Feeding Routine of 40+ Rescued Animals

Good morning everybody. It's a lovely day, it's crisp, it's not raining for a change. So I thought it would be a great opportunity to take you through the morning feeding routine of our three sets of pigs, some of the cows, goats and sheep. So come along, let's see what they have for breakfast. Stay tuned for a little surprise I have for the animals. At least it's not raining. That's why we kind of chose this morning. Yeah, tomorrow's really nice. That's real life, that happens. She's like I'm a superstar. Having a poo. Come here sir. Oh he's still very stiff. One breakfast in bed. So what are we giving Surfboard this morning? All right, Surfboard has cattle mix. So basically it's a mix that you can feed any ruminants. It usually consists of rolled oats which is really good for fibre and it also usually has a bit of molasses in it to make it palatable because they like sugar. So not too much but good. It also has vitamins and minerals in as well just because if she doesn't have good forage then this will supplement her feed. So she gets this once in the morning and then once in the afternoon. We're going to feed the piglets. These are our youngest pigs. This is growers pellets because they're growing so they need extra minerals and vitamins, higher protein. Going to feed them in here. So these are our youngest pigs. We rescued them in October last year. We initially had six fosters and we adopted four. We pretty much suck at fostering, that's why we ended up adopting most of those pigs. So these pigs are kunikunis. They originally come from New Zealand and a really little interesting fact about them is that the little dangly bits, for lack of a better word, underneath their chins are called periperis. They can either have two or one or none at all, it really just depends. There's no set rule for it and the reason, it's kind of speculation, but the reason that they have them is a part of evolution. When they were originally in the wild it said that it was helpful for them to basically feel where they were going and that is the speculated reason as to why they have those. They are notoriously friendly. A lot of people have them as house pigs as well. Luckily we don't because that would be a lot, but they're really nice pigs to have. This is Snoop and Slim Shady's breakfast. We feed them outside in the morning just to encourage them to come out, not that they need encouragement, but Catherine can do the honours. Hello boys, come on in. So Snoop and Slim are, well, Slim Shady is a fully fledged kunikuni, pure breed. We're not sure about Snoopy, he might be like half warthog or absolutely no idea, but he's super sweet and he's got the longest nose. He's the greediest, he is the bully, he's the breakfast bully. We got these separately, so we first got Snoopy and he needed a mate, well a mate being a friend, so we later then got Slim and they've bonded really well. They are very social animals and they do need friends. Super clever, can learn most things and they certainly know their name from about a few weeks old. Here you go girlies. These are our two large British black pigs, they're both females, got them a few years ago and they're characteristically, they're about 300 kilograms, 250 to 300 kilograms for the sow, for the female. They've got these lock ears which covers their eyes, so their visual field is somewhat compromised and they have to be reliant on many other senses to forage for food and feel around. And we're feeding them a soy-based pig mix, it's pig nuts, so it's got high protein. Now pigs are omnivores and we don't often think of that as, you know, pigs being able to eat meat, but in the wild they can eat insects, you know, all sorts of vegetables, ground roots, foliage, most things they can eat. They're also very docile and kind pigs, they're noted for that, their personality is noted and they make wonderful parents, especially good mothers. So that finishes off the feeding of the three sets of pigs and so let's go see the goats and sheep. Good girl, oh good girl. So I've got a little surprise I'm going to be bringing but I'm not telling any of you. Move Virginia, you can't all go there. I've got a surprise for all of them, they're a bit suspicious. Oh it's nice. She's like, I'm not sure if I do actually. They're not that keen on it? No, they're quite bougie goats. As Taryn said, they're quite bougie, this is very basic. It's not toffee flavoured. Exactly. Nessie, are you very suspicious? Very nice. Petunia is my personal favourite, she is an Anglo-Nubian, so they are characterised by their very long legs and long ears. The breed was bred into existence in the late 1800s, so native British breeds are crossed with African and Indian breeds to make a bigger goat with higher yields of milk. So commercially they are dairy goats, they can do up to about four pints of milk a day, which is a lot for a goat. They are very friendly as you can see and very food motivated. She is definitely the boss here of this whole gang and they usually display their dominance by rearing on their hind legs, believe it or not she can do that, and head butting everyone, which she does pretty much every day. Especially the sheep. Especially the sheep. And that's enough for you. Let's see if you like it. Popcorn party. Now they're gonna expect this. I promise if you taste it you'll like it. You're a good boy, yes you are, good boy. I really enjoy the morning feeding routine, it sets the tone for the day, it allows you to get out, be with the animals, do a basic health check so you know that everyone is good going into the day. Yeah. So I think it's a well-earned cup of tea. Definitely.