Any beginner tips for ranch layout?

[Lucius]

Most of the beginner guides I find on Steam don't really talk about the proper layout to build for your ranch, while the more advanced guides on layout talk about things that aren't even unlocked yet for beginners, or things one might have trouble finding because I'm unfamiliar with their locations (like Heart Beets).

I just started playing this game, and I'm already having confusions. Like, what's the maximum amount of slimes should you put in one corral? What about largos? I tried to put two sets of five largos in two separate corrals next to each other, but I already ran out of space for other slimes I want to raise (since I still have to build gardens and a coop), so I have to unlock the other areas to have more space.

Is there a step-by-step optimization guide for beginners please?

[Pilgor]

Originally posted by Rhedius Vague:

Most of the beginner guides I find on Steam don't really talk about the proper layout to build for your ranch, while the more advanced guides on layout talk about things that aren't even unlocked yet for beginners, or things one might have trouble finding because I'm unfamiliar with their locations (like Heart Beets).

I just started playing this game, and I'm already having confusions. Like, what's the maximum amount of slimes should you put in one corral? What about largos? I tried to put two sets of five largos in two separate corrals next to each other, but I already ran out of space for other slimes I want to raise (since I still have to build gardens and a coop), so I have to unlock the other areas to have more space.

Is there a step-by-step optimization guide for beginners please?

I think I can help somewhat.

I say for largos the max should be 4 starting out at least. There's 4 of them in one corral, they have some wiggle room and not putting pressure on the walls or air net of the corral so they are safely contained. Largos are a mix of two slimes cause one of the little slimes ate another slime's plort, that mixed them.

I would suggest the 4 plots bunched up together are your corral plots, and the 2 plots to the left behind the fence/gate can be for coops and gardens. This layout can work forever I think, I think it's a good set up, but you can always change it after you get the expansions opened :D

Also heart beets you can find early on. After leaving your ranch to enter the Dry Reef, in that first room there's a spot. There's a little tree on the left, and on it's right there's like a half wall. If you get top of that half wall, you'll see a platform where heart beets grow. You'll need a jetpack to get to it. After that there's a ramp that will take you back to the first room. Where you can get upgrades is that machine on the side of your gate entrance to your house.

I hope I helped you out. Good luck :D

[Gray]

i would have all gardens on the Grotto

[Lucius]

Originally posted by Pilgor:

Originally posted by Rhedius Vague:

Most of the beginner guides I find on Steam don't really talk about the proper layout to build for your ranch, while the more advanced guides on layout talk about things that aren't even unlocked yet for beginners, or things one might have trouble finding because I'm unfamiliar with their locations (like Heart Beets).

I just started playing this game, and I'm already having confusions. Like, what's the maximum amount of slimes should you put in one corral? What about largos? I tried to put two sets of five largos in two separate corrals next to each other, but I already ran out of space for other slimes I want to raise (since I still have to build gardens and a coop), so I have to unlock the other areas to have more space.

Is there a step-by-step optimization guide for beginners please?

I think I can help somewhat.

I say for largos the max should be 4 starting out at least. There's 4 of them in one corral, they have some wiggle room and not putting pressure on the walls or air net of the corral so they are safely contained. Largos are a mix of two slimes cause one of the little slimes ate another slime's plort, that mixed them.

I would suggest the 4 plots bunched up together are your corral plots, and the 2 plots to the left behind the fence/gate can be for coops and gardens. This layout can work forever I think, I think it's a good set up, but you can always change it after you get the expansions opened :D

Also heart beets you can find early on. After leaving your ranch to enter the Dry Reef, in that first room there's a spot. There's a little tree on the left, and on it's right there's like a half wall. If you get top of that half wall, you'll see a platform where heart beets grow. You'll need a jetpack to get to it. After that there's a ramp that will take you back to the first room. Where you can get upgrades is that machine on the side of your gate entrance to your house.

I hope I helped you out. Good luck :D

Okay, thanks. Though I've read a suggestion that you should put your garden plots right next to your corral plots for convenience; what do you think? I think that makes sense, putting the coop next to the slimes that eat meat.

[purplecharmanderz]

Originally posted by Rhedius Vague:

Originally posted by Pilgor:

I think I can help somewhat.

I say for largos the max should be 4 starting out at least. There's 4 of them in one corral, they have some wiggle room and not putting pressure on the walls or air net of the corral so they are safely contained. Largos are a mix of two slimes cause one of the little slimes ate another slime's plort, that mixed them.

