The Gentle Barn

I took my two little boys and wife here for my father’s day present for myself and as a late birthday present for my two-​year-​old. Even though it was the hottest day of the year (so far), there was plenty of shade when needed. We all had a great time hanging out with all the different animals. My little boys loved feeding the horses and donkey carrots and I felt good about it after trying it myself and seeing how gentle the animals were. As an added bonus, the vegan sausages that were available at the concessions stand were top notch.

I’ve been wanting to come for a long time and finally made my way out there. You can buy tickets online ahead of time for $ 20. They have rescued pigs, cows, horses, and other animals. My favorite part was combing the cows. Definitely a cool place to visit and donate.

It’s nice to see all these animals being cared for and loved. Not just cats and dogs. We hugged the cows, chilled with pigs. Scratched some chicken feathers and looked at the goats and turkeys. We fed carrots to the horses and later ate some really good sausages. I bought season passes so they will be seeing a lot of me;)

I LOVE THE GENTLE BARN!
You make reservations online (they are only open to the public on Sundays) and request a $ 20 for adults and $ 10 for children. This is not out of the ordinary and in no way do I believe they should get a lower rating for this. This place runs on donations, and considering all the good they do, I am happy to oblige!
They rescue abused farm animals, and give them a new loving home. Visiting the cows definitely changed my life. Before my visit I was a vegetarian dabbling into veganism. As soon as I got to hug my first cow, I knew I couldn’t go on eating animal products. The stories they’ve survived are tragic, and they are still so loving and gentle. There was a little mini black angus cow that was new to the sanctuary, and was still being introduced. The volunteer that day with her was really sweet and funny, let us feed her some carrots, and had a lot of knowledge about the place! I was really impressed with her, and wish I could remember her name!
There is also an area where you can pet and feed horses and a donkey. Carrots are $ 5. As well as another section to pet turkeys, goats, sheep, chickens, pig and (in my opinion, slightly terrifying) emu.
This is just a really lovely place where the animals are well taken care of and they have vegan hot dogs for you to enjoy during your visit! I really left with a new appreciation for these farm animals and the volunteers who dedicate their time to them. I recommend every family visit, it’s something children can enjoy, as well as adults. I can’t wait to go back!

The Gentle Barn is basically a small glorified petting zoo. We paid $ 20 per person to get in and spent about a little over an hour. It is mandatory to walk up the hill and sit and listen to a fifteen minute presentation on the virtues of being a vegan before you are allowed to go inside the petting area where the goats, pigs, and chickens are. I must say the volunteers are the shinning stars of this trip. They are all young, friendly and knowledgeable. I really thought there would be more animals to see and that it would be a larger place. Overall, I am glad I visited, but not glad that I drove five hours to do so.

This is a very special place. So happy that I got to experience The Gentle Barn. The staff is very friendly as well as educated on all of the animals back stories. Really helps you appreciate the magic that is happening here. Everyone should see this place first hand. The animals are so loving and you can really tell they’re happy here.

As a new vegan, I really wanted to come so I could be up close to the animals and just be with them. After experiencing time with all the animals, it just reassured my reasoning for going vegan in the first place and as another reviewer said below me, I feel at peace. I agree that this place is an excellent place to go if you transitioning to vegetarian/​vegan — you will leave with more compassion toward the animals and it just makes everything seem more real. Even if that’s not your intention, just spending time with the animals was SOOO fun :) I really enjoyed my time here and hope to return soon.

This place is my heaven on Earth. There is a very high volume of visitors on Sundays, compared to other farm sanctuaries and it seems like it’s because they’re doin’ it right. There are all kinds of animals (cows, pigs, turkeys, chickens, goats, sheep, etc.) and although the interaction you have with the animals is supervised, it’s relatively uncontrolled so you get to have genuine experiences with the animals (some of the turkeys will even sit in your lap!). I almost died over how adorable the animals all are and I’m really glad I didn’t because I got to eat one of their delicious vegan hot dogs after and it was quite memorable. I recommend getting there early for good parking/​priority access into the park since the line to get in gets long.

The gentle barn was an amazing experience! I went for Biscuit’s birthday he turned 10 what a miracle!!! I was vegetarian up until going to the gentle barn and after hugging the cows & learning about how mistreated they are inspired the full switch to vegan. The owner held a short presentation saying that each person who switches to a plant based diet saves 197 animals per year! That made me so happy to hear that I do make a difference! The gentle Barn is a beautiful sanctuary and I can’t wait to go back! I really enjoyed the most rubbing the pigs Bellies and hugging the cows! Thank you Gentle Barn!!! :) I will be back!

My fiancé came to visit Cali and I decided The Gentle Barn would be the perfect place to visit on our meat free anniversary. We completely fell in love with the animals and the staff. The whole experience is life changing. We can’t wait to be back! We got a free lotion from Natures Gate I strongly recommend their products! Lastly, their vegan hotdogs are amazing! My fiancé has been raving about this amazing place to everyone in London! Thank you so much for all you do. xo

This is a really good place to visit when you are considering going veg/​vegan or when you just started to transition. You get to be really close with all the animals. For me it just reassured my beliefs about animals’ need for compassion. Now that I am a vegan I feel at peace with myself.
As for the barn itself, there are only 3 main areas so it is pretty small. They sort of guide you when you enter the barn with your group but afterwards you get plenty of time to go wherever you want. After I ate my amazing Tofurky bratwurst I spent most of my remaining time with the cows.
Most volunteers were friendly and approachable, there were older ladies and younger ones and all of them were very informative. Except for one, a guy. In the horse stable I saw a retired movie horse so I asked him, how did he get here? (They are supposed to tell us more about there background and the reason for ending up at the Gentle Barn). He said: «in a trailer». Even if I were to ask anyone something about transporting the animals to the barn, it wouldn’t be a stupid question. I also did not feel any connection with the horses, they did not want attention, they just wanted carrots and I didn’t have any. Maybe I just don’t relate to horses as much as to cows, or they’re spoiled rotten.

