How do I feed chickens? What do they eat? There is no feeding trough

[Goobers1960]

My animals are dying and starving. Not sure what they eat or how to get them to eat it. Any suggestions?

[jalex3]

They will eat any grains and hay. Have you unlocked the troughs?

[Philtre]

The easiest way of feeding animals is to let them wander and eat wild grasses. Grasses die in winter, so you need to start feeding them then. If you build in an area with no grass nearby, or cut all the nearby grass, you will need to start feeding them immediately.

Chickens will eat cut grass (preferably hay) and any grain. (If they are hungry enough they will eat almost any other kind of food as well.) The easiest way to feed them is with the hay trough and grain trough (unlock path: iron nails -> water dipper -> water trough). If you don't have the troughs yet, you can place a stockpile, or a haystack or grain pallet, somewhere where they can get at it, and make sure it stays filled.

Also note that your animals need access to water. I would suggest not locking them in a pen until you have the water trough. Alternately, you can build a pen around a small lake, but in winter you will still want the trough.

[PhearedPhantom]

Originally posted by Philtre:

The easiest way of feeding animals is to let them wander and eat wild grasses. Grasses die in winter, so you need to start feeding them then. If you build in an area with no grass nearby, or cut all the nearby grass, you will need to start feeding them immediately.

Chickens will eat cut grass (preferably hay) and any grain. (If they are hungry enough they will eat almost any other kind of food as well.) The easiest way to feed them is with the hay trough and grain trough (unlock path: iron nails -> water dipper -> water trough). If you don't have the troughs yet, you can place a stockpile, or a haystack or grain pallet, somewhere where they can get at it, and make sure it stays filled.

Also note that your animals need access to water. I would suggest not locking them in a pen until you have the water trough. Alternately, you can build a pen around a small lake, but in winter you will still want the trough.

They can drink in frozen washing zones

[Finjachan]

The Problem with eating from the Frozen Lake is that the animal get's really cold.
So yes it is possible but you need waaaay more Food and ideally a heated animals bed. Otherwise the Chicken (animals in general) will get sick.

[Grace1957]

They will also eat dried mushrooms and extra seeds you have.

[kifo]

I saw my chicken eat raw meat. Blorf the dev has made them omnivores like they should be.

[Phénomènes Mystiques]

Throw in a few ticks and beetles...

[Chai]

Don't forget the milk ... For some reason chickens LOVE milk ...

[Phénomènes Mystiques]

Originally posted by Chai:

Don't forget the milk ... For some reason chickens LOVE milk ...

Loads of calcium, good for their bones.

[Grace1957]

I discovered the chickens love for milk the hard way. They will come running no matter where they are or how much food they have and drain your milk bucket if you don't remove it immediately.

[Rane]

drives me nuts that Folk will go milk the cows but then leave the milk buckets in the middle (or the far end) of the field. ;___;.

[RogerioFranco]

This kind of thing may drive me too crazy to enjoy the game. "The chickens are starving, what can we do? If only we had some kind of technology that would let us build a box of some kind -- we could call it a hay trough , maybe -- but for now that futuristic technology is beyond our grasp."

[Grace1957]

When it comes to chickens and milk it doesn't matter. They will go for the milk first.

[miauukisu]

Originally posted by RogerioFranco:

This kind of thing may drive me too crazy to enjoy the game. "The chickens are starving, what can we do? If only we had some kind of technology that would let us build a box of some kind -- we could call it a hay trough , maybe -- but for now that futuristic technology is beyond our grasp."

You've completely misunderstood technology in this game.
It is not _inventing_ something, it is the _having the tools and resources_ to do something.
No knowhow of nails will build a thing if you don't have any metal.

So if you don't have materials to build hay trough, put a stockpile there until you have the materials.

[Philtre]

Originally posted by RogerioFranco:

This kind of thing may drive me too crazy to enjoy the game. "The chickens are starving, what can we do? If only we had some kind of technology that would let us build a box of some kind -- we could call it a hay trough , maybe -- but for now that futuristic technology is beyond our grasp."

There are a few prerequisites for the Hay Trough and Grain Trough, but once you have the required raw materials (planks and nail) you can build the other prerequisites in a couple of minutes (namely, the Water Dipper and Water Trough). Before then, you can just put down a small stockpile for hay or the grain of your choice, as mentioned, and set it to high priority so your people will keep it full.

If you find it difficult to get to planks and nails before the first winter, you can make a functional and fairly comfortable colony at a very low tech level, as long as you pay attention to making sure all needs are met.