When should I be using dandelions?

[definitive_prankster]

Hi all

So my current playthrough I have a lot of animals. I'm wondering what the rule is as to when I actively plant in the pen (I hear dandelions are the go-to) and when I just let nature be nature.

I'm going to grow some emergency hay, but in the meantime just wondering how to keep maximum animals in minimum space.

[Hoki]

you plant dandelions in the pen if the required labor can be handled without too much of an impact to the colonys performance.

everytime the animals graze your farmers will attempt to replant dandelions in the spot causing a lot of going back and forth hay or kibble should always be your go-to option - especially if pawns are already struggling to get the current jobs done.

[jodnus]

Originally posted by Hoki:

you plant dandelions in the pen if the required labor can be handled without too much of an impact to the colonys performance.

everytime the animals graze your farmers will attempt to replant dandelions in the spot causing a lot of going back and forth hay or kibble should always be your go-to option - especially if pawns are already struggling to get the current jobs done.

Typically I turn off sowing after the the initial planting for this very reason, only turning it on when there isn't much for my farmers to do.

To the OP, usually you can tell visually when there is not a lot of naturally growing grass left. I start a grow zone where they've already munched, and expand to the rest of the pen overtime. Hay is more efficient from a labor perspective in the long term.

[definitive_prankster]

Thanks both.
I suppose what I should have asked is how long grass takes to grow and how nutritious it is, as to when I should replace it with dandelions.

My hay farm should be up and running soonish anyway.

[jodnus]

The data provided by the pen marker can give you a ratio of nutrition consumption vs. growth along with what is stockpiled. That can help you gauge when the pen is going to hit the inflection point of when you are going to need colonists to intervene with planting.

In a vacuum, wild grass is better from a nutrition/growth standpoint. But the predictability and control from planting dandelions is usually going to make it much less likely that you will find yourself in a pinch while you are trying to get the hay rolling in.

[Wrinkle Raisin]

You can plant a harvestable plant too. whatever the animals do not eat, you can harvest.

[apud.harald]

The winter ends, but the grass ( not hay ) takes a few days to grow.
A little field of dandelions in the meadow solves a lot of problems,

[MadArtillery]

Honestly always wondered. Luckily they changed the old grazing system that caused a lot of wasted planter effort awhile back. Plants have to at least grow a fair amount before they can be grazed on by animals, they can't graze on it right away. better nutrition, less planting effort. Making a very large pen is fine though, raiders will hop fences and not attack farm animals. If you have an animal flap and animal beds built they will rush into the barn, set it all on fire, and pass out from the heat and burn to death much to my annoyance.

[Hoki]

Originally posted by definitive_prankster:

Thanks both.
I suppose what I should have asked is how long grass takes to grow

My hay farm should be up and running soonish anyway.

when setting up the field in the pen you set it to plant only (or rather forbid cutting). you only replant on empty fields to reduce workload.

as for why dandelions: because grass is not an option to grow in vanilla.