Slimes and other livestock.

[PetalLeshy]

First, while much of the complaints about animals are true, I've never had a problem with wolf attacks. I didn't have a fence for the first 3 years(only added it to keep the animals away from my crops so it still doesn't block them in entirely) and, except in Winter, I never close the animal doors on the coop or barn. The animals go back in the buildings automatically starting at 5pm and from what I've heard, wolves only begin attacking after 6. Can wolf attacks really happen if the animals are already in the buildings? Or are large groups of animals having trouble getting into the buildings in time? Could my lack of problem have to do with being on the riverland farm? Maybe the wolves are bad at navigating the islands? I've been thinking of building my number of pigs so that would be good to know.

But my main focus is slimes. I have 2 hutches and I want to start a herd outside. I've had shortlived herds outside before and they only didn't last because I didn't have the ring yet and it was a pain. I'm wondering a couple things: does a fully fenced area still get debris at the beginning of a season? Does a fenced off area have to be enclosed to prevent weed spread or can one 'wall' be water/hillside? The sword only effects grass when swung on the farm, right?

I was wondering, also, if a fenced in slime farm could also be used to grow crops, but I just tested it and will simply post my results instead: it definately can, the slimes even activate the 'crop wiggle' when they run through them. A note, though, that the season seeds for the forage items will prevent their movement, and possibly push them out of the fences when they mature. Regular crops, that still allow one to run through them, should be more than fine.

[firebird21]

I still don't understand nor see any problems with any livestock. I play very casually, so maybe that's why. Now, I'm not a big fan of slimes, but I just need to start breeding the right ones and i'll probably explore them more deeply.

[PetalLeshy]

The regular livestock sometimes get 'sad' for no reason, sometimes don't produce as often as they're supposed to(which is tied to them being unexplainably sad), things of that nature. I don't really mind so much since I only keep them around for gift items and access to cooking ingredients, and void chickens are neat.

The slimes I just think are cute and I enjoy having loads of them. It's decently profitable to leave a slime hutch or two full, collect the slime, and make eggs with them. A green slime egg doubles the profit on 100 slime, and there's an alright chance to make other colors which are worth even more.

[firebird21]

I can imagine many reasons as to why livestock are sad for no reason. If you want i'll explain further, but it's pretty stupid. Slimes are indeed cute, I just need to get the ring so I don't murder the next 20 I breed.

[PetalLeshy]

Livestock aren't the smartest of things, so I doubt that the reasons for their emotions would be. Theories would be interesting.

And yeah, the ring is basically needed for anyting above blue slimes. I saw a screenshot of someone using fences to keep them right next to the incubator and apparently they don't need to be able to reach the water troughs to make slimeballs, but then selectively culling them is impossible.

[rad rat ray]

wolf attacks don't start at 6, they start after you go to bed, but they can't get into any of your farm buildings even if the door is open. wolf attacks only affect animals that are left outside with the door closed and no way of getting back in. even then, they're not guaranteed to happen.

I believe this was added in 1.11, since before that animals could walk through closed doors to get back in their farm buildings.

[firebird21]

I use a fence that spans about 3 or 4 tiles up and 2 or 3 tiles away from the water troughs. I'm about 500 or 400 slimes away from getting the ring, so I'll be needing to hit invested areas of the mine sooner or later.

[NotThatHarkness]

I've never seen a wolf attack in my game either. The wiki claims they happen to animals who are trapped outside overnight with the barn and coop doors closed. The way the wiki describes how the game decides on a wolf attack, the doors have to be closed. I don't know if the implication (an open door means no wolf attack) is true. Maybe I'm reading too much into the language used. http://stardewvalleywiki.com/Animals#Wolf_Attacks

Also, I've read one player who said animals appear to warp inside at night even if you close the door early, leave the farm map and come back (or go inside and go back outside). I've seen that happen. I'll see the animals making their way inside after 5 pm, one or two still wandering around outside, I'll go into a shed for a second to check something, come out and all the animals are suddenly inside.

I always close the barn and coop door (just to make it easier to pet, milk, and shear animals) right before my character goes to sleep, but don't bother to check whether they are all inside. In my current game I do have a fairly large fenced in area for the animals to roam, but it's all grass and even when I had 20 animals total they didn't have any problem getting back inside the 1 barn and 1 coop I had. In my first game I put the fence around the crops and let the animals roam the entire farm. I played that game until mid year 4, and my current game to winter year 5. No wolf attacks.

[PetalLeshy]

I heard someone say that animals require too much work and they mentioned having to close the doors at night, I thought they were simply mistaken, but maybe they only meant to improve accessability in the mornings like you're saying. I've also run into animals(and my spouse) making immediate movements when I transition screens. I don't question it since the obelisks and return scepter exist.

[firebird21]

Most people who say that are min/maxers I want to say. There's literlly no work involved in them in my opinion. Closing the doors at night improves their mood, as does having a heater for winter.

[NotThatHarkness]

Originally posted by firebird21:

Closing the doors at night improves their mood,

I've read that's actually a myth. There is actually no mood benefit to closing the door at night. This was on the thread on the stardew valley forums which discusses the current bugs with animals.

[firebird21]

Originally posted by TreyNutz:

Originally posted by firebird21:

Closing the doors at night improves their mood,

I've read that's actually a myth. There is actually no mood benefit to closing the door at night. This was on the thread on the stardew valley forums which discusses the current bugs with animals.

Well I've been doing this wrong for the past 3 years or so than.

[rad rat ray]

Originally posted by firebird21:

Originally posted by TreyNutz:

I've read that's actually a myth. There is actually no mood benefit to closing the door at night. This was on the thread on the stardew valley forums which discusses the current bugs with animals.

Well I've been doing this wrong for the past 3 years or so than.

you haven't, animals have a chance of being sad if you leave their doors open overnight, though it doesn't seem guaranteed.

[firebird21]

Hopefully it isn't. I know their mood does seem to stay at fine when I left the doors open a single night.

[firebird21]

Originally posted by SlackerBoe:

Originally posted by firebird21:

Hopefully it isn't. I know their mood does seem to stay at fine when I left the doors open a single night.

It stays at fine for me when I leave their door open. I also have a full fence around the front and a closed gate tho, so they can never wander. It improves my truffle production.

I'll probably test this with my cows. I want to see how their productivity goes after a few days.

[NotThatHarkness]

Originally posted by firebird21:

Originally posted by TreyNutz:

I've read that's actually a myth. There is actually no mood benefit to closing the door at night. This was on the thread on the stardew valley forums which discusses the current bugs with animals.

Well I've been doing this wrong for the past 3 years or so than.

Yeah, in my first game I closed the doors every night thinking it helped animal happiness. But then I recently read this thread, particularly post 10:

http://community.playstarbound.com/threads/psa-major-animal-bugs-issues.126444/

Food for thought. I still close the door every night, but that's just to make tending to the animals quicker in the mornings.