Animal farming question

[Goritude]

I have read about silo, coop and barn.
I understand an enclosure is needed in front of coop / barn to let the animal outside sometimes. What size should be this enclosure ?

[werdry]

Doesnt really matter... its more about if you will walk there or not...

[Epona222]

Depends how many animals you have - every morning when you let them out, each animal will go and chomp a square of grass - they will use this as their feed instead of hay. So a large barn with maximum number of animals will require a bigger pasture than a small barn with just a few.

Pigs always need outdoor access to find truffles (spring, summer, fall) - if they can't get outside then you are feeding them for nothing.

I don't have pasture access for my coop, but I do have pasture access for my barn (pigs need it to produce truffles)

[Mondai]

You don't technically NEED to build a pen for the animals, but if you plan to interact with them every day (which is a good idea) and to be able to more easily milk the cows/goats and sheer the sheep if they're outside, it's a good idea.

The size of the pen kind of depends on how many animals you plan to have in it. I have a pen for 2 cows and 2 pigs that is about 5x8 or so, and that's plenty big enough for just those 4. But I have a lot more chickens/other coop animals: 12 or more by now. They have a field that's probably more like 15x15. It's bigger than it needs to be, honestly, but I'd rather have too much space instead of too little.

The reason the size of this should vary depending on how many animals is that the animals will each want to eat a block of fresh grass every day. So you want to be sure that you have enough grass that it can keep up growing. I'd personally recommend you make sure there's at least 4 or 5 times the tiles in the grass growing area as there are animals, and when you plant new grass in spring, buy at least twice as many grass starters as you have animals. And when you plant the grass in the yard, I'd put a wood fence post (not hardwood, just regular wood) on it to make sure the animals don't eat all the starters immediately. By the time the wood post breaks down, the grass should be growing well enough.

[Goritude]

Does the silo has to be adjacent to the coop / barn or can it be anywhere on the farm ?

[Epona222]

Oh useful tip - get grass starters from Pierre's shop and plant them spread around your farm (maybe put 2 in the animal pasture though) on the last day of winter - they will spread with the spring explosion and you should be ok for hay for the year even if you run out of grass in your animal pasture.

[Mondai]

Originally posted by Legend Goritude:

Does the silo has to be adjacent to the coop / barn or can it be anywhere on the farm ?

Anywhere. I used to put mine at the bottom of the fenced in pen, but it blocks view, since it's so tall... Now I shove 3 silos in the most out-of-the-way corner of my farm as I can get them in. :P

[Epona222]

Originally posted by Legend Goritude:

Does the silo has to be adjacent to be the coop / barn or can it be anywhere on the farm ?

Silo can be anywhere.

Tip for silo use - in a barn or coop without autofeed, remove all the hay from the hopper (and thus the silo) before chopping any grass for hay.

You need to do any hay removal from the hopper early in the morning before you feed your animals, and it doesn't work if you have fully upgraded barns/coops all with autofeeders. But basically you can store hay for many years in 1 chest without ever having to build more than 1 silo.

*waits for someone to say that is cheating*

[Mondai]

Originally posted by Epona222:

Oh useful tip - get grass starters from Pierre's shop and plant them spread around your farm (maybe put 2 in the animal pasture though) on the last day of winter - they will spread with the spring explosion and you should be ok for hay for the year even if you run out of grass in your animal pasture.

That's...... interesting. I didn't think it LET you plant them in the winter.... I'll have to look into that.

[Epona222]

Originally posted by Mondai:

Originally posted by Epona222:

Oh useful tip - get grass starters from Pierre's shop and plant them spread around your farm (maybe put 2 in the animal pasture though) on the last day of winter - they will spread with the spring explosion and you should be ok for hay for the year even if you run out of grass in your animal pasture.

That's...... interesting. I didn't think it LET you plant them in the winter.... I'll have to look into that.

You can, but it needs to be done on 28th winter otherwise they will disappear

So last day of winter should be just about making sure you get those grass starters in place, get sprinklers set up etc.

[Goritude]

Additional question: there is an abandoned building in the north west of the farm. What is it for ?

[Epona222]

Originally posted by Legend Goritude:

Additional question: there is an abandoned building in the north west of the farm. What is it for ?

That sounds like you are talking about the Greenhouse - it is unlocked either through the community centre or from Joja - community centre route feels better

If you're very early in the game and not played before you won't know what any of that means, just play for a bit and stuff will be revealed :)

[Goritude]

Greenhouse ? It will take me forever to unlock it: needs goats and pigs and cows and all...

[Whirl]

I find an enclosure is useful for pigs. When it comes to hens, they lay inside the coop, and cows, goats and sheep can be restrained if you get in the habit of opening and closing barn doors each morning and night. Once you have the gathering machines it's moot.

Piggies root around for truffles outside though, and keeping an enclosed area makes it easier to find them.

In the end it's down to you - how much room do you want to have taken up by animals as averse to crops. Also, the farm map you're using.

[werdry]

Originally posted by Legend Goritude:

Greenhouse ? It will take me forever to unlock it: needs goats and pigs and cows and all...

Usually people get it on Y2, but if you'll really really really want it, okay with JoJo and know how to get moneyws on early game...

[Goritude]

Y2 ? For me it will be Y4 or 5. I play the game very casually. If I want stress and maximal focus, I play PvP cut-throat competitive games such as World of Tanks Blitz.