Guide to completing a husbandry routine and general maintenance at the Aruba donkey sanctuary Step 1. Prepare the feed I order to complete this task you ideally need more than one person otherwise it will take a very long time. You need 3 bags of pellets and 13 bales of hay. The three bags of nuts need to be opened and emptied into wheelbarrows. You need to be careful as the bags are heavy so ensure 2 people lift the bag if it is too heavy and bend the knees when lifting. You then need to take the wheelbarrows around the feed stations and distribute the nuts to all the donkeys. It is better if you use a scoop to get the nuts out of the wheelbarrow. Once you have fed the nuts you then take the hay bales and put them in the racks for the donkeys. The wheelbarrows then go back into the container. This can take up to 45 minutes to complete. This is different to the UK as it is very rare you would be feeding nearly 130 donkeys at a time.
Step 2. Prepare the feed for the donkeys in the corral area You need to take a bag of pellets and a bale of hay over to the donkeys in the corral and distribute this between them all. You need 2 people ideally as you have to push the feed through the big group of donkeys and they can follow the food, you need to be careful not to get kicked or knocked by the donkeys. Some of the donkeys in here are in separate sections so you need to give them food separately. You put the nuts into the red buckets. You will also need to clean the water troughs. This can take up to 30 minutes to complete.
Step 3. Empty, clean and refill the water troughs The water troughs need to be cleaned and emptied. You use a brush to get the dust out of the troughs and then turn the taps to get the troughs to fill with water. For the donkeys in the corral they need their water troughs cleaning and refilling. Only one person is needed for this task and this can take up to 20 minutes to complete. These water troughs are different to the UK, this get very dusty very quickly so you clean them more frequently.
Step 4. Poo pick the sanctuary To poo pick the sanctuary you need a wheelbarrow, a rake and a scoop. Ideally this should be done by 2 people at a time. One person will rake the poo while the other picks it up using the scoop and moves it into the wheelbarrow. Once the barrow is full this needs emptying onto the muck heap. This task usually takes an hour in the morning and you do this task again for about an hour in the afternoon. You need to be careful you do not fill the wheelbarrow to full so it is too heavy to push. This is a bit different in the UK, if you were to use the same equipment that we use in the UK it would not work due to the amount of sand rather than grass in the sanctuary. Rakes are needed to make sure you catch the poo and the sand falls through.
Step 5. Clean up excess hay in the barn In the barn the hay bales are stacked up on either side. When feeding the donkeys hay sometimes the bales fall apart before you get them into the wheelbarrow. This means there is excess hay lying on the floor. You need a rake to gather it all together and then move into a pile so you can feed this to the donkeys later in the day. You can do this on you own but it would be quicker with 2 people. This task usually takes half an hour. You must be careful with the bales of hay as they can be heavy but if not stacked correctly in the barn could fall onto you.
Step 6. Clean the containers with the equipment in You can do this task on your own. You need a brush and you sweep the container to ensure there is no mess or rubbish lying around. This usually takes about 20 minutes. You need to be careful in the containers as there may be sharp objects of items that can fall onto you.
Step 7. Paint areas required at the sanctuary As part of the daily routine you may be required to paint aspects of the sanctuary. You may have to paint gates, container doors or parts of the visitor centre and for this you will need paint brushes and the desired paint. This task can be undertaken alone but ideally as a group so it is completed faster. Depending on the amount of painting needed this may take half an hour or longer. You need to ensure you wear gloves when painting and old clothes. When cleaning your brushes you may use white spirit, so you need to ensure this doesn’t get onto your hands and is disposed of appropriately. You must also ensure you wash your hands thoroughly when finished and put a wet paint sign up to stop visitors getting paint on them.
Step 8. Before leaving the sanctuary at the end of the day, feed the evening food to the donkeys and check water troughs This task can be done by one person and usually takes 30 minutes. You do not need any equipment this time as you are only feeding hay. You distribute the hay into the hay racks for the donkeys and fill up the water troughs. You need to be careful not to lift anything too heavy.
Step 9. Put all equipment away in the container and check it is locked You need to ensure all the equipment is put back into the container to avoid anything getting chewed by the donkeys or stolen. Once in the container you need to make sure it is locked securely. This usually takes around 15 minutes.
Step 10. Ensure all gates are locked and donkeys secured within the sanctuary As you leave you check all the gates are properly locked and the donkeys safely contained within the sanctuary. This is better if more than one person completes this task to double check the gates are locked. This normally takes about 15 minutes, once all gates are securely locked you leave the sanctuary for the day.