Starting up a bunny boarding business

When I move house I would love to start up a bunny boarding business. In my area there is not any competition so hopefully it would be popular.
The only thing is it would have to make a profit. I would want to do everything properly (no cutting corners)
All start-up costs would need to be eventually recouped. I don't need a massive profit just something that makes it worth while - apart from all the extra bunny cuddles of course!
Does anyone have any experience or advice as to whether it would be feasible.
Thanks in advance!

It's nice to see that more good bunny boarding may become available

I've considered doing this when space is available - my thoughts so far have been:

Insurance - essential
Space for storing bales of hay etc.
Phone line/website/email etc need to be set up
Cost of advertising
Cost of hutches/runs/sheds etc
Do I want to deal with people - some of whom will invariable be late with pick ups/drop offs? I hate people who are late :lol: Plus it needs to fit around my art business and family commitments.
Is there anyone who can cover the care if I am ill?
Emergency vet care - never assume all boarding bunnies will stay healthy
What if I'm asked to board bunnies who are not vaccinated?

It is a lot of responsibility for not a huge return - a lot of people don't want to pay more for boarding their pets than they do for their own holiday, so you need to be able to have space and the time to care for quite a large amount to make a living from it.

School holidays will be peak times, although the service is needed at other times too.

There is so much to look into. I had a look at some of the websites of established boarding places - it gives you a good insight into how the variouses places run their business

Good luck

I've just done this :thumb:

It's been in the pipeline for a few years now, but only really just became settled enough and in a position to do it.

Housing - expensive and this will be the bulk of the set up costs. Not just the housing but adapting the housing so that you can properly disinfect between boarders is important.

Insurance, also expensive but essential.

Webiste - I got my OH to do this as he is v good with computers, I think a good website is essential. I get so many more hits to my website than I do my Facebook page

Vets - make sure you are 101% happy with your vets, also check out emergency protocol. My vets outsource their OOH to a brilliant animal hospital about 15 min drive away which is FAB, as I run a mile from Vets Now :lol:

I have already been asked to take in unvaccinated bunnies, it's difficult saying no but I have to stick to my morals. I also don't take in un-neutered rabbits for other reasons (and been asked to board an unspayed female too)

Obviously if my rules weren't so strict I would make more profits, but it's not all about the profits to me, it's about trying to spread the welfare message too. For example I recently had a bunny in where I could see that they loved him, but they were quite uneducated (not much hay, muesli food, no friend), so I had a chat with the owner and now she has realised the importance of hay (and she went away with a large bag of lovely baled hay from here), and not feeding so much dried food. Next time I will work on the muesli and perhaps thinking about getting him a friend. It's difficult as I could have said nothing so that she will come back, but even if I risked losing a customer I couldn't say nothing as I had a chance to help improve a little bunny's life.

Sorry if this comes across as obvious but you really need to be experienced in looking after bunnies and 'understand' them properly. So many places around here just board them (quite easy really, but a hutch from P@H and stick an ad in the local paper), but when questioned don't actually know much about them and how they should be cared for (one place thought hay was just for bedding and another hadn't actually ever had a pet rabbit of their own). I'm all for properly set up, quality boarding establishments and dislike the 'oh we have an old 4ft hutch in the garden that we can board bunnies or guinea pigs in for a couple of quid a night' type approach.

Edited to ad: if done properly, the profits really aren't huge (especially after tax!). It's only a supplementary income, and could never really be a sole income.

Thank you for the replies.

Yes insurance is a must.

Luckily my son can make me a website and my husband will make all the hutches so they will just be the material cost. Plus they can be designed to match my needs.

I was thinking about runs? I have never boarded my own buns but am not sure I would want them to have access to a run or not. If I had runs they would have to be on concrete for easy cleaning etc. Plus I wouldn't want any escapees!

All bunnies would have to be vaccinated - no buts. Too much of a risk otherwise.

Would have to have access to the accommodation without needing people to come through the house! Don't want to have to have the house spotless permanently!

Catherine09 - Can I ask why you don't take un-neutered buns? Unfortunately I would imagine a lot of single pets would be un-neutered.

It doesn't need to make a large profit. It wouldn't be the only family income but I do need to earn a bit of money to supplement and this would be something I could do from home.

I do have good bunny health/diet knowledge etc but wouldn't be able to offer medicating bunnies as I don't have any experience with this. I do have a good vet 10 minutes a way though.

Catherine09 - Do you charge people when they drop off their bun or when they collect? Our cattery charges us when we collect which I always find a bit odd.

I need to look into possible contracts as well.

