Can you make money owning an Petting "Farm"?
Answer:
I believe that you could be able to make money. But there are a few things to keep in mind:
1.) Is the land zoned for commercial business? Or, if the land is zoned as farmland, does your state consider a 'petting farm' an appropriate use of the farm land. You'll want to check with your state or county office of zoning.
2.) What type of insurance coverage will you need? If little Susie gets nipped by a duck, are you covered in case Mom & Dad try to sue?
3.) What will be the cost to feed the animals, and any needed veterinary care in case they become sick? What will be the initial outlay in order to purchase the animals and build appropriate pens for them?
Here's some additional information I pulled down off the web:
PONY RIDES AND PETTING ZOO
Start-up cost: $2,000 - $5,000 if you already have the animals; additional costs involve advertising, licenses, permits, animal care, and insurance fees for liability coverage.
Potential earnings: $5,000 - $30,000; this is primarily a seasonal business so it may be part-time.
Advertising: Promotional materials, Internet site. In farm: ads in pet and parent publications; flyers at pet, grocery, and department stores; direct mail to preschools, day care centers, and homes for special-needs children. Traveling: direct mail to boroughs, towns, and organizations that have annual fairs.
Equipment needed: Small animals that are child- and people-friendly (also healthy and with proper inoculations); temporary yet sturdy fences; trailers and crates if you travel; animal harnesses, bridles, saddles; food for children to feed your animals.
WHAT YOU DO
If you love animals and children (and bringing the two together), you may want to look into offering pony rides and a traveling petting zoo as a business; or instead of traveling with your animals, you could have people come to your farm and participate in added attractions like hay rides, crawling through hay mazes, building scarecrows, walking through a pumpkin patch, milking a goat or cow, and other fun activities.
In urban areas there is a substantial demand for that. Many parents want to be able to take their children to a fram or a facility that has animals that children can touch.
If you already own the land this would be a good way to supplement your income.
Personally I would not go out an buy the land just for this purpose, but if you already own the land or plan to buy it anyway, this would be a good supplemental source of income.
The thought that crossed my mind is that many kids who are in 4H or FFA clubs need places to board sheep, goats, horses, etc.
Also, you can make a dandy living running an organic farm and selling your veggies at the farmer's market. I know of people in our community who are making a decent living farming just 3 acres.
Sure, why not?
There's a great article in this month's Backwoods Home magazine, it lists 10 ways to make money at home even if you have very small or even no acreage. Petting zoo is #10 on the list.
The article is online here:
http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/e...
You can certainly do organic farming , grow mushrooms that should generate enough income. Floriculture. 10 acres is not such a small piece, unless you are lloking at big money biz.
I doubt it you cannot charge kids too much and the upkeep of animals is never that cheap even if you grow a lot of the food.
You have to produce and sell animals as well ,and maybe sell farmfresh freerange eggs
and you should have a restaurant with organic food that you also grow ,using the manure from the animals,
And serve drinks to keep the parents ocupied whilst their children are petting
If you fully utilize all the opertunities that present them selves with in this concept you could make it into an interesting business
A nice place to spend an afternoon with the kids
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