I would suggest the 4 plots bunched up together are your corral plots, and the 2 plots to the left behind the fence/gate can be for coops and gardens. This layout can work forever I think, I think it's a good set up, but you can always change it after you get the expansions opened :D

Also heart beets you can find early on. After leaving your ranch to enter the Dry Reef, in that first room there's a spot. There's a little tree on the left, and on it's right there's like a half wall. If you get top of that half wall, you'll see a platform where heart beets grow. You'll need a jetpack to get to it. After that there's a ramp that will take you back to the first room. Where you can get upgrades is that machine on the side of your gate entrance to your house.

I hope I helped you out. Good luck :D

Okay, thanks. Though I've read a suggestion that you should put your garden plots right next to your corral plots for convenience; what do you think? I think that makes sense, putting the coop next to the slimes that eat meat.

while it is convenient, it doesn't hold much ground starting later midgame, when you gain access to drones.

max slimes i have to disagree with pil on. while 4 largos can be good to learn the game, once you get the high walls and air net 10 can be safely handled in most cases, with some exceptions such as booms, some tabby varieties, some hunter varieties, and quantums. there isn't a set number for a suggested amount for every largo, as it goes based off of where you draw the lines for some things, such as food production and expected income.

also note, you do not need a jetpack to get to the heart beets pil was referring to.

most of their general ideas were quite effective though, although i may suggest against coops given how slow and inconsistent their production is.

[Zemecon]

What I do: The four plots on the right all have veggie or fruit eating slimes. The two on the left are for chicken-eaters. The two plots directly beside the house on the right are for chickens but one can be used as a garden at first until you get some stony hens or you unlock the Overgrowth expansion.

The grotto is for as many slimes as I can fit in that either live in caves or need to be kept away from the sun. Phosphors are one slime that always go in here and there is another which is found in a late-game area that should go in the grotto as well. I like to reserve a plot for a garden to grow whatever you are using to feed atleast one of your slimes in there.

The Overgrowth is for veggie gardens but I also put a silo in to store chickens since this place also supplies most of the chickens.

The docks are for fruit trees and puddle slimes in the pond so that I can reserve an extra plot for something else.

The lab expansion is for more slimes. The plot tucked away right beside the barn is for slimes you don't want to risk having around other slimes or that you don't want other slimes getting at.

I am not sure how far you are into the game so I left everything a bit vague but I could be even more specific depending on which slimes and food resources you are aware of.

[Pilgor]

Originally posted by Rhedius Vague:

Originally posted by Pilgor:

I think I can help somewhat.

I say for largos the max should be 4 starting out at least. There's 4 of them in one corral, they have some wiggle room and not putting pressure on the walls or air net of the corral so they are safely contained. Largos are a mix of two slimes cause one of the little slimes ate another slime's plort, that mixed them.

I would suggest the 4 plots bunched up together are your corral plots, and the 2 plots to the left behind the fence/gate can be for coops and gardens. This layout can work forever I think, I think it's a good set up, but you can always change it after you get the expansions opened :D

Also heart beets you can find early on. After leaving your ranch to enter the Dry Reef, in that first room there's a spot. There's a little tree on the left, and on it's right there's like a half wall. If you get top of that half wall, you'll see a platform where heart beets grow. You'll need a jetpack to get to it. After that there's a ramp that will take you back to the first room. Where you can get upgrades is that machine on the side of your gate entrance to your house.

I hope I helped you out. Good luck :D

Okay, thanks. Though I've read a suggestion that you should put your garden plots right next to your corral plots for convenience; what do you think? I think that makes sense, putting the coop next to the slimes that eat meat.

I never tried that way before. So I can't say for certain what slimes that would benefit from that layout. I usually make my Overgrowth expansion my garden area. Lol, I haven't played enough to get the more difficult slimes. But if slimes see food and they are starving they'll fight to get out of the corrals to get over to the food. So having on the main ranch part, the 4 plots as corrals and the other 2 fenced off as food production has worked out for me so far. None of my slimes can see the food over in those plots so I think that's a safe location for food at the start.

the Meat eating slimes do get hungry faster than the other slimes, so they like to get more food. Also you can steal the chickadoos from the nests around the map and shoot them into your meat eater corrals. The chickadoos will mature into adulthood after one day. Or you can load up a bunch of chickens in their corrals ahead of time and they'll eat whenever they want but no chicken would go to waste.