This place is AMAZING! Came here on a Sunday just to get away and pet some animals. It was so much more than just a petting zoo, these people really care! All of the animals have a back story to how they got to Gentle Barn and lemme tell you, its not pretty. Just knowing that they came from such horrible circumstances to a place where they get fed, shelter and very much loved gives me the feels :)
Admission is a $ 20 donation but for $ 50 you get a season pass and dont have to wait on line PLUS this place is non profit so its just worth it to give them the extra cash even if you dont make it back again. I cant wait to go back. Oh, btw, were all adults in our 30’s, this place isn’t just for kids, but definitely for kids at heart.

Such a great place doing an amazing thing. I’ve been a couple times and will go back. Nothing like hugging cows and chickens, so awesome!

Love this place and cannot say enough good thing about it!
You can’t help but feel good here. Yes, it’s about the animals, but it’s also about so much more.
Because The Gentle Barn works with children from the inner-​city, group homes, mental health care facilities, foster homes, and schools pairing them up with an animal that has been rescues from abuse and equally in need of care and love, magical things happen to both the human, the animal and all of us that get to witness it. It’s truly amazing to see the healing all around you here.
There are close to 200 animals (horses, donkeys, cows, pigs, sheep, goats, turkeys, chickens, llamas) to enjoy and feed while visiting. And there are plenty volunteers to guide you through your experience and answer any questions you may have.
It does get hot, so come prepared.

What an amazingly special place! I can’t say enough good things about my day at the Gentle Barn. If you are an animal lover, then this is the place for you. There are horses, cows, goats, turkeys, and so many more beautiful animals that you can spend time with and they are ALL rescued.
They are only open on Sundays and admission is $ 20 per adult. I think that is a fair rate especially when you see and hear about all the amazing things that these people are doing for the animals. You get to learn about the backstories for many of the animals, which definitely made me sad; I’m a huge animal lover and seeing all the horrible things they have been through was heartbreaking.
You can buy carrots to feed the horses, you get to hug the cows, and pet huge pigs. What more can you ask for?
It was an incredibly special day and the money you spend goes to a wonderful cause. I would recommend getting there early because it gets busy and parking can be tough since it’s only open one day a week. Also, buy your tickets ahead of time.

Brought the whole family here and it was busy, which is good because that means they are raising money. I took some amazing photos here and really enjoyed the visit. I do wish it was larger but maybe someday with everybodys support.

This is a fantastic place to take a date, kids or just plain ol animal lovers. The people are incredibly kind hearted and the animals even more so.
I definitely had a painfully adorable experience holding this baby chicken. Yeah, I said it was painfully adorable, but you know what?! It was!
Come support and donate because this is one hell of a great place to support.

I really liked this place. My wife and daughter have been coming here for over a year on an occasional Sunday, but during football season, it obviously wasn’t going to happen for me. So, I finally made it here for the first time last month, on Sunday, July 12, 2015.
It’s a great place to bring your kids. They get a chance to interact with animals & be hands-​on participants. There are so many staff members or volunteers around, it is so easy to ask questions, get info, or make any request. That part I thought was very impressive. Usually places like this are grossly understaffed and you can tell by the conditions of the grounds & animals. But these animals are healthy & this set up was good. It was organized. It seemed like there was a staff person for every visitor. There’s a canteen where you can buy snacks & refreshments. They had several different areas with many different animals. There were cows, horses, donkeys, pigs, chickens, goats, turkeys, peacocks and many more (lions & tigers & bears, oh my!).
The only part I didnt like, which is why I couldn’t give it 5 stars, is that it felt too «businessy.» First of all, when you get there, they make it clear that there is a «suggested donation» of $ 10/​person. When I walked up to the counter, the guy asked, «How many people?» «Three (my wife, my 2 year old daughter + myself; I wasn’t about to pay for my newborn),» I answered. Then he responded, «30 dollars, please.» So much for the «suggested» part. That just seems a bit steep to me for the venue. Its not exactly a zoo. To make it worse, you have the opportunity to feed the donkeys & horses, but you have to buy a small bag of carrots for $ 5 to feed them. It’s not steep, but one bag won’t cut it. I just felt like I kept reaching in my pocket that day.
Overall it was impressive. There were just a couple things that made me give 4 stars instead of 5. My wife & kids will be back. I’d definitely come back too, but not during football season! Haha

We live in Bakersfield and decided we wanted to get out the house. I thought it would be a great idea to introduce my kids to barn yard animals. My daughter is 1 and my boy is 2. My son had a hard time trying to adjust to the animals because he was bit and after that he wanted no part. They were really nice and tried to show him that animals are nice. He regained trust but decided he just wanted to stay back and look from a far. It’s a great place to take kids. My daughter is very curious to things so she wasn’t scared and loved touching the animals. I would come back. Animals can be aggressive. There was a horse who was kicking the metal that was holding him back so keep and eye out for your fingers and stay back of the animal is showing signs of aggression. These animals are previously abused.

I had a really great time visiting this place. I loved interacting with the animals and knowing that they have a safe place to live.
The volunteers were all friendly, helpful and informative. They told the animals’ back stories and explained their body language.
They made sure the guests knew which ones were safe to approach and how to pet them. They looked out for the safety of the animals and the guests. Although I saw quite a few people, it never seemed crowded. The animals definitely had their space.
This is a wonderful place and for the people scoffing at the $ 10 donation to enter… you spend more than that on lunch at any theme park. Yes, it is a 45-​minute drive from L.A., but for any animal lover, The Gentle Barn is definitely worth visiting.