# Starting a Farm/Livestock-sitting service?



## DoxieMom (Feb 2, 2007)

I want to start a farm/livestock/pet-sitting service. :cow: I have NO CLUE where to start or what to charge, though.  Anyone do this or know anyone who does?


----------



## bigmudder77 (Jun 9, 2008)

a lot of money and good ins 

but really if you dont know what your doing this is the worst thing you can do if your taking care of some one elses animals and they get sick and die you get sued and if you dont have ins or your ins only covers your animals you get screwed 

look in to the ins first and see how much a month it would be before you try to go any farther with this cause its always the WHAT IFS that will loose all your money


----------



## cowbelle (Mar 5, 2009)

I do know and have used a gal who does that - she charges $25 per visit (if twice a day, then $50) plus some mileage, and I don't remember how that is calculated. She requires a pre-visit when she meets all animals, and requires a detailed instruction sheet of who gets what. Also requires a name tag on all pens/cages to be sure she's giving the right stuff to the right animal. A veterinarian must be written down for reference if needed. She loves all animals and gives dogs/cats lots of loving and exercise/play if it is appropriate. She washes dog dishes etc. and keeps clean water for all. She has more business than she can keep up with, and does tend to get regular customers that she knows and who know her well. As I said, she doesn't just rush in, feed and leave, she spends time with the stock, and people really appreciate that. Some people charge by the number of animals and such, but she uses just a flat rate.


----------



## bigmudder77 (Jun 9, 2008)

ya we use to rent out pastures to farmers that were an all grass fed beef cattle and we charged per month for 120 acres of pure pasture it was $500 a month he had over 200 head of beef steers and heifers and they would calf but we were also paying lots of ins and had vets out all the time if any went down or missing owners pays for it all thanks to a laywer and a very tight contract dont know much about it but its just what my dad was telling me and you become friends with them and he would always give us a couple cows a year for meat and paid for every thing and brought the meat over which was nice and not in the contract 

but 2 things to check out 1. the insurance and 2 get a laywer to make you up a contract that they must sign before there animals come to your property and make sure there vet checked first cause in most cases if one animals has it then the others will get it weather its just like a cold or some thing life threating you NEED to check that out first 

and yes you will make good money at it most horse boaring places that im friends with (well all the people i know and them some i heard of from word of mouth) offer full care or part care full care they do it all and its around $200-400 a month per horse plus any damage they cause and part care is $50-300 a month you feed water clean and let out to pasture they just supply the building and pasture and riding area and you must have your own vet and your own feed and hay water is in the cost of the building and the one guy will take care up them for up to 10 times a month if needed the other guy wont lift a finger and if he does he charged $20 a time if he has to feed them


----------



## AshleyB (Aug 6, 2005)

You would definitely need good insurance, and know what you were doing, but this could be a great job! Going out of town is always such a hassle because you have to find someone who knows what they are doing to take care of your animals. You should be able to build an awesome word of mouth reputation pretty quickly if you do a good job!


----------



## clovis (May 13, 2002)

There have been some good threads on starting a sitting business. Use the search function to see if you can find them.

This can be a great business! Good luck!!!!!


----------

