own a petting zoo

....we’re building our list of farm animals up..then onto the rare types.

We’ve got the:

horses, cats, chickens: silkies, cochins..etc, Indian Runner ducks.

To the dumb, rude and judgmental moron, hipsipilos

If you knew ANYTHING about animals & when farmers first get ANY type of animal—they must be kept inside of a cage, or fence or barn to PROTECT them. If you’re a twit, like you must be, and let them go the first day or so-the animal will roam off and get killed by a larger animal or will get lost and die. So to just be a retard and (think that I’m not “having a heart” as you put it) let them go their first day would KILL them. So, yes, they ARE in a cage.

Don’t post on my stuff, it’s not a place for idiots who run their mouths without knowing what they’re running their mouths about. Better yet, don’t post on ANYone’s stuff because it sounds like you’ll just look like a moron.

I think a petting zoo might be a little too ambitious for someone with my work load. I think I would like to raise milking goats and laying hens. That way I could raise my own protein without killing anything.

I visited a petting zoo this weekend and was reminded of some of the sober realities. (Damn those niggling reality bites!)

I noticed that visitors have the tendency to want to feed them ANY food - weeds, dirt, anything - and to harrass the animals to get them to do something. I’m not sure I could stop either of those things from happening and protect the health and sanity of the animals. Is it still a petting zoo if it’s just me doing the petting? I’m not sure I could afford that anyway!

Is it possible to have a petting zoo and keep the animals on a sensible diet? Is it possible to have a petting zoo that doesn’t traumatize the animals? Maybe certain animals love the attention more than others or handle it better.

I live out in the country with 35 acres. I would like to start a petting zoo that I would fill with unwanted or displaced animals. After I have aquired my stable of pets and got my zoo operating smoothly I would like to invite a couple of disadvantaged city kids to come and stay for a week and help around the zoo. I would do this every summer. I think it would be good for kids that like animals and the country to get a chance to experience both.

Animals I’d love to get for my petting zoo:

-goats (cheap and durable and easy but my husband wants fainting goats which are more costly)
-miniature horse
-chickens
-pigs
-rats
-rabbits
-capabaras (are these ‘petable’? I need to check)
-ferrets
-dogs, especially a big breed, St. Bernard or Great Dane
-porcupine