Also keep in mind you asked for beginner help, that suggestion about putting the corrals next to their gardens or coops, might have been for later slimes. Cause there's one that has vines and it can swipe up its food next to its corral I heard. So that might be talking about those slimes but I'm not sure.

I'm giving you ideas to maintain your starting ranch up. And don't be afraid to use expansions if needed or to have to change up the lay out in the future to something you're more cozy with. Cause my way might not suit your way. So be open to having to probably change the layout around in the future. But I'm sure by then that you'll have enough money that it'll be easy to switch it around.

Also slimes don't always need to eat their favorite foods. You can feed them any meats, veggies, and fruits. Sure them not being a favorite food won't double the plorts, but they are more common.

I forgot to mention about the plots to the right of the house. I normally use those as silo plots. Just in case I make a mistake that knocks me out, that I'd have stored some foods in my silos so I can still keep my slimes fed.

I hope I helped out. Good luck :D

[Zemecon]

I would not recommend putting food plots near slimes that eat that food type. Many slimes are very good at escaping their pens and eventually all slimes will find a way to escape their pends if they are hungry enough. Though I won't assume you would allow it to go that far, if some types of slime like the Tangle or Quantum slimes get the least bit hungry and see that food plot, they will try to get at it. They will escape their corrals while doing so, then you will likely lose them once they are full.

If you need to put a food plot in the same area of your ranch (I.e. the main part or any one of the expansions) then make sure none of the slimes in that area eat that food type. And if that isn't something you can avoid then try keeping the food plot as far away as you can to keep the slimes in question from making a break for it within a noticeable amount of time.

[purplecharmanderz]

Originally posted by Maomag:

I would not recommend putting food plots near slimes that eat that food type. Many slimes are very good at escaping their pens and eventually all slimes will find a way to escape their pends if they are hungry enough.

main issue would be present with slimes prone to hit the air net repeatedly and quickly. how ever, most cases lack this issue for a multitude of reasons.

Originally posted by Maomag:

If you need to put a food plot in the same area of your ranch (I.e. the main part or any one of the expansions) then make sure none of the slimes in that area eat that food type.

this suggestion actually can lead to a headache later on if you try to incorporate drones into the mix.

[Zemecon]

Originally posted by purplecharmanderz:

Originally posted by Maomag:

If you need to put a food plot in the same area of your ranch (I.e. the main part or any one of the expansions) then make sure none of the slimes in that area eat that food type.

this suggestion actually can lead to a headache later on if you try to incorporate drones into the mix.

That's why if you absolutely need to put a food plot in the same area with a slime that eats it you can have them further apart and that should be fine. A routine can make carrying food from one area to the other more efficient.

Drones do help but I've lost my confidence in them a few times now. They don't do their assigned tasks as well as they could be and you still need to splash them with water every now and then. If you are away from the ranch for longer than a day then it is almost as though those drones never existed until you splash them again.

[Lucius]

Thanks for all the responses. Due to the overwhelming response, I'll try and work through some of these one by one.

Originally posted by Pilgor:

the Meat eating slimes do get hungry faster than the other slimes, so they like to get more food.

The meat-eating slimes are definitely an annoyance. I know I don't have to feed them their favorite food, but the double-drop-rate from feeding favorites is definitely a big draw if you have a consistent food production. However, I tried to raise Stony Hen, but they take forever, even with the fully upgraded coop. I had to make two coops just to sustain both my Tabbies and my Booms (both meat-eaters). It's exhausting. The fruit-eaters are just so much more easier to maintain, especially with upgraded gardens. I easily get lots of surplus and leftovers.

Originally posted by Maomag:

I would not recommend putting food plots near slimes that eat that food type. Many slimes are very good at escaping their pens and eventually all slimes will find a way to escape their pends if they are hungry enough. Though I won't assume you would allow it to go that far, if some types of slime like the Tangle or Quantum slimes get the least bit hungry and see that food plot, they will try to get at it. They will escape their corrals while doing so, then you will likely lose them once they are full.

If you need to put a food plot in the same area of your ranch (I.e. the main part or any one of the expansions) then make sure none of the slimes in that area eat that food type. And if that isn't something you can avoid then try keeping the food plot as far away as you can to keep the slimes in question from making a break for it within a noticeable amount of time.

