CockadoodleMoo.org

A farm animal sanctuary located just north of Reno, Nevada near Pyramid Lake

Help us help the animals

1. Volunteering at CockadoodleMoo: See details midway down in the middle of this page or click here.
2. Cash donations: Donations through PayPal go toward animal food and medical care.
One-time donation: 3. Link from here when you buy from Amazon: An easy way to help is to click this AMAZON LINK any time you plan to buy from Amazon.com. Doing so gives us a 6% referral fee, which is a huge help — and easy too!
4. Non-cash donations: For our wishlist of non-cash donations that would really help us help the animals, see the wishlist box lower in this column.
5. Best way to help all animals: Click here for the absolute best way you can help all animals today.

Get occasional email updates from us

A few times a year, we will send out email updates — generally only for really big news. We will never share or sell your email address.

Wishlist — most-needed items

The following non-cash items would be extremely helpful. Used but good condition is fine. (For less pressing but still needed wishlist items, click here.)

* Plastic water pitchers — We use these to scoop animal food, and we go through many each year.

* Bandages, gauze — Elastikon-style bandages and vet wrap are used each week to secure the bootie on Dolly the goat's leg where her missing hoof would be. Vet wrap is also used on chickens' feet when they get bumblefoot. Wrapping gauze and gauze pads are frequently used in treating animals.

* 3-gallon water jugs with handles — We lug water to animals, especially in winter when hoses don't work.

* Pyrex mixing bowls and casserole dishes — They don't break when frozen like ceramic and plastic dishes. We use them as feed and water bowls for chickens and rabbits.

* Chain-link panels and horse panels — Additional fencing allows us to expand areas for the animals and to take in more.

* Feed, straw, hay — Any feed, straw or hay will be put to good use. These may be broken bags from stores, straw bales left over from decorations or hay no longer needed if animals die.

* Old towels — These are used for cleaning up and for bedding material, especially for sick animals.

* Bird seed — We feed hundreds of wild birds year-round at CockadoodleMoo and seed is always appreciated.

* Cat litter — The six rescued cats go through lots of litter.

Copyright notice

All images and text, including recipes, that are not cited as belonging to others can be used for not-for-profit, vegan-friendly purposes. Give credit to CockadoodleMoo.org if you can but it's not necessary.

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Disclaimer about medical comments

We are not veterinarians or even vet techs. Do not consider medical comments we write as professional advice. Your animals' lives are at stake; consult a vet if your animals are sick and BEFORE trying anything we discuss. The purpose of our comments is NOT to give advice but merely to share our experiences as people who sometimes find themselves caring for sick and injured animals. Use anything we say at your own risk and your animals' risk.

Festus the dancing goat

Dianne:

I love Festus the goat. He is an ornery guy, but he can make me smile. You see he has a way about him. He does this side to side dance while his tail wags furiously and he seems to be smiling. And then if this were not enough, he lays his chin on the metal rails of his pen and stares sheepishly at you. Festus likes a good scratching and I am willing to give it to him but it also seems to catch him off gaurd. He is totally leaning into your hand, eyes closed softly moaning when it occurs to him that his guard has come down. He'll spin around and prepare to fight — once an ornery goat always a ornery goat. I used to play this game, the old ramming game, but now I walk away since we are trying to stop him from butting people. So when I leave he gets upset and starts ramming his pen. Bam, take that! But after a while if I call his name, he starts the happy goat dance and my heart melts away and we try again.

The other day I was able to sit next to him and pet him while he was taking his morning nap. His eyes closed and for just a second there, I saw the sweet side. Next thing he was up again and ready to fight.

I often wonder about his life before he came to us. After all we all have a story that makes us who we are, a past that makes us drop our guard or keep it high. I don't think Festus's people took much time with him because deep down he really wants attention.

Mar 27, 2008 2:58 PM