Idle Hour Ranch
Animal Ministry and Exotics

The Idle Hour Ranch is situated just west of Troy, Ohio. This family owned and operated agritainment business was established in December 1999 and opened for public visits in the summer of 2007.

We first spotted the IHR on a drive out to my parents farm. We were driving along when all of a sudden I spotted a Kangaroo jumping into a building. My granddaughter said in her sweet little voice "Grandmaaaaaa you're so silly, Kangaroos live in Australia we're in Ohio".
So we slowed down on the way back so they could see Grandma may be silly but she knows cows don't hop.

Every few weeks we'd drive by and Hailey would ask if we could stop and see the animals. She got her wish when they put up a sign announcing they were open to the public.

Agritainment Services

The Idle Hour Ranch was established as a means to supply animals to local churches for live nativity scenes.

Soon the ranch was providing petting zoos for special events, animals for Easter programs, birthday parties, corporate events and educational tours for schools.

What a fun way to celebrate a birthday or special occassion. For pricing and service areas visit their website: idle hour ranch.

Ranch Visit

I'm not sure who was more excited that the ranch was open to the public my granddaughter or me. I love animals and could spend hours watching their antics.

When you first go in they hand you a map of the ranch layout so you can find all the animals. They sell several sizes of baskets filled with food so you can feed the animals. There were a couple of other families feeding the animals so we opted to just watch them.

They have wolves, a cougar, cavies, giraffe, donkeys, goats, zebu, skunk and more. There is section called Heidi's Lil' Idle Hour with gentle animals such as rabbits, a prairie dog and a cockatoo that talks. Hailey was intrigued with the cockatoo. She tried to carry on a serious conversation with it at first and then just settled for getting it to say "I Love You".

wallaby One of the many highlights of our visit was when Hailey was allowed to hold the baby kangaroo and the baby wallaby.

The blue plastic is a little sac that the owners created. They hold the sac near the kangaroo and it jumps right in. It was so fun to watch them wiggle and snuggle into it.

I got to hold both of them too, seeing them up close like that was just so amazing. Surprisingly she didn't ask if she could have one for a pet.

We spent a lot of time visiting with Sam the giraffe.
They build a large observation deck that takes you up to eye level with him. See pictures of Sam and the other animals on this page.

Farmers Market

A mini farmers market is set up at the entrance to the ranch. They offer jellys, jams, canned beef and great Amish style noodles. They also have cute animal scupture and home-grown/mill-spun yarn.
The FROG jam caught my attention so I bought a jar. Read about Frog Jam here.

If you are in Ohio or planning to visit be sure to stop by the ranch.
The ranch is family owned and operated. Brian, Michelle and Brittany are very friendly down to earth people that are doing what they love to do. Helping animals and sharing their love of nature with the rest of us. It truly was a wonderful experience and one we will repeat often.
Idle Hour Ranch
Animal Ministry & Exotics
4845 Fenner Rd., Troy. 937/339-9731
www.idle-hourranch.com