Animal Feeding, Morning

Feeding Amounts

  • Wild Boar: 1/2 yogurt tub of pig feed, with a similar amount of food scraps filling up to the top.
  • Pigs: 1 cup of minipig feed, with a similar amount of food scraps filling up to the top.
  • Birds: 1 1/4 scoops of chicken scratch. If the turkeys aren't out, you can scoop up another big handful to feed the birds outside of the shipping container.
  • Donkeys: 2/3 flake of Timothy grass, split between the two donkeys.
  • Cows: 1 2/3 flakes of alfalfa hay; 1 flake for Lahi'a, 2/3 flakes for Hoku.
  • Goats: 1/3 flakes of alfalfa hay.
  • Sheep: 1/3 flakes of Timothy grass.

Use this sequence to make the evening feeding go more smoothly:

Goats

Move the tire to a new spot under the canopy. Split the alfalfa, some in the tire, some in the long feeders. Hokulani bullies Daisy, so make sure they can eat separately.

Heifer

Give Lahi'a a full flake of alfalfa grass. Spread it around her trough so there are no clumps of grass, otherwise she'll spit it on the ground. If the flies are bothering her, you can spray her with the fly spray, being mindful not to get any on her feed.

Birds

As you walk through the chicken run to the turkey house, toss two handfuls of chicken feed behind you to distract the chickens and ducks. Open the turkey house, and place six handfuls of feed in the half feeder. Let yourself out, close the gate behind you without letting any other birds in, and scatter the rest of the feed on the walkway in front of the chicken house (as far from the turkeys as possible). (After you feed the pigs and Eddie, remember to let the turkeys out of their house.)

Sheep

Lift up the weed cloth and place about 1/3 flake of Timothy grass in the feeding station.

Pigs

Bring the Timothy grass bag and the bucket of pig feed into Lilo and Stitch's pen. When you get to Lilo and Stitch's house, retrieve the 3-galon bucket and the feed bowls. Fill up the bucket with water in the black barrel. Pour a couple of cups of water into the two pots. Then add a yogurt container of food to each pot, and tell the pigs, "Go home!" so they go to their feeding spot inside their home. The large pot is for Stitch (pink pig, eats first), the smaller for Lilo (black pig, eats second). Stand guard to make sure the chickens don't eat their food. When Stitch is done eating, you can retrieve her pot. When Lilo is almost done, you can empty the remaining contents onto the wooden floor so she can finish. Rinse out the pots and place them on the same plywood board where you found them.

Bring the Timothy grass bag, the bucket of pig feed, the water bucket, and any other food bowls, if any, to Laverne's shelter. Place a couple of cups of water in each of the rubber bowls. Then add a yogurt container of food to each bowl. Give one to Laverne, talking to her as you move about her shelter. Walk into Laverne's pasture and dump Squiggy's bowl of food over the fence for him. Return to Laverne's shelter.

Divide the remaining water evenly to each of the three metal bowls. Then add a drink container of food to each bowl. Feed the three little pigs, starting with Faye at the far end, then Ole in the middle, and finally Blue, closest to the gate. Tell each one, "Move back" and place the bowl in the cement trough. Secure the gate so the three little pigs do not escape, and use the bungie cord to hold back Laverne's door so she can get into her pasture (the one closest to the donkey).

Jack

Feed Eddie half the remaining Timothy grass in the food trough. Do not pet or interact with Eddie during feeding time. He just wants his food right now.

When you exit Lilo and Stitch's pasture, remember to let the turkeys out, and cover up the sheep feeding station with the weed cloth so the chickens don't poop in it.

Jenny and Yearling

Sonja and Hoku are in the "pizza slice" at the bottom of the property. Mix the remaining alfalfa hay and Timothy grass in the feed trough.

Clean-Up

Place the feed buckets inside the feed container, and on top of their respective food barrels. Open up the hay bags and hang them on the bungie cords. Sweep out the feed container. Wash your hands well.

Thank you so much for your help with these animals. You are wonderful!

How can I help?

We're so glad you asked! We have thought about it for some time, and have come up with these ideas. Of course if you have thought of something else, we would love to hear from you.

Animal Care

Animal care activities include feeding the pasture animals, performing health and safety checks on them, and herding them to different pastures. You will need to be comfortable with animals as small as a few ounces (50 grams) to over 1600 pounds (725 kilograms). While all of the animals are sweet, it is imperative to handle them appropriately for their safety as well as your own. A few of the animals have been domesticated from the wild, so they appreciate a commanding presence whilst in their space.

Feeding

We feed the dogs once in the morning and the cows and jack donkey three times per day. All other animals are fed twice a day between 7 and 8 AM, and one hour before sunset (5 PM in the winter to 7 PM in the summer). Feeding can take about an hour, but we welcome you to spend more time with the animals, interacting with them, cuddling them, performing health checks, and cleaning their feed and water troughs and bedding.

Health Checks

It is easier to keep an animal healthy than to restore their health. Health checks include (but are not limited to) checking that they come for their feeding, monitoring each animal's gait, trimming the hooves of the smaller ruminants, checking for anemia, administering medicine and dewormer medication, and performing fecal analysis.

Safety Checks

Part of ensuring an animal's health is making sure they live in a safe environment. You can improve the safety of these animals by walking the fenceline of each pasture to inspect gaps between the ground and the fence, removing obstacles and obstructions along the fence and within each pasture, clearing electric fencelines from weeds and other objects that could short them, checking for construction material that could injure them, and making sure that no animals from outside the sanctuary come in and ensuring the sanctuary animals do not escape.

What is your code of conduct?

There is no alcohol, drugs, tobacco, or consumption of animal products at the sanctuary. This policy is strictly enforced. What you do outside of the sanctuary is your business, but please do not arrive inebriated, intoxicated, or otherwise disruptive.

Visitors have told us that our sanctuary has a special feel to it. There is a calm on the land and with the animals that they find remarkable. Please contribute to this calm environment through kind actions and words.

We want our sanctuary to be an opportunity for you to learn and explore ways of treating the land, and the plants, animals and people that call it home. If you would like to experiment with growing food or caring for animals, please clear your plans with the onsite manager. Thank you for being considerate.

What are the rules for interacting with the animals?
  • Visitors must be accompanied by trained staff when visiting the animals. Although the animals are sweet and loving, for their safety and yours you must have someone familiar with their personality while interacting with them.
  • Visitors must listen to and comply with all instructions of the trained staff member.
  • Do not feed the animals fruit, vegetables or bread. Good health is already a challenge in our wet climate. The sugar from fruit and vegetables in seemingly nutritious snacks will negatively impact several species of animals' hooves. Contrary to popular actions, bread is very bad for bird health. If you want to feed the animals, come during feeding hours and give them their staple of feed.
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Fellowship for Perpetual Growth dba FPG Plant & Animal Sanctuary is a Hawai'i Nonprofit Corporation with IRS 501(c)(3) tax code exempt status. Tax ID 82-2575477.

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