Hi, we’ve just registered properly with TH and we’re learning all about house sitters. Gosh it’s a lot to take in. I’m doing my usual worrying that I’ll have too long a Do-List for sitters. We have a farm and it’s hard to get away without a military operation sometimes! Anyone else out there have their farm sat?
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Hi @Farmeress and welcome! We are a housesitting family of 4 from Gloucestershire.
What animals do you have on your farm? I’ve seen sits on THS with sheep, horses, pigs, goats, even alpacas. So far we have sat for dogs cats and chickens, but I have to confess that I’ve always fancied doing a sit with sheep!
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Sitter here, but IMO, in a complex farm situation, the more information the better.
At our best small holding type sit, the owners had a self contained guest suite and had us come to stay for 3 days before the sit. We watched them go through a typical day on Day One, the next day, we did the work while they watched/helped us, and the third day, we did it the work ourselves. Most sits probably don’t need this much time, but we totally enjoyed it and felt very confident once they were gone.
Anyway, I guess my suggestion would be to have the sitters there for at least one full day so you can do the chores together and answer any questions. It’s often easier than having to rely solely on written instructions.
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Hi @Farmeress a very warm welcome to our community both on and off the forum, thank you for joining us from glorious Devon. We have many sitters who have farm and smallholding experience and many owner farmers, hobby and working farms, I see you already have some member feedback, you will get more help and advice I’m sure.
You really can’t have too much information, it’s helps to clarify the animals needs and your expectations which allows sitters to make an educated decision about whether they have the knowledge & experience needed because it’s about getting the right sitters and communication is key.
There are some great articles on the website blog and please ask any questions you may have here and to our Membership Services Team, we are all here to help.
Enjoy connecting with our and we look forward to sharing in your THS journey …
Just what animals do you have?
Welcome again.
Angela & The Team
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Hi - we had not had time away for a few years until we found THS. We have a smallholding with sheep, pigs, chickens, ducks and a dog. We have had 5 fantastic Sitters. We always ask Sitters to come the day before we leave and spend the afternoon showing them where everything is, showing them the evening feeds/routine and then the morning one. In addition to the Welcome Guide I leave detailed notes of the routines so they have step by step information. In the WG and the initial ad I give an outline of the “duties” and an estimation of the time they will take. We don’t get many applicants so we have approached Sitters directly but we have never been unable to find excellent Sitters. Welcome to THS.
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Hi Angela,
I feel very welcome & encouraged by THS. We’ve had a resident couple looking after our home & animals for the last 17 years & they’ve finally retired.
It’s a shock. We don’t want to employ another person, our situation is different from when they first came & we run a care farm here now as well so we wanted to do most of the work ourselves & just cover the times we’re not here.
We also thought it would be a great opportunity for different people to live and look after a small farm in the short term.
We’ve 38 sheep, 2 old alpacas, 2 horses, 14 chickens, 5 ducks, 2 dogs and a cat in a pear tree. We keep things as organized & simple as possible & we run a tidy ship so it’s a pleasure to be in it.
We also love to share our home with folks who never experience this kind of life, it’s very therapeutic- hence the Care Farm. We’re seeing some real restoration & self confidence coming out of people working outdoors & with animals. It’s a privilege to be able to offer it. We’re proper blessed 
If we can find willing help from people in THS wanting to broaden their horizons, then so much the better. I’m quite excited for the sits ahead.
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Hi,
What wise advice. I think that’s what we’ll be doing, we have a separate cottage for sitters so we can take our time a little in prep.
Whilst everything that needs doing is common sense & simple to us, I remind myself that I didn’t always know what I’ve learned & I’ve really appreciated hands on training as well as list & instructions.
Thank so much for your input- maybe we’ll meet one day!
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Hi @Farmeress thank you for describing your life on the farm, love the “cat in a pear tree” … so many sitters, who have knowledge and feel comfortable around farm/large animals, come and tell their stories of just how much they enjoyed a farm sit experience and how surprisingly easy the owners had made it for them with good organised husbandry … I “sat” a mini ranch in WA State on my own for two weeks, everything was planned so efficiently that it was really so manageable and a great experience … I was used to managing horses.
Thank you again and we look forward to sharing in your TrustedHousesitters journey.
I’ve a sit coming up near Shrewsbury with some rare sheep. Looking forward to it. Before then I’m near Canterbury with some alpacas and cats, my second sit with alpacas!
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