A growing hay Or grass field for muffalos/llamas/ and pigs

[space is cool]

I got a farm for those 3 animals, should I grow hay or let a grass field for them grow so they eat it

[dnrob7]

Hrow some hay regardless.. good for lean times and really good for making kibble when combined with bug meat.

[Monoxide]

Agreed that you should grow hay, but dont let them graze on it - only harvest it for storage.

There is controversy on if growing grazing fields is worth it, but I always do, because I want the growing experience gain.

My setup is an animal barn, then outside a fair sized strip growing zone of dandelions, then at the other end of that a small storage barn for hay. This way, the animals will eat the grown dandelions on the way to the stored hay, which means they will only eat the storage if there is nothing grown. EDIT - my storage room has kibble and hay, actually.

As far as dandelions vs grass, I think they are only marginally different stat wise. Letting them graze on hay is very much a bad idea efficiency wise.

[AquaX]

Hay is more player controlled to a degree so you always have a supply while grass will grow everywhere and depending on animal AI, they might/not eat it.

Hay helps when you enter a cold snap/heat wave where all out door plant life can potentially die resulting in no food for your herbivores unless you want to let them eat your crops.

[Xam Huad]

I grow 'dandelions' for smaller animals (chickens),
while growing a mix of 'dense grass' (mod) & dandelions
for the bigger farm animals (and their newborn versions).
Then a slot of storage for kibble & hay (or silage) for each group.

It's a superfluous system I tend to use:
having redundancies will save you many times over.
Plus, it will increase the work amount (so that your colonists will have something to do).

[Angela™]

Originally posted by AquaX:

Hay is more player controlled to a degree so you always have a supply while grass will grow everywhere and depending on animal AI, they might/not eat it.

Not so much the AI though.

Really boils down to "what is the most nutritious food in my direct environment" and goes for that first if it can find some.

It's why animals will eat meals in your kitchen over raw hay if they have meals in their diet.

[Xam Huad]

Originally posted by Cyriel:

It's why animals will eat meals in your kitchen over raw hay if they have meals in their diet.

Never understood why this would be a problem in the first place.
Don't let animals in your kitchen? Farm animals tend to follow the 'animal zoning' to the t.
It's one of the first things a base builder should take care of.

1. Secure your crash zone supplies under a roof and between walls
2a. Cordon your farm animals to a section and place farm food
2b. Colonist housing, kitchen & dining room
3. Rest of your base

You want pawns to start eating at a table and sleeping under a roof in a warm bed quickly,
while animals should be secured asap as they're a food source for dire situations.

[AquaX]

Originally posted by X4MHD:

Originally posted by Cyriel:

It's why animals will eat meals in your kitchen over raw hay if they have meals in their diet.

Never understood why this would be a problem in the first place.
Don't let animals in your kitchen? Farm animals tend to follow the 'animal zoning' to the t.
It's one of the first things a base builder should take care of.

1. Secure your crash zone supplies under a roof and between walls
2a. Cordon your farm animals to a section and place farm food
2b. Colonist housing, kitchen & dining room
3. Rest of your base

You want pawns to start eating at a table and sleeping under a roof in a warm bed quickly,
while animals should be secured asap as they're a food source for dire situations.

It’s not a problem if ppl actually notice that feature. Most newer players play in unrestricted mode and never noticed that the animals were eating their hard cooked food. Once they do, then multiple areas are made to take care of them. I had this issue when my animals was looting my meals and I was short on meat during the winter. Guess what those that are it before became....

[See you Space Cowboy...]

Hay is AMAZING. If you have enough time to grow and harvest, it is completely worth it.

[elipod]

Big advantge of hay/kibble diet is that egg/milk/wool producing animals can be kept in a barn next to freezer, greatly reducing travel times for animal handlers and tamers.
I tend to send expendable baby animals to graze in the wilds, those who survive raders and predators will be locked in a barn.