If you’ve ever had goats or watched goats, they have a simple ignorance about them that kind of reminds me of the “class clown” that you went to high school with. They are pretty much all about playing and eating and not necessarily in that order. They don’t need a lot to make them content.

The first thing to remember when you are building pens or preparing accommodations for animals is to build according to the animal. Different animals have different needs as well as different interests. For instance, goats love to climb and rabbits like to burrow. So when you prepare an area for animals, make sure that they are built specifically for that animal. Pen construction is very different from one animal to another.

The second thing to consider is the amount of space that your animals will need. Animal size and the number of animals will determine how much space they will need. For instance, they usually recommend 20 square feet...

Last time we talked about the decision as to whether or not to add animals to your venue. I posted some questions to help you determine the feasibility for you personally. There is a ton of value, but again it may not work for everyone. From here on out, we’ll assume that you are either moving forward or have already added animals to your attraction. I’ll do my best to help you get started or refine what you already have.

Probably the first part of the process is determining the best location. Since animals appeal to a broad range of ages, it is usually best to keep them most accessible to your youngest guests. When people enter your ven...

It’s not always easy and sometimes it’s not even feasible, but animals can be an important part of an agritourism venue. Since we as a society have moved so far away from the farm and even further from interacting with certain live animals, many venues use animals to create important memories as well as what we like to call “teachable moments”. Animals provide the link between the world we live in and what is behind that world. They allow people to understand the origin of some of our food as well as simply experience the joy of interacting with a new form of life.

So let’s talk about petting zoos and things like it for the next several...