Thanks for the tip. I haven't had problems keeping slimes in pens so far (because I just kept chugging food everyday into their corrals), but in the long run, I definitely wouldn't want the problem you described happening. I'll put my food somewhere else.

Okay, so there's something I need to clarify (just to let you know what my situation is): what I've been trying to do was follow this guide:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=962590664
It's helpful in some ways, but frustrating in others, because that guide assumed that you've already unlocked a lot of the areas (Ancient Ruins, Docks, and even Glass Desert). It's supposed to be relaxing game, so I think I'll refrain from using that guide as much as possible from now on.

I'm assuming that there is no time limit to this game like Stardew Valley and My Time at Portia, is that correct? But what about the slimes? Will they starve to death if I run out of food to feed them or if I forgot to resupply the autofeeder? I haven't unlocked drones yet, so I can't rely on those. And sometimes I'll be spending an entire day away from my home because I was trying to get slime keys to unlock more areas, but those expeditions take up a lot of time because I was collecting food for the Gordo Slimes (the tabby gordo was annoying since it needed meat, and it didn't even offer a slime key, just a teleport to the docks which I won't use yet for some time).

Anyway, I wish there's a better fast-travel system because I got lost a lot of the times traveling back to my home ranch even with the map (a minimap would've helped). I guess I could always knock myself out, which is one way to fast-travel.

Another I want to ask is that... is the ranch exchange worth doing? Do you get anything out of doing those quests other than the immediate reward given? Do you get a better reputation with the quest givers or something? Because I could easily put in less effort collecting plorts and still earn more money for it. Those pocket change of 250 or 500 gold were kinda pointless, and they sometimes ask for rather rare items like Rock slimes or tabbies which don't always pop up whenever you need them. I tried to just stand around and camp for the appropriate slimes to show up so that I could farm them, but they sometimes turn into largos before I could suck them in.

BOb is the most annoying slime exchange because he asks for chicken. Chicken is a rather rare commodity in this game because they breed so slowly, and you have to run everywhere to find random spawns of 2-3 chicken in certain spots. Worse if he's asking for the rarer breeds like stony hens or even briar hens. I had to run all over to the Moss Blanket for the latter. Yeesh.

[Zemecon]

For me, unlocking any of the expansions would typically happen around the time I unlock the Moss Blanket or Indigo Quarry because that is when the number of slimes you can keep goes beyond 4. You have pink slimes, rock slimes, tabby slimes, and phosphor slimes, and if you are a purist collector like me that gives you 4 plots for each slime plus 4 plots for whatever you need to have to keep them happy. 1 plot for chickens, 1 plot for Cuberries, 1 plot for Heartbeets, 1 plot for chickens of any type and one plot for a silo or a pond for your puddle slimes if you can find any.

Even if you are keeping largoes, there are only 6 possible combinations you can get before unlocking your first new area and that includes the combinations you may not want to keep, so that means you can have a minimum of 2 plots for other things besides slimes. You can use that to figure out what you should prioritize. I recommend a garden and a coop.

If you are keeping largoes and all of them can eat fruits and/or veggies then use one plot for Cuberries and 1 plot for Heartbeets because Pogo fruit and carrots can both be easily found in the area right outside your ranch entrance.

There is a guide with a graph in the Guides section for every possible largo combination in the game. You can use that for a more extensive idea of which largo combinations you would like to have.

......

Regarding time limits: There is no set time limit within which you need to complete the game. You can take as long as you like. Your total number of in-game days is kept track of in the upper left corner but that is only for reference. There is the Casey plot-line to follow and that unfolds within a certain amount of time but when that is over your game does not end. Finishing the Casey plot-line only allows you to finish the game with the full ending. You are not even required to finish the game at all if you do not wish to.

......

Regarding fast travel: There are portals you can get and the game gives you a total of 11 portals you can make and place down once you've unlocked the Lab expansion. Most of the portals are unlocked when you open treasure pods, the first portal you start out with and the next 3 portals you get once you place a previous portal and its accompanying Warp Depot.1 portal is unlocked near the end of buying the 7Z Rewards Club rewards.

There are also pre-built teleporters, some are only one-way but some are two-way. 2 two-way portals can be accessed in ranch expansions.

......

Regarding the Range Exchange: For the most part the Range Exchange isn't important or worth doing at all. You need to look through the various offers and decide which offers you want to fulfil and which ones you want to ignore, and there is no penalty for ignoring any offers.

