Top Ten Gift Ideas for the Small Farm Owner

As a small farm owner I have come across many things that I wished I had to make my life easier. If you have a small farm owner on your holiday list, or maybe just someone with a lot of pets, there are a few things most everyone could always use. They are:

1. Extra feed buckets and scoopers. For some reason we seem to be really hard on buckets and scoopers at our house. Maybe it's because the kids do the majority of the feeding? It seems like we can never find the bucket or scooper we are looking for. We can always use more buckets and scoopers.

2. Feeding Pans. Most every feed store has a nice selection of inexpensive feeding pans and trays. They look like a low, wide, bucket, without a handle. These are used to put the feed into them for the animals to eat. Every animal from a dog to a goat or horse can eat from them. These pans are made of a very thick, pliable, rubber or plastic material, and can withstand being stepped on by even the heaviest of animals.

3. Metal Trash Cans. Yes, I understand this seems like a really weird gift, but I would personally love to receive some metal trash cans to store my feed in. They are a bit expensive and the only thing you can use to keep rodents out of your feed. More cans means you can store more feed and visit the feed store less. This is always a good thing.

4. Automatic Waterers. A supply of fresh water is vitally important for any animal whether it's your personal pet or livestock in the field. Automatic waterers help insure that water is always available on-demand for the animals.

5. Water Heaters or a Heated Water Container. Winter can be especially hard on animals that have to be outside in the elements. If your farm owner lives where the temperature gets down below freezing the perfect gift can be that of a water heater or heated water container for their animals. These devices heat the water to prevent it from freezing over and not allowing the animals to drink. Breaking water is a pain for the farm owner to have to do and it requires someone be present to do it. If you leave your animals for the day often you come home to find the water frozen over again and your animals thirsty.

6. Animal Combs and Brushes. Most livestock and domestic animals on the farm need some form of grooming. We use a brush for our dogs and goats. We also sometimes use a comb or shedding brush on them at the end of the winter when they are shedding off their winter coats. It's nice to have a selection of brushes and combs available and to have one dedicated to each animal you own.

7. Hoof Trimmers or Very Good Scissors. If the small farm owner on your list has animals like goats they need to trim their hooves on a regular basis. This requires a VERY sharp pair of trimmers or scissors that can cut through the tough, toe-nail like, hoof. Nothing is more miserable for the goat and the owner than a pair of trimmers that are not sharp enough. This makes the job of trimming the hoves much more work than it should be and requires the animal to stand in an uncomfortable position for longer as well.

8. Sheering Clippers. Many animals such as sheep need to have their coats sheered off in the spring. A good pair of clippers can make this task a lot easier on both the animal and owner. Just like good hoof trimmers, good sheers are an essential thing to have on the farm.

9. Pitchforks, Shovels, and Other Yard Implements. It seems we are constantly pitching hay, shoveling some kind of poop, or cleaning up something. We can always use garden and yard tools.

10. Animals! Maybe the small farm owner on your holiday list has their eye on a new goat kid, a lamb, a pig or some other animal. Often small farm owners know other small farm owners who are breeding their animals. Ask your small farm owner if they are considering adding to the farm and if you can help out with that. Maybe they are saving for a special animal and could use a bit of help getting enough cash together to purchase the animal. It never hurts to ask!