Why won't my animals get fed?

[Fenris]

I have hay, and all my animals are vegetarian. So why won't anyone feed my animals? I had a barn burn down because of a boomalope.

[di eshor ribly]

Put the hay in the pen with the animals. They feed themselves, or give them a pasture with grass.

[Gnasty Gnorc]

because that's not how the game works lol.

[True Beard]

I was having a similar issue. I placed a Stockpile Area in their barn, assigned Hay to it, and the animals will take care of the rest. Any colonists set to Haul should keep it filled for you. I got it all set up, but forgot to check if they were eating. I didn't physically confirm whether they were or not. Coincidentally, my current setup is also with Boomalopes, They were still making babies, so must be booming over there.

[Teal V2]

Yeah, you just make a little barn and store your hay there with a zone. Just set it up so this zone only can have hay on it and kibble.
Set its priority higher, so your colonists will bring all hay and kibble they find there.

Animals feed on food themselves.

Do not forget, animals won't open doors, so for a barn use the cloth. But I think you already know that.

[Fenris]

Originally posted by di eshor ribly:

Put the hay in the pen with the animals. They feed themselves, or give them a pasture with grass.

Ohhh, handling isn't described very well. This whole time I thought this one lady I have handling all the animals would deliver hay to em as well.
Thank you for a very simple yet direct answer.

[Fenris]

Originally posted by Teal V2:

Yeah, you just make a little barn and store your hay there with a zone. Just set it up so this zone only can have hay on it and kibble.
Set its priority higher, so your colonists will bring all hay and kibble they find there.

Animals feed on food themselves.

Do not forget, animals won't open doors, so for a barn use the cloth. But I think you already know that.

Oddly enough my wolves open doors just fine. Even before I put auto doors where they were meant to be and not be.

[di eshor ribly]

No problem. The simplest solution is a storage zone, or a shelf. You only need a hay freezer if you're growing too much hay. Usually they'll eat it before it rots.

Edit: dogs are not pen animals, they use doors. Cats too.

[Fenris]

Originally posted by di eshor ribly:

No problem. The simplest solution is a storage zone, or a shelf. You only need a hay freezer if you're growing too much hay. Usually they'll eat it before it rots.

Edit: dogs are not pen animals, they use doors. Cats too.

Same with wargs and any other animal that you can use to fight/keep as a pet?

[Teal V2]

Originally posted by Fenris:

Originally posted by di eshor ribly:

Put the hay in the pen with the animals. They feed themselves, or give them a pasture with grass.

Ohhh, handling isn't described very well. This whole time I thought this one lady I have handling all the animals would deliver hay to em as well.
Thank you for a very simple yet direct answer.

Oh no, it is not odd. Wolves can open doors cuz they are not farm animals.

If you can restrict an animal into a zone, then its not farm animal.
Farm animals cannot be restricted by zones. They are either in a pen or wander away.
Not farm animals also won't wander away, of course.

[Fenris]

Originally posted by Teal V2:

Originally posted by Fenris:

Ohhh, handling isn't described very well. This whole time I thought this one lady I have handling all the animals would deliver hay to em as well.
Thank you for a very simple yet direct answer.

Oh no, it is not odd. Wolves can open doors cuz they are not farm animals.

If you can restrict an animal into a zone, then its not farm animal.
Farm animals cannot be restricted by zones. They are either in a pen or wander away.
Not farm animals also won't wander away, of course.

Ah ok. Say why won't my steam overlay menu work in this game? I have it enabled and it works in other games, but with rimworld it just doesn't.

[Lena]

i just started playing myself so not 100% sure how viable this is but i planted crops in their animal pen and they are feeding themselves off the farmland.

[di eshor ribly]

Originally posted by Lena:

i just started playing myself so not 100% sure how viable this is but i planted crops in their animal pen and they are feeding themselves off the farmland.

It's a net loss for animals to eat most growing plants. There is a mod called 'Grazing Lands' that changes the math a bit to make it more viable, but in base game it's best to have a separated field of haygrass and haul what you need to the pen while they eat wild bushes and grass.

[Lena]

Originally posted by di eshor ribly:

Originally posted by Lena:

i just started playing myself so not 100% sure how viable this is but i planted crops in their animal pen and they are feeding themselves off the farmland.

It's a net loss for animals to eat most growing plants. There is a mod called 'Grazing Lands' that changes the math a bit to make it more viable, but in base game it's best to have a separated field of haygrass and haul what you need to the pen while they eat wild bushes and grass.

right! thank you!