How To Start Your Own Petting Zoo

How To Start Your Own Petting Zoo 32-1-6 A petting zoo can be a good business if you have a good location and you run it right, say zoo owners around the country who FARM SHOW talked to. Some petting zoos are stationary while others are completely portable. Some are a combination of the two. Like any business, petting farms must be government-licensed in most areas and, if food is sold, there may be additional requirements. A location close to a good-sized city is necessary to have a large enough customer base. Petting zoo operators usually raise most of the animals themselves, keeping a rotation going of the young, cute offspring for the zoos and selling them to fellow breeders as they get older. Sometimes animals are borrowed or rented from other farmers and returned to them at the end of the season. A wide variety of animals can be used, including bunnies, goats, sheep, chickens, ducks, geese, alpacas, kittens, puppies, hedgehogs, chinchillas, potbellied pigs, ponies, miniature cattle, guinea pigs, turtles, emus, ferrets, and more. Some petting zoos have a specific theme, such as one called Carousel Acres near South Lyon, Mich. Here, Australian animals are featured. This farm offers wallabies, lorikeets, sugar gliders, blue tongue skinks, bearded dragons and a variety of Australian artifacts. They also have reindeer, a butterfly house and common farm animals. Carousel Acres also offers dove and butterfly releases for special events such as weddings. Revenue can be generated by hosting birthday parties, weddings, reunions or company parties. They can also be used to draw business to farm stores, u-pick operations or Christmas tree farms. Stationary petting farms can also be set up as "working farms," where visitors are shown, and sometimes participate in chores and animal feed. Mobile petting zoos can be booked for events and charge hourly or daily rates for their services. Some mobile petting farms secure contracts with large malls to set up there on an ongoing or regular basis. Pony rides are a natural addition to petting zoos. The first thing a potential petting farm operator should do is make sure the market isn't already saturated. By finding out if there are any other petting zoos in the area, they'll have an idea of how much business they might get. Word of mouth and the Internet are major marketing tools, but newspaper ads and direct mailings can also be effective. Drawbacks of the business can include long hours and difficulty finding staff so you can go on vacation. "Petting zoos are interactive and educational, as well as good old fashioned fun," says Tammy Iaconelli of Carousel Acres. "I get the most satisfaction from seeing the animals bring smiles to the faces of people of all ages, from toddlers to senior citizens. Also, it feels good to help city people know more about animals." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Carousel Acres, 12749 Nine Mile, South Lyon, Mich. 48178 (ph 248 437-7669; tammyiac@aol.com; www. carouselacres.biz).

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