Animal Farming on B42

[Mouthuos]

Please share any knowlege on farming on B42.

[Mouthuos]

By far what i have learned:

• Turkeys are not Laying eggs (for me at least, some players also have reported this, for other players they lay eggs normally);
  
• 2 of my chicken disappeared (they shared zone with the turkey);
  
• You can harvest grass with the scythe and store it for the winter;
  
• You can place a pot or bucket on a livestock zone for temporary water source for the animals (i believe any water container can be used);
  
• You can turn milk into butter by using a butter churn (lvl.0 carpentry);
  
• You can do selective breeding, the calves will pass on the qualities of their products to their descendants (amount of milk/meat they can produce). All the animals will do this.

I'm kinda busy recently to update this comment, but some players posted some really helpful tips in the comments bellow. Thanks everyone for sharing, and feel free to share any tips.

[Armagenesis]

All I know is I can run over rats and eat them.

[Dudah]

- You can catch live rabbits with traps and raise them, a great source of food, since they have many babies at once, and very quickly.
- You can do this with rats too, I believe.

[Oriedroc]

Yeah, so I learned that when chicken are inside the hutch, they don't appear as IN the livestock zone, so I spent an entire night searching for my chickens, kidnapped a random one nearby thinking it was mine, and then found them inside the hutch

[Dudah]

Originally posted by Oriedroc:

Yeah, so I learned that when chicken are inside the hutch, they don't appear as IN the livestock zone, so I spent an entire night searching for my chickens, kidnapped a random one nearby thinking it was mine, and then found them inside the hutch

LOL at least you got another chicken haha

[[Censored]]

Originally posted by Mouthuos:

By far what i have noticed:

• Turkeys are not Laying eggs (for me at least, some players also have reported this, for other players they lay eggs normally);
  
• 2 of my chicken disappeared (they shared zone with the turkey);
  
• You can harvest grass with the scythe and store it for the winter;
  
• You can place a pot or bucket on a livestock zone for temporary water source for the animals (i believe any water container can be used);
  
• You can turn milk into butter by using a butter churn (lvl.0 carpentry);
  
• You can do selective breeding, the calves will pass on the qualities of their products to their descendants (amount of milk/meat they can produce). All the animals will do this.

turkeys dont lay eggs like chickens do - google - i dont think any of us knew that... but why you think they are special durring thanksgiving?

[Buwaro Elexion]

petting animals reduces their stress, your stress and unhappiness, and increases their acceptance(less likely to attack you when stressed)
If you have the right food in your hand you can lure animals too you(right click action)
chicken eggs that are fertilized will say so in green when examined individually

[cannedcream]

I've only messed with chickens so far, but what about other animals like rabbits, pigs, sheep, and cows? Any guides on what kind of shelter or space they need?

[Vilkar Mooringstead]

pigs aren't worth the trouble right now, since when they get stressed they'll destroy your entire base if they can. Better to raise sheep for wool(tailoring), cows for milk and butter, and chickens for eggs. Turkeys are a good meat source but they only lay eggs in spring, so it's better to have them as a long term investment. Build a butcher's hook away from the livestock zone. If you kill an animal in or close to the livestock zone, it will stress out the other animals and may get you attacked if your males aren't attached to you.

Animals seem to die off after around a month or two in the world, so if you want to do significant animal care, getting the animals sooner rather than later is a good idea. Livestock trailers only hold 500 weight of animals, but can also hold a small amount each of feed and eggs for transport. Cows net you the best milk, but have the longest growth time (2 1/2 years) to adulthood, so it's not great to kill them off without reason.

You'll also want to build a fleshing pole and leather racks if you're going to be butchering the animals so you don't have bundles of animal skin going to rot.

[Vilkar Mooringstead]

Oh yeah, and chickens will absolutely breed out of control, even in your fridge. freeze or cook your eggs if you aren't eating them a batch at a time

[96sawa3]

On a more meta note, it seems that animals' lifespans also begin when a chunk is loaded for the first time.
If you make a large movement without being prepared to look after your livestock, a lot of animals will die.

[xenon]

Right now I am keeping some rats on the ground floor of the post office in Riverside. I prepared a separate room for butchering, so they don't see their friends & family die.
Recently I moved in some pigs from a nearby farm too.

Seems to work fine so far, only one time I had a funny situation. One of the pigs ignored the indoor walls, went right through them. Determined it walked over to my butchering room, through the wall again, and started licking off the blood on the floor.

I named her "Bloody Mary", took her out to the trailer, had some stern words with her and after I brought her back inside, she seems to accept the walls as boundaries. Can't wait to see her offspring

[Katinka1988]

Is it possible to breed Rats and Mouses?

[leonneddr]

Originally posted by Mouthuos:

Please share any knowlege on farming on B42.

Surprisingly not as complex as it may come across at first. I find Animal Farming relatively easy compared to Agriculture, that is far more labour intensive, complex and .... dubiously fruitful by comparason.

A comprehensive guide on Animal farming below.

https://itemlevel.net/project-zomboid-how-to-farm-animals-guide-build-42/

[Mouthuos]

Originally posted by Katinka1988:

Is it possible to breed Rats and Mouses?

It is, although, i've lost a save once due to over multiplication of rats.