How to get enough hay?

[Fabi Lumy]

How do you manage to get enough hay for all the animals?

Having 5 chickens + 4 cows I quickly ran out of hay.
It seems they eat a lot more than my grass grows.

Should I be planting lots of grass?
Is it better to let the animals eat grass outside instead of hay?

[Hurodrik]

I always let them eat grass outside, unless it's raining or during winter. The hay storage on the silo should only be used on those occasions. IIRC, one full silo can sustain 8 animals during one season, so have that in mind when winter comes.

[Kai]

The animals don't mind how large the space outside is, so maybe make a grassy spot right outside the building and some walls and a gate to keep the animal in.

The issue with this game is how you can't jump over fences in this case compared to older harvest moon games.

[Fabi Lumy]

ty! that's probably what I was doing wrong, I gave them hay everyday

[PhilkIced]

You can buy it from Mernie on the same place where you buy animals.
What I do is first of all clear my entire farm, then I plant 4 grass starters on the empty half of it because currently everything I have only uses half of the farm space, much thanks to the greenhouse, I buy hay for one month with marnie and leave those starters there and forget about them, on the last day of the season I go there and cut everything, giving me 350+ hay, I leave 4 small points with grass to grow again and repeat on the 28th of every month, if I need more hay I'll buy from Marnie but that'll usually do for the month.

[Sheep O'lata]

Originally posted by Fabi Lumy:

How do you manage to get enough hay for all the animals?

Having 5 chickens + 4 cows I quickly ran out of hay.
It seems they eat a lot more than my grass grows.

Should I be planting lots of grass?
Is it better to let the animals eat grass outside instead of hay?

You might have missed it (it took me a misclick to see it), but you can open the door of your coop and/or barn so that during the day, your animals go outside (if it's not raining and not winter, I think). I believe they eat outside if they can.

[Fabi Lumy]

I do let them out but I never allowed them in the grass area, thinking they would eat all the grass at once xD

[Sheep O'lata]

Oh, ok.
In my farm, I have 2 silos that I filled right before the winter, and bought animals during the winter (1 of each type + 1 more chicken)
In spring, I let them out after building fences to keep them contained, with quite a bit of grass.
My silos are nearly full and the grass barely seem to be reduced, though I guess I don't pay much attention to it.
Incidentaly, it's sometimes a pain to find the chickens, rabbits or ducks in the grass... ^^;

[Hurodrik]

Originally posted by Sheep O'lata:

Oh, ok.
In my farm, I have 2 silos that I filled right before the winter, and bought animals during the winter (1 of each type + 1 more chicken)
In spring, I let them out after building fences to keep them contained, with quite a bit of grass.
My silos are nearly full and the grass barely seem to be reduced, though I guess I don't pay much attention to it.
Incidentaly, it's sometimes a pain to find the chickens, rabbits or ducks in the grass... ^^;

Remember to close the little door in the evening. That way you can interact with them all inside the coop before releasing them again. I also used to lose mine in the tall grass all the time. =P

[Chompman]

Containing them in a fenced area with grass is the way to go for 3 of the 4 seasons and during winter 2-3 silos full will be enough.

Just make sure the grass area is large enough and it's grown before you let them loose.

[Sheep O'lata]

Originally posted by Hurodrik:

Originally posted by Sheep O'lata:

Oh, ok.
In my farm, I have 2 silos that I filled right before the winter, and bought animals during the winter (1 of each type + 1 more chicken)
In spring, I let them out after building fences to keep them contained, with quite a bit of grass.
My silos are nearly full and the grass barely seem to be reduced, though I guess I don't pay much attention to it.
Incidentaly, it's sometimes a pain to find the chickens, rabbits or ducks in the grass... ^^;

Remember to close the little door in the evening. That way you can interact with them all inside the coop before releasing them again. I also used to lose mine in the tall grass all the time. =P

Won't they eat inside if the door is closed at the beginning of the day ?

Side question : how many heater(s ?) do you use for a coop/barn ? I put only one in each, but the barn being significantly bigger, I wonder if it's enough :o

[Hurodrik]

Originally posted by Sheep O'lata:

Won't they eat inside if the door is closed at the beginning of the day ?

Side question : how many heater(s ?) do you use for a coop/barn ? I put only one in each, but the barn being significantly bigger, I wonder if it's enough :o

Nop, if you look at them as they leave, they will eat the first piece of grass they come in contact with when they exit the building. I only ever use one heater per barn/coop and never had any problems. I'm on my second winter so far, and I already had them both on deluxe level on year one.

[Proteus]

Originally posted by Sheep O'lata:

Originally posted by Hurodrik:

Remember to close the little door in the evening. That way you can interact with them all inside the coop before releasing them again. I also used to lose mine in the tall grass all the time. =P

Won't they eat inside if the door is closed at the beginning of the day ?
...

Nope ... they don´t eat at the beginning of the day but rather during the day ... so if you give them enough hours in the wild before 6 PM (which is the time where they will return on their own to their Coop/Barn) they will eat outside

[Sheep O'lata]

Oh right , I had seen that on the first day of spring when I opened. I forgot :o

Thank you both for the replies

[uzze]

They don't even need a fence to hold them in, they'll be back in the barns/coops by the end of the day. I let mine wander outside when theres no grass in my pen.

[Hurodrik]

Originally posted by Skuzze:

They don't even need a fence to hold them in, they'll be back in the barns/coops by the end of the day. I let mine wander outside when theres no grass in my pen.

I avoid letting them free because they get in the way. The dog already annoys me enough getting stuck on my machines and standing in the middle of the way. =P