feeding animals dont work

[failsafe]

Hi,

I have problems with feeding animals. I had like 20 alpacas and 30 ducks... and only few remained alive ;-P. The reason is winter, of course. While I have large stock of hay (like 2k) my pawns don't bring hay to pen (I have a shelf there doing a "feeder" work). My only slave in the colony has handling as a top priority (with firefighting / patient as well on 1) but he just doesn't seem to be interested in feeding animals. Right now he is clearing crops from fields. I have already changed "feeder" (shelf) priority to critical. I cannot give a manual priority.

So... what can I do with this thing?

[Helios]

Originally posted by failsafe:

Hi,

I have problems with feeding animals. I had like 20 alpacas and 30 ducks... and only few remained alive ;-P. The reason is winter, of course. While I have large stock of hay (like 2k) my pawns don't bring hay to pen (I have a shelf there doing a "feeder" work). My only slave in the colony has handling as a top priority (with firefighting / patient as well on 1) but he just doesn't seem to be interested in feeding animals. Right now he is clearing crops from fields. I have already changed "feeder" (shelf) priority to critical. I cannot give a manual priority.

So... what can I do with this thing?

You should just build the storage close to the pen with a animal door + normal wood door and in winter remove the normal door so they can just get it using the animal door.

[martindirt]

Handling is not feeding. Your handlers will never feed animals from hand, only when taming/training them.
Forbid hay on every stockpile you have, allow it only for the shelves. Animals eating on their own, if they have access to the food.

[failsafe]

Originally posted by Helios:

You should just build the storage close to the pen with a animal door + normal wood door and in winter remove the normal door so they can just get it using the animal door.

You mean just create specified storage in the barn for hay only?

Originally posted by martindirt:

Handling is not feeding. Your handlers will never feed animals from hand, only when taming/training them.
Forbid hay on every stockpile you have, allow it only for the shelves. Animals eating on their own, if they have access to the food.

Actually I always use shelves in pen to feed animals and keep stock outside. But maybe the case is about handling. I assumed that bringing food to shelves is handling, while it may be... I dunno... standard hauling?

[whatamidoing]

Yes, hauling is hauling.

[KM89]

Make sure you have the "Fresh" option checkmarked.

[Midnight_Toker247]

Doctors are the ones that feed downed animals, they have to have a sleeping spot or a medical spot though. In an emergency you can just leave pretty much whatever type of food in their pen and they will eat it, it is kind of a waste though. Unless you have multiple pens and multiple barns that are separated it is easiest just to have a single storage area for hay that the animals have access to. 2k is not a large stock of hay for the amount of animals you have/had.

[failsafe]

2k is a lot in terms of expected survival... but in the same time large part of my hay has just rotted away. So, my animals have been starving while my hay has been rotting ;-P. Anyway, I didn't need that much animals, they are just breeding like crazy, I try to make my food stock suitable for more limited number of animals. What I really need is two donkeys, 5-6 alpacas and around 10 ducks.

If I place hay in the barn inside the pen doesnt it make animals eat hay from barn instead of just eating grass in summer?

[Midnight_Toker247]

Originally posted by failsafe:

2k is a lot in terms of expected survival... but in the same time large part of my hay has just rotted away. So, my animals have been starving while my hay has been rotting ;-P. Anyway, I didn't need that much animals, they are just breeding like crazy, I try to make my food stock suitable for more limited number of animals. What I really need is two donkeys, 5-6 alpacas and around 10 ducks.

If I place hay in the barn inside the pen doesnt it make animals eat hay from barn instead of just eating grass in summer?

You can always add a cooler to keep it fresh, even just refrigerated it lasts a long time.

I keep my males and females separate so that they can only breed when I permit it. I keep my hay storage in the middle of the 2 pens so I can open and close it on either side when needed, generally keeping it open for females as I tend to have more females than males, but allows me to open it for the males when they are low on other food sources.

Yes and no, if the barn is closest they will eat from the hay, if the grass ect. is closer they will eat that, so it depends on where they are and where the hay is when they get hungry, in my experience they will eat from both. If you don't want them eating it at all in the summer do as Helios suggested and put a door down (lock animals out if using the lock mod) and they won't have access, when winter comes set the door to always open and have someone open it and they will now have access. You can set an animal flap behind the door to help keep it cool if you decide to add a cooler.

[Vermillion Cardinal]

Originally posted by failsafe:

Anyway, I didn't need that much animals, they are just breeding like crazy, I try to make my food stock suitable for more limited number of animals. What I really need is two donkeys, 5-6 alpacas and around 10 ducks.

Aside from what Midnight said, you have a medical option (sterilization), and there's also the option of setting up auto-slaughter rules.