winter feeding

[lex]

every winter my animals basically starve because my silos gone empty and half the time maries not home to buy hay, any suggestions?

[xxxaziexxx]

If you're saving hay all year this should really be a non-issue. Cut some more grass periodically during growing season and fill your silo before winter.

Otherwise pay attention to your silo levels and plan ahead on when you go to buy hay so Marnie is in the shop when you go.

[funewchie]

For the record, it might be a good idea next time to have a few more silos built (which increases the total amount you can store. Three silos can store up to 749 units of hay)

You can also plant some grass in places your animals won't be, then just lightly harvest it.
If you just take a few swings here and there, leaving most of the grass alone, it'll grow back quickly, allowing many harvests.

[Tom]

Did you do a mass cut of grass with your silo full accidently before? or did you not cut the grass before winter when your silos were full... and they ran out during winter? Because my first winter i had no issues with it. Also personally, I don't think you should need more than one silo, 2 reasons: a second and third silo is more room, now wasted. Now for the reason i only have one: because what you can do is if your silo is full and you have alot of grass on your farm, when you animals have ate the hay from overnight go into their barn and start right clicking where you get the hay from inside your barn/coop and eventually you'll have your silo empty and it is all in your inventory, next go cut all that grass on your farm to fill your silo back up, so when your silo does run out you have that extra hay from before to refill it, so useful! I'm now approaching my 2nd winter (just turned fall) and i have a big pen for my deluxe coop and deluxe barn, both full of animals, i stocked the grass outside in my pen for the animals and it slowly grows back, however from time to time i need a refill of grass outside, and so when its not raining or winter this way your hay that they eat inside is only for winter and rain, because if you did not know animals much prefer to eat grass outside than the hay inside because outside grass will boost your friendship points with them quicker, so they give you better quality goods. And my silo is full with this tactic, and i've got spare hay in my chest to refill my silos with during winter. Buying grass for them to eat off doesn't bother me because money now isn't a hassale, and shouldn't be half way through your 2nd year. Plus, with the grass I do buy i make it back in a day purely off the animals I have. Sorry for my this long paragraph I got a bit carried away.

[funewchie]

Eh, to be honest, I got the third silo just to be sure (I had the spare money, resources, and land). I just had all 3 placed in the southeastern corner of the farm, out of the way.

I've got 5 chickens, 1 rabbit, 1 duck, 2 cows, 1 goat, 2 sheep, and 2 pigs.
And through the winter have burned through over 300 units of hay, so I wanted to be sure I had enough to last them.
The second silo was definitely useful. The third was just in case.

I'm not quite at the point money isn't an issue anymore, so I didn't want to just buy a ton of hay from Marnie.

[Tom]

Originally posted by funewchie:

Eh, to be honest, I got the third silo just to be sure (I had the spare money, resources, and land). I just had all 3 placed in the southeastern corner of the farm, out of the way.

I've got 5 chickens, 1 rabbit, 1 duck, 2 cows, 1 goat, 2 sheep, and 2 pigs.
And through the winter have burned through over 300 units of hay, so I wanted to be sure I had enough to last them.
The second silo was definitely useful. The third was just in case.

I'm not quite at the point money isn't an issue anymore, so I didn't want to just buy a ton of hay from Marnie.

If you have the space spare and the resources spare then go ahead, its just im playing on forest farm to spice up the gameplay instead of original farm, so im more limited on space, thats part of the reason I only have one.

[noob zeus]

Plan better? Buy hay?

[childcrone]

As ISeeTacos says, one silo can do if you empty into chest storage and refill. They're pretty cheap for the convenience, though, if you don't mind the space. My winter supply rule-of-thumb is one silo-full per 8 or so animals.

[✪ Argon Zé Rico]

Look on the Wiki for the time she gets home in the winter. I always buy in the morning, before 11 AM.
https://stardewvalleywiki.com/Marnie

[Recklessdvo]

Originally posted by thewindbeneathmywings:

every winter my animals basically starve because my silos gone empty and half the time maries not home to buy hay, any suggestions?

Buy more than one silo so you have the stock, plant lots of grass in the spring and harvest it. Do no remove it all or you will have to buy more to get it to spread. Just take a little at a time. Let your animals feed on grass in the other 3 seasons so you can build up your hay stock for the winter

[Knightbunny]

usually i get 12 silos and fill them up(they will last for the entire year)

[Tom]

Originally posted by KnightBunny:

usually i get 12 silos and fill them up(they will last for the entire year)

what the heck don't do that, what a waste of space! just check my other comment and do that. 12! are you serious?

[Tom]

Originally posted by ✪ Argon Zé Rico:

Look on the Wiki for the time she gets home in the winter. I always buy in the morning, before 11 AM.
https://stardewvalleywiki.com/Marnie

you shouldn't have to, until minimum half way through year 2, because if you run out before your not efficiently farming the grass, you should farm grass on your farm, and farm it so it is scattered and can grow back into one bunch, making alot of hay off of it. That's only for winter you should be using that hay, make a fenced off area for them and buy lots of grass starters if you have to, but it rasises their hearts quicker from eating outside grass rather than hay. Oh, and when you do start having to buy hay, make sure you buy big bunches at a time, don't spend everyday going to Marnies for it.

[Magzie]

Keep a chest near your Silo. During the other seasons when your silo is full just manually take out hay and stick it in the chest. Hay stacks upto 999 per slot but only 250 in the silo. When winter hits just refill the silo when it gets low.

[Tom]

Originally posted by Magzie:

Keep a chest near your Silo. During the other seasons when your silo is full just manually take out hay and stick it in the chest. Hay stacks upto 999 per slot but only 250 in the silo. When winter hits just refill the silo when it gets low.

I agree, some people need to use their brains and do this, I do this.

[Tom]

Originally posted by red255:

240 per silo and another 12 on the barn/coop feeders.

but what you suggest is rather tedious. Go ahead and do it if you want, I'd just buy more silos.

what i suggest? it's not often you have to refill it, in fact, i refill mine once a winter, because the rest of the time they're getting it all from outside grass which i have a big pen for them to use, just don't buy 12, they're ugly and a waste of space, so since i have the forest farm i tucked mine away in the trees near grandpas shrine, you can't see the top of it, it's great