know they will be getting food from you – it’s a great experience for kids – teaching them to treat the animals kindly, and not to be afraid of these beautiful creatures. We are definitely getting Dexter used to animals, nothing phased him, he just chuckles to himself – I know if he could, he would definitely cuddle them all – like he does with our dog. He isn’t quite ready to feed the animals yet – he would try and consume the food himself, so the more we visit, he will be feeding them in no time.

Outside, there are more paddocks, with more animals to meet like horses, and pony’s, as well as more animals that we met before hand. More cute Llamas, goats and alpacas – totally adorable! We even spot a tortoise, just chilling in between the paddocks.

Critters2You

This is something I never thought I would say, but I HELD A SNAKE. Some people may think I making a big deal of this, but they terrify me and I done it. Dexter was stroking the snake and he loved it.

I didn’t get the guys name, but Critters2You are reptiles and spiders owned by the guy in here who was super helpful to us. He was taking the reptiles out of the cages like a Bearded Dragon – encouraging Dexter to touch it, he had so much time for the baby.

We saw some cute Geckos, Bearded Dragons, Tarantulas, Snakes and more. What a way to get over a fear, hey.

Farm Train

The Farm train runs every 30 minutes from 11am. So we jumped on the first train – this was Dexter’s first ride, so we made sure we snapped some adorable photos. The train costs £2 each, and free for under 1’s.

You sit in little carriages, then secured by a chain. It isn’t a very long train ride, but it takes you around the paddocks, with a five minute pit stop at the other end, when you can sit on the grass, while the kids let of some steam in the play area, then the train takes you back to the start.

It’s very cute, I wouldn’t miss it. It’s a nice touch, especially for children.

Activities

There are both indoor and outdoor play areas – the indoor play area was closed for our visit, but I imagine now open as I write this.

The outdoor play areas are fab! A main one near the entrance, rather spacious too. And one that I mentioned above when you take a pit stop on the train ride. And then another amongst the outdoor paddocks, with tables and benches – like a lunch stop.

As well as the play areas, there are pedal carts, pedal tractors, electric trucks and racers, that your little ones can enjoy! They did look super fun, give us a few years and no doubt, I will find Dexter (and Rich) playing on them.

Overall

So, so pleasently surpised. We decided to go here, as a more local farm wasn’t open yet. But I think this one is bigger and better!

Not only were the staff super friendly, informative and great with the baby. It was clean and organised. If you have young children, you could spend the day here as it is open 10am until 5pm – pack some food, and you are good to go!