Petting Farm Ideas

Petting zoos or petting farms are places where children and adults can pet small, docile creatures such as lambs, pigs and even deer. Creating your own petting zoo requires a careful understanding of how to take care of animals as well as a few ideas on which to focus your petting zoo. Make sure you check with your local and state laws on petting zoos, including licensing and taking care of your animals properly.

  1. Themes

    • Create a simple theme for your petting farm to help make it stand out from others. A safari-themed petting zoo can feature guided tours through the farm. The guide can wear safari-esque clothes and speak as if the guests were in a dangerous area. Decorate the animal pens and the rest of the area with decorations of lions, elephants and other animals. Make sure your guests understand that no such animals will be at your farm. A space theme can include space-based decorations, including stars and planets. Other themes can include celebrity animals and science-centered discussions on your animals. Include animals that are appropriate for your theme, if possible.

    Animals

    • Lambs, piglets and other farm animals are smart enough and docile enough to be used in a petting farm. Small fawns can be good petting farm animals as well. Check your local and state laws on how to find, purchase and care for wild animals as well as release laws. Build pens large enough for your animals to move, eat and go to the bathroom, without the food and the toileting areas being too close. Build a small petting area -- where you can safely move the animals.

    Descriptive Cards

    • Write small descriptive cards for each of your animals. Use these cards to talk about facts relating to the animal. For example, you can write down what the baby animal is called, the types of food they eat, how large they get and other interesting facts. Place these in a protective plaque next to the animal pen. These cards can be very small and consist of a few facts. Hang similar cards throughout the petting farm at random locations to catch the eyes of your guests. Make a larger, more descriptive plaque for each animal that features more scientific facts more interesting to adults.

    Price

    • Pick an appropriate pricing scheme for your petting farm. Donation-based pricing can be appropriate, if you are doing it with a little extra money or for educational purposes. However, you must make enough money to take care of and feed your animals. If you are already running a farm, the care costs for your animals will already be factored into your business expenses. However, a small fee can help you take care of those costs. Calculate your daily costs and set your per person fee to help pay these costs.