Welcome to the sanctuary

Loretta

Loretta, a very shy Boer goat, checks out the view from atop a wooden climber. She came from a place where she was bred and her babies sold for meat. A divorce left her in limbo, and she was nearly starved to death until we learned of her plight. But she's back to 100% health now

Matisse and Kahlo

Best friends Matisse and Kahlo munch on fresh lettuce. They are feral rabbits, meaning they're too wild to be pets but not wild enough to survive on their own. After their original caretaker died, CockadoodleMoo was contacted and they came here.

Andy

At the end of the season for selling turkey chicks intended for slaughter at Thanksgiving and Christmas, a local feed store had one chick leftover who no one had bought and it was basically leaving him to starve to death. A kind soul rescued him but he soon grew so large that she was overwhelmed and brought him to CockadoodleMoo.

Willow and Tolstoy

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Willow, far left, was captured by government agents while roaming the mountains in eastern Nevada. She was pregnant at the time and gave birth to her son, Tolstoy, at a government holding facility before coming here. In this photo, they get smooches during their regular brushing.

Who we are

CockadoodleMoo Farm Animal Sanctuary just north of Reno, Nevada is a small 501(c)3 operation that provides a lifetime home for abused and rescued farm animals, plus care and protection for wild animals who share our beautiful canyon. 501(c)3 just means that any donations you help us with are tax deductible.

Where we get the animals

We work with other rescue groups and animal control when they come across farm animals in need. There are currently no other rescue groups that take farm animals for miles in every direction. We've taken animals who were victims in criminal abuse cases, who were abandoned by the side of the road and picked up by animal control, who were dumped on the doorsteps of shelters, who were homeless and destined for euthanasia or slaughter, and who were found unadoptable by other groups. 

What happens when they get here

When an animal arrives, he or she gets a complete physical exam and is put in a temporary isolation pen to make sure they don't have any illnesses that could be spread to the other residents. If sick or injured (and they often are), they are cared for until healed as well as possible. Then they are slowly and cautiously introduced to the others of their species. If they can't live with others, we figure out something else, such as a solo pen. Finally, we try our best to give them a fulfilling life that fits who they are. If they're chickens, that means dirt to bath in and trees to roost in. If they're goats, that means things to climb and head-butt. If they're donkeys, that means places to graze and run. If they're rabbits, that means tunnels to hide in and dirt to dig in. We are always working on new ways to improve their lives as time and money permits.

Who lives here — and who doesn't (yet!) 

Because we're a two-person operation that's relatively new (we started in 2007), we are limited in the numbers of animals we can take and the variety. Currently we have donkeys, goats, rabbits, chickens (hens and roosters) and a big turkey named Andy. At this time, we are unable to take cows, pigs and sheep. (There are a number of area groups that help horses so we don't take them either.)

Newsletter

About once a year, we put out a thick newsletter with sanctuary stories, philosophical essays, correspondence and lots of recipes. If you donate $4 or more using the "donate" button on the upper right of this page or mailing $4 or more to the address here, we'll send you the latest. It's not the typical charity newsletter. 

Volunteering

There is no shortage of tasks that we could use help with — and not all of which involve cleaning up poop! We have things that extra strong folks can help with and things that the not-so-physically-fit would be great at. Just email us that you'd like to come out. Click here for more details and a current list of tasks in need of your assistance.

Visiting

The sanctuary's pens and layout aren't particularly visitor-friendly — and especially aren't during the muddy winters — but we love to share the place, especially with children. Most of the animals aren't human-friendly but they're usually happy to accept a treat.

Us visiting your school

We love to speak at schools about the lives of farm animals, and we can bring either a rooster named Fritz or a hen named Ginger, both of whom love to travel and meet new people.

Our philosophy

We believe animals — human and nonhuman — are individuals whose lives have value to themselves and who have their own preferences, desires and unique personalities. We don't think they should be hurt or killed unnecessarily. The first step toward living this belief is to go vegan. There's an abundance of wonderful food and clothes for which no animals were intentionally hurt or killed. You have the power to save animals from pain and death by the simple task of going vegan today.

The stuff you see below

 The text below this section contains links to different sections on this site plus some of the headlines (and sub-pages) found on them. Click around, there's lots to see.

CockadoodleMoo Blog

  • Latest site updates
  • Roosters, fighting, crowing and losing one
  • 2009 The year that flew by....
  • Ozu the curly haired rooster
  • Goodbye Ally Cat

Meet the Animals

  • Chickens
  • Chickens — before and after
  • Ginger Chicken
  • Goat girls
  • Rabbits

Animal care tips

Get tips on caring for burros/donkeys, chickens and goats. We are expanding the care information all the time. All care pages allow comments. Please share your experiences.

Go Vegan

We believe that not only the best way but really the only way we can live our values is to be vegan. We want to minimize the harm we cause in the world. We want to decrease the number of thinking, feeling beings who are hurt and killed needlessly. We want to see less violence in the world. By being vegan, we can realize these values at every meal and every time we put on clothes. If this weren't enough, being vegan is healthy, it's good for the environment and it's estimated that going vegan spares 95 animals each year from being hurt and killed. Plus it's really easy -- in the industrialized world, there's an embarrassment of foods and clothing items for which animals weren't intentionally harmed. Go vegan now. The animals — and your own mind and body — will thank you!


Below you'll find these topics addressed in more detail. And, to get you more inspired, click here for some thought-provoking quotes about veganism.

Resources

Here are some links and books that we've found useful, organized by topic.

Videos

  • Ginger the little chicken
  • Updated: Festus the lonely fainting goat 2.0

Miscellaneous

  • 501c3 tips
  • Archived forms and files
  • Chicken health check form
  • Construction Projects
  • Food storage