> ## Knowledge Base Index
> Fetch the complete knowledge base index at: https://help.creatures.com/sitemap.xml
> Use this file to discover available pages before exploring further.
> Pure-Markdown content can be obtained by appending a '.md' suffix to the content URLs listed in the sitemap (without the trailing slash).

# Set up feeding and log feedings

Open **Feeding** from the top of your Today page, give each animal its food and amount, and choose when it eats. Each feeding then shows on Today, where **Done now** saves a feeding record and **Refused** notes a missed meal.

## Before you start

You need at least one animal on Creatures. If you haven't added one yet, start with [Adding an animal to Creatures](https://help.creatures.com/en/article/adding-an-animal-to-creatures-jbkkre/).

## Set up feeding

1. On **Today**, choose **Feeding**, then **Set up feeding**. You can also reach **Feeding** from the **Care plans** page.
2. Under **Feeding schedule**, check the **Start date**. Fill in **Time (optional, otherwise Anytime)** if the meal has a set time. Leave it blank for an anytime feeding.
3. Under **Repeat**, choose how often the animal eats. It starts on **Daily**. Choose another option if the animal eats less often. Feeding every two days or less often? **We'll remind you on feed day** is ticked (a blank time becomes 7:00 AM). Untick it to skip the reminder. Leave **Ends** on **Never** unless the feeding should stop.

![Set up feeding with a daily 7:00 AM schedule](https://cdn-test.creatures.com/94f/612/4ee/09d98.png?width=780)

4. Under **Add animals**, pick each animal this schedule feeds. To add a whole herd or flock, choose it under **Group**, then choose **Add everyone in a group**.
5. Enter the **Food** and **Amount** for each animal, such as Goat pellets and 1 cup.
6. Feed twice a day? Choose **Add another schedule** and set up the second meal time the same way.
7. Choose the save button. It counts your plans, such as **Save 1 feeding plan**.

![Bluebell of Cedar Hollow with food, amount and the save button](https://cdn-test.creatures.com/776/dde/79c/acc7d.png?width=780)

Each animal gets its own feeding plan, a care plan named after the animal and its food. You can open it later with **Open plan**.

If an animal already has a feeding plan, Set up feeding updates it. Its row reads like "Update Isla of Glen Lyon's plan." Change the food or amount and choose **Save changes**. For a second meal time, choose **Add a second schedule (e.g. twice a day)**.

**A shortcut:** if you have animals but no care plans yet, Today shows **Tell us how your day goes**. Type, speak or add up to three photos of your feeding routine, and Creatures drafts the plans for you to review before anything is saved. If the draft finds a group ration, choose whether it is **For each animal** or **Shared by the group**. A shared ration becomes one plan for the whole group.

## Change foods later

The **Feeding** page lists every animal on a feeding plan, with its food and amount, how often it eats, the next feeding and when it was last fed.

![Feeding page listing hay for Isla and Magnus](https://cdn-test.creatures.com/db7/c8f/a8c/763f6.png?width=780)

- To change a food or an amount, choose **Edit foods**, make your changes, then choose **Save changes**.
- To change the time or the days, choose **Open plan** on that animal.
- **Not on a feeding schedule** lists animals that have no feeding set up yet.
- **Bring in paper records** turns photos of your feeding sheets into records you check first. **Print tracking sheets** prints sheets to fill in by hand.

## Log feedings on Today

At the top of Today, **Food to prepare** adds up the feed for the day, such as **Grass hay · 5 flakes**. Tap a total to see which animals it's for. If an animal is on two feeding plans, a line says so, with **Review**.

![Food to prepare on Today with Grass hay opened to show each animal's share](https://cdn-test.creatures.com/c8e/a57/ae2/50321.png?width=780)

Each feeding shows as its own row with the food and amount. When the animal has eaten, choose **Done now** (**Done** on a phone, a check mark on a computer). This saves a feeding record. If the animal won't eat, choose **Refused** instead, so you can spot a pattern later.

![Isla's morning hay on Today with Done and Refused](https://cdn-test.creatures.com/594/06c/a90/cd1c6.png?width=780)

For a meal later in the day, **Complete early** (**Do early** on a phone) lets you log it now. Care helpers you invite can log feedings from their own Today page too.

## Track the feed you used (optional)

If you keep business records in Creatures, a feeding can also record how much of a feed purchase it used. Open **Source and quantity (optional)** on the feeding form. On Today, choose **Source and quantity** from a feeding row's three-dot **More actions** button. Group feedings finished from a group's **Care** tab have the same section.

1. Turn on **Record source use with this feeding** and pick the **Business records**.
2. Pick the feed under **Source**. None yet? **Record a purchase** saves the feed bill in Money, and you then set that entry up as a source under **Feed and supply sources**. For free feed, select **Set up a confirmed free source**. Then select **Refresh sources**.
3. Enter **Withdrawn for this completed work** and its **Unit**, then save.

If the purchase was recorded as an expense, using it doesn't add a second expense. If it was recorded as inventory, the feed you use becomes an expense once. To check, return or reverse a use later, select **Source and use** on the saved feeding.

## See what was fed

The **Feeding** page shows **Last fed** and the date for each animal, and adds **Refused** when the last meal was refused. For the full list, open the animal's **Records** tab, then **Care**. **Recent feedings** shows each feeding as **Ate**, **Refused** or **Partly**.

### Related information

- [Your Today page: what's due and how to check it off](https://help.creatures.com/en/article/your-today-page-whats-due-and-how-to-check-it-off-cff1ap/)
- [Create and manage a care plan](https://help.creatures.com/en/article/care-plans-f11gsu/)
- [Get help with daily care: invite a care helper](https://help.creatures.com/en/article/get-help-with-daily-care-invite-a-care-helper-19xf6gl/)