How do you keep up with Hay comsumption?

[weird name]

i built three silos and stocked up and a single chicken coop they destroyed it

[MobiusPizza]

Who destroyed what?

[wilco64256]

They destroyed what? Your stockpile of hay? No way a single chicken coop went through 720 pieces of hay in any sort of surprising speed. One piece per animal per day. Unless you're misunderstanding something, three full silos should have lasted you several seasons.

[Losk Osmanthus 路渐秋凉]

The chicken destroyed the silo by eating everything! you dimwitted farmhands with diamond floors!

but yea, let your chiken out, except winter.

Buy hays from Manie if you are out.

[Pixel Peeper]

Hah. I remember, back in my first playthrough, when I still had animals.

Obviously I've never made that mistake again.

[Awesomeness_86]

Just buy it from Marnie. Unless you have a huge area of grass, they'll eat it faster than it grows so you won't have any left for hay. They don't really make a whole lot of money, so not really worth wasting a ton of space on them.

[Zany Fish]

Yeah, from Spring to Fall you leave the tiny door next to the entrance door open so they can come and go as they please.

If you constantly open and close the coop door it is a waste of your time.

Only when it rains and in Winter should you need to use hay for feed. I don't believe you need to close the coop door on rainy days to ensure they are happy.

Be sure you have hay laid out in the coop/barn prior the rain (I always ensure it is full as I collect in the morning hours).

On Fall 28th, make sure all animals are back in by 7PM and that you keep the coop door shut and have a heater to keep them comfortably warm until it's Spring again.

You only lose hearts or risk them being eaten if they get stuck outside, which only happens if you close the coop door on them prior to 5-6PM.

Aside from that, yeah, fence around the coop an area big enough to have grass for the animals to munch on and have another fenced or unfenced but seperate area for grass to freely grow and cut it back every 10 days or every 28th before season changes to keep the silos packed.

TIP: You only need one silo. The hay hopper allows you to drain the entire silo's 240 units of hay. Place a chest next to the hopper and you can store up more than you will ever know what to do with.

[weird name]

Originally posted by Tripoteur Ventripotent:

Hah. I remember, back in my first playthrough, when I still had animals.

Obviously I've never made that mistake again.

whats wrong with animals?

[weird name]

Originally posted by The Dark Tyger:

One trick I learned was to plop a chest and empty your silo into it every time it fills up through the spring/summer/fall. That way you only need one silo. Refill via the hopper every time the silo runs out in the winter. One chest about near holds more than a field full of silos. Just need the one to catch hay when you cut grass and supply the hopper in the coop/barn.

Down side of the max level coop/barn is I haven't found how to pull hay when all the feed trough slots are full and the auto feeder keeps them full.

how do you empty it into a chest? alsot what do you mean refill via hopper? where do i get the hopper?

[Pixel Peeper]

Originally posted by King Strange:

Originally posted by Tripoteur Ventripotent:

Hah. I remember, back in my first playthrough, when I still had animals.

Obviously I've never made that mistake again.

whats wrong with animals?

They're time-consuming, a lot of hassle and not particularly lucrative.

Originally posted by King Strange:

how do you empty it into a chest? alsot what do you mean refill via hopper? where do i get the hopper?

The hopper is that thing in your animal building that distributes Hay. As long as you've got at least one empty tile in the animals' food, you can pick up as much Hay as you want.

You put it into a chest like any other item.

[I Kinda Fail]

Originally posted by Tripoteur Ventripotent:

Hah. I remember, back in my first playthrough, when I still had animals.

Obviously I've never made that mistake again.

It's a zen thing. Someday you'll reach the level of enlightenment a select few of us have reached. Until then, enjoy the game, friend.