own a petting zoo

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. 3 years ago

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. 5 years ago

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. 5 years ago

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 6 years ago