How does 'letting the animals out' work?

[SkyBlueGum]

I read that animals can eat your crops, but pigs can find stuff for you, so I don't really know what I should do to let them out without getting my crops destroyed?

1. Would building a fence around the barn make them stay there? Or they're going to be all around the farm anyway?
2. If I can build a fence around with a little space for them to walk, would pigs find the stuff I want?
3. Would building a fence around my crops work better?
4. Is there an easy and fast way to let them in?

[Samael]

1. Yes building a fence around your barn will keep your animals in.
2. I have no idea
3. I'm not sure if building a fence around your crops protects it from grass and stuff you don't want to appear in the middle of your field. I hope someone can answer this ;P
4. Every night your animals goes back to your barn and they can never be lost. So build fences and let them go outside.

[Kai]

Animals eat grass on your farm in place of hay. You can buy grass starter from store and plant grass within the fence. Every morning your animals will eat a bit of them thus will not need hay. However, on rainy days or during winter animals won't go out. So you still need hay prepared in the barn or coop just for those times.

[SkyBlueGum]

Okay, thanks for all the answers.
Uhm.. so I let them in leaving the little door opened, right? And I don't need to close it... ever?

[Ghosts_Abyss]

You open it on Sunny Days during Spring, Summer and Fall. Only time you need to close it is during Winter and during Rainy Days. Also, if you have a Deluxe Barn/Coop.. it's good practice to put 3 Heaters in each to ensure that the animals are warm enough. You can buy Heaters from Marnie (if she ever stays inside her shop during posted hours! >_<). Hope this helps.

[Jeffreyac]

Others probably know more than I, but my understanding is leaving the door open all night makes them unhappy.

I've been opening the door in the morning to let them out (on nice days, anyway) and closing it at night before I go to bed. Seems to work, everyone is happy.

[M.O.S.B.]

Fences
Yes
Yes
No
Close the door by around 7:00PM

[timewar]

While animals don't eat your crops, they sure as hell can stand where you want to hoe/seed/harvest and piss you off.

[SkyBlueGum]

Originally posted by Jeffreyac:

Others probably know more than I, but my understanding is leaving the door open all night makes them unhappy.

I've been opening the door in the morning to let them out (on nice days, anyway) and closing it at night before I go to bed. Seems to work, everyone is happy.

Ohhh.. maybe that's why sometimes they didn't give me milk?
Well, thanks. That helps a lot :D

Originally posted by Just A Magic Bagel:

Fences
Yes
Yes
No
Close the door by around 7:00PM

Thanks. I'll be doing that.

Originally posted by timewar:

While animals don't eat your crops, they sure as hell can stand where you want to hoe/seed/harvest and piss you off.

Good point. Thank you.

[stormfeather]

Just saw this, and thought I'd add that if you want your pig to get to work properly, you'll need some bare dirt where he can roam, as well as the grassy areas. Also wanted to add that when you get the grass starter (or more than one), if you're using it to make a pasture in the fenced-in area, you should give it some time to start spreading before you let your animals out. Especially if you have a lot of animals. Otherwise they could eat the grass faster than it spreads.

[Kachin]

I had 20 pigs. I can confidently say I know how truffles work.

The game randomly places truffles on your farm every day. They're invisible to you, and the pigs have a chance of making them visible when they walk over them. The chances go up depending on their happiness and love. They seem /almost/ incapable of digging up a truffle if they haven't eaten grass yet.

Truffles are only spawned in certain spots. It seems that they only appear in the center of a 5x5 grid, and when dug, they can appear anywhere in that spot. Truffles can spawn by other truffles in the same grid, but cannot spawn if a smaller 3x3 grid is occupied by grass, even just in one tile. Fences don't seem to block spawns.

Once a truffle is dug up, that particular spot is consumed. One pig may find multiple truffles per day, and many pigs will ultimately find less truffles per pig.

The area they're allowed to roam absolutely matters. I haven't tried this personally, but I theorize the best way to get truffles is to get twelve deluxe barns, space them out evenly over your farm, and put 3-4 pigs in each. More won't help; if anything it'll hurt since they need to eat some grass to do reasonable work, and more pigs means you need more grass, and grass blocks truffle spawns. Cutting grass doesn't make truffles; only sleeping does.

[Optimus Princeps]

Open the door early in the morning to let them out and then close it at night to keep them happy. Also you want to put hay inside anyways because sometimes they do not eat grass outside depending on the distance to it and the amount of grass you have.

[stortz]

Originally posted by ShroudOfSelizar:

You open it on Sunny Days during Spring, Summer and Fall. Only time you need to close it is during Winter and during Rainy Days. Also, if you have a Deluxe Barn/Coop.. it's good practice to put 3 Heaters in each to ensure that the animals are warm enough. You can buy Heaters from Marnie (if she ever stays inside her shop during posted hours! >_<). Hope this helps.

you don't need 3 heaters lol

[stortz]

Originally posted by Nofew:

I had 20 pigs. I can confidently say I know how truffles work.

The game randomly places truffles on your farm every day. They're invisible to you, and the pigs have a chance of making them visible when they walk over them. The chances go up depending on their happiness and love. They seem /almost/ incapable of digging up a truffle if they haven't eaten grass yet.

Truffles are only spawned in certain spots. It seems that they only appear in the center of a 5x5 grid, and when dug, they can appear anywhere in that spot. Truffles can spawn by other truffles in the same grid, but cannot spawn if a smaller 3x3 grid is occupied by grass, even just in one tile. Fences don't seem to block spawns.

Once a truffle is dug up, that particular spot is consumed. One pig may find multiple truffles per day, and many pigs will ultimately find less truffles per pig.

The area they're allowed to roam absolutely matters. I haven't tried this personally, but I theorize the best way to get truffles is to get twelve deluxe barns, space them out evenly over your farm, and put 3-4 pigs in each. More won't help; if anything it'll hurt since they need to eat some grass to do reasonable work, and more pigs means you need more grass, and grass blocks truffle spawns. Cutting grass doesn't make truffles; only sleeping does.

thanks for shareing the tech dude

do you think having a tile be occupied by a campfire can prevent them from spawning in that tile?

[Optimus Princeps]

Originally posted by Stortz:

Originally posted by ShroudOfSelizar:

You open it on Sunny Days during Spring, Summer and Fall. Only time you need to close it is during Winter and during Rainy Days. Also, if you have a Deluxe Barn/Coop.. it's good practice to put 3 Heaters in each to ensure that the animals are warm enough. You can buy Heaters from Marnie (if she ever stays inside her shop during posted hours! >_<). Hope this helps.

you don't need 3 heaters lol

Ya I only keep one in each barn and coop and seems to do just fine.

[Kachin]

Stortz: No idea.