I'm thinking of having a large shed with 6ft fitted hutches in.

Need to look at a few different websites and start collating information. Mine obviously needs to be the best!

Kate
x

Mainly due to the risk of referred aggression, un-neutered rabbits will had a certain odour and this increases the risk of referred aggression between other guests

The other reason is cos they can make a heck of a mess spraying and that would be difficult to clean and ruin my accommodation

I charge on pickup. Charge a deposit too though

I do boarding on a small scale. Minus points - people that are late, people who dont check their dates properly (had someone turn up 2 days late once and had a panic as I couldnt get in touch with them), if a bun is ill and you cant get in touch with owners obviously small things that dont cost much are fine to deal with but if it was a hefty vet bill you need to be sure that the owner will re-imburse, people whos buns have totally inappropriate diets (how do you deal with this), you will get rabbits with mucky bums which means more stress and worry looking after them and keeping them clean. It is very tying and you have to book your own time away in advance.

The money I make barely covers costs, generally people just do not want to pay a lot to board their rabbits and many would rather pay less at a 'stack em up' place than pay more for spacious accommodation and better care.

Plus points.
I have a lot of regulars now some of whom I could quite happily steal (the rabbits that is). Hopefully I am encouraging welfare as my accommodation is huge even if I say so myself and I can help educate some of the owners regarding better diet etc.

catherine09 said:

Mainly due to the risk of referred aggression, un-neutered rabbits will had a certain odour and this increases the risk of referred aggression between other guests

The other reason is cos they can make a heck of a mess spraying and that would be difficult to clean and ruin my accommodation

I charge on pickup. Charge a deposit too though

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This, the lady who runs the rabbit boarding place we have just used has just said she will no longer take unneutered rabbits because if she has several they can get hormonal and aggressive.

I have no advice but good luck

ashbunny said:

This, the lady who runs the rabbit boarding place we have just used has just said she will no longer take unneutered rabbits because if she has several they can get hormonal and aggressive.

I have no advice but good luck

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It's surprising the reaction I do get when I turn people down for boarding. Lets face it if I boarded my bunnies somewhere and they ended up having a fight due to being boarded near a un-neutered bunny I'd be pretty annoyed! I tend to run my boarding how I would want my buns to be cared for if they went away, and I have very high standards myself :lol:

catherine09 said:

It's surprising the reaction I do get when I turn people down for boarding. Lets face it if I boarded my bunnies somewhere and they ended up having a fight due to being boarded near a un-neutered bunny I'd be pretty annoyed! I tend to run my boarding how I would want my buns to be cared for if they went away, and I have very high standards myself :lol:

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That's good though! I wouldn't have to think twice about leaving my bunnies with you if the situation arose. I wish there were more boarders around with the high standards of people on here.

catherine09 said:

It's surprising the reaction I do get when I turn people down for boarding. Lets face it if I boarded my bunnies somewhere and they ended up having a fight due to being boarded near a un-neutered bunny I'd be pretty annoyed! I tend to run my boarding how I would want my buns to be cared for if they went away, and I have very high standards myself :lol:

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Yes, agreed. I would also be very annoyed/upset if one of my two fully vaccinated buns caught a nodular (?) form of myxi from another bun who wasn't vaccinated.

The lady we board with is more than an hour away, but it's worth it. She also kept us updated on Ashley's sore hocks when we were away, posted their pictures on FB so we could see them whilst we were on holiday, and even gave us a print out of some photos and fridge magnets when we came back! In some ways I think they actually get better treatment there :lol: she is at home most of the time (we both work/study) and could act quicker than us if a bunny falls ill. :thumb:

Mmm, there is so much to think about.
I would only want to do it on a very small scale. Certainly don't want bunnies stacked high in tiny hutches! I was thinking 7ft x 3ft x 2ft because they wouldn't have access to a run.

Maybe just have 2/3 hutches.
Would definitely want people to pay up front too.

I only do small scale. I have 2 hutches both 9ft by 3ft so max amount of boarders with me at any one time is technically 6 (I say each hutch can take upto 3 med size buns or 2 large).

I'd love one of you guys to live near me to board my boys with you. I don't know what happens if you have groups of bunnies?


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Sarah1989 said:

I'd love one of you guys to live near me to board my boys with you. I don't know what happens if you have groups of bunnies?


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I state that my acommodation is big enough for 2 giants, 3 medium or at a complete push 4 v small buns (it's 9ft by 3ft), price increases per £1 per night for each bun over a pair (pair is set price, 3 is £1 more and 4 £2 more)

Did you need to get permission from the council to run a business from home or some sort of planning permission?