Animal Welfare

We’re not your typical petting zoo. Barnyardigans is not a working farm that you can visit; we do not raise crops or livestock. Our mission is to take care of our animals and educate people about them while still making it fun!

Barnyardigans was founded on the belief that allowing people to interact with the animals that make up the agricultural industry in South Dakota is beneficial to the animal world. 

Our animals stay with us their entire lives and often live together in family units. We provide the animals with daily care, including feed, water, and socialization. When animals are at events, they are cared for by the same people who care for them daily. Our animals spend most of their lives at home on the farm.

We believe that animals deserve more. In fact, the horses and ponies that make up Barnyardigans are all rescues. If we are able to take an unwanted animal in, we will do everything we can to give it a great life.

Providing excellent animal care is never easy or cheap. 

• Our animals are not for sale. They stay with us for life.
• Our animals are cage-free, except during transport.
• We cannot provide baby ducks and chicks for our mobile petting zoo. They’re too small to be handled safely, and we only take in what we need. 
• We only take in animals who thrive in our environment. We do not have exotic animals  because we would like to keep our focus on the animals that make up the agricultural industry of South Dakota.

Healthy animals may naturally carry diseases that can make you sick. These are known as zoonotic diseases. Some of the most common zoonotic diseases include:

• Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever, which you can get from a tick bite.
• West Nile virus, which you can get from a mosquito bite.
• Salmonella infection, which you can get after handling a baby chick, chicken, duck, turtle or snake.
• E. coli infection, which you can catch if you touch areas in a petting zoo or animal exhibit where some of the animals are infected.

Thankfully, there are things you can do to protect yourself and your children from zoonotic diseases.

• Closely supervise children in animal areas.
• Avoid putting things in your mouth in animals areas.
• No food, drinks, baby bottles, pacifiers, toys, or strollers should be in animal areas.
• Always wash your hands for 20 seconds after being around animals.
• Hand-washing stations can be found at the entrance/exit-ways and at nearby restroom facilities. 
• Properly sanitize any personal belongings such as shoes, strollers and clothing to kill germs that might have been transferred through contact with animals, their bedding or surroundings.
• Protect yourself from bug bites by using repellent on skin not covered by clothes or shoes.
• Check for ticks after you've been outdoors.

It's important to remember that anyone can become sick from a zoonotic disease, including healthy people. However, some people may be more at risk than others and should take steps to protect themselves or family members. These people are more likely than others to get really sick, and even die, from infection with certain diseases. These groups of people include:

• Children younger than 5
• Adults older than 65
• People with weakened immune systems