There are two exceptions, though. One is Mochi Miles and the other is Ogden Ortiz. There are prerequisites like opening certain slime doors and purchasing expansions - for Ogden you need to unlock the Moss Blanket and the Overgrowth expansion and for Mochi you need to unlock the Indigo Quarry and the Grotto expansion - and once you do that you will need to complete at least 1 Range Exchange for Ogden and Mochi each. Doing that allows you to unlock new expansions but it is in no way obligatory. Those expansions only give you new things to do.

EDIT: Made a few corrections and filled in a blank.

[Pilgor]

Originally posted by Rhedius Vague:

Thanks for all the responses. Due to the overwhelming response, I'll try and work through some of these one by one.

Originally posted by Pilgor:

the Meat eating slimes do get hungry faster than the other slimes, so they like to get more food.

The meat-eating slimes are definitely an annoyance. I know I don't have to feed them their favorite food, but the double-drop-rate from feeding favorites is definitely a big draw if you have a consistent food production. However, I tried to raise Stony Hen, but they take forever, even with the fully upgraded coop. I had to make two coops just to sustain both my Tabbies and my Booms (both meat-eaters). It's exhausting. The fruit-eaters are just so much more easier to maintain, especially with upgraded gardens. I easily get lots of surplus and leftovers.

Yeah, I think getting them chicks that you take from the wild nests is a good idea, just to over stock their corrals with chickens.

I don't know why you would be having trouble raising chickens unless you have a lot of roostros in your coops. Roostros are the colorful chickens, being male. And they get very stressed if there's too many mates so they'll age themselves into elders and won't make anymore chicks. Same thing can happen with Hen hens (of any kind of hen hens) they can get stressed out and age into being elderly. Though I don't know why the hen hens turn elderly. But roostros do it cause they get stressed out that there's too many hen hens to be with. Yeah elderly isn't completely useless, the meat eaters will still eat the elderly chickens.

There's a rule about the coops, that 12 adult chickens (no matter if it's a mix of roostros or hen hens) they won't make any more chicks. So you will need to remove some chickens for them to start reproducing again. That's a reason I have a chicken silo, so my coops won't get overcrowded. Don't worry they never age while in the silos so they are safe to store in the silos.

Also roostros are more rare than hen hens, so you might wanna save any roostros you find, you'll never know if you'll need on in the future.

If you're worried that stealing from nests around the map wouldn't let the chickens work or mature when you take them back to your ranch, don't be. They still work if you steal them from the nests around the map and bring them back to your ranch for raising or to stuff in the meat eaters corrals.

I hope I helped with your chicken problem. If you're worried about not making good steady money from the slimes you already have; I suggest getting a pond and 4 puddle slimes. Over 4 puddle slimes and they'll be too shy to plort. But Puddle slimes swim and consume the water in their pond to make plorts. So by the end of every day you should have some plorts to collect from the pond :D They are handy since they can care for themselves.

I know you have a lot of comments to try out, good luck :D I hope you find a way that works for you :D If you have any more early on Slime Rancher questions, feel free to friend me. I'm not a developer, but just a great fan of the game, and haven't gotten to the ending myself. So I think I'm a good source to answer some beginner questions.You don't have to, just putting it out there. :D Good luck :D Have fun! :D

[purplecharmanderz]

Originally posted by Pilgor:

Originally posted by Rhedius Vague:

Thanks for all the responses. Due to the overwhelming response, I'll try and work through some of these one by one.



The meat-eating slimes are definitely an annoyance. I know I don't have to feed them their favourite food, but the double-drop-rate from feeding favourites is definitely a big draw if you have a consistent food production. However, I tried to raise Stony Hen, but they take forever, even with the fully upgraded coop. I had to make two coops just to sustain both my Tabbies and my Booms (both meat-eaters). It's exhausting. The fruit-eaters are just so much more easier to maintain, especially with upgraded gardens. I easily get lots of surplus and leftovers.

Yeah, I think getting them chicks that you take from the wild nests is a good idea, just to overstock their corrals with chickens.

I don't know why you would be having trouble raising chickens unless you have a lot of roostros in your coops. Roostros are the colorful chickens, being male. And they get very stressed if there are too many mates so they'll age themselves into elders and won't make any more chicks. The same thing can happen with Hen hens (of any kind of hen hens) they can get stressed out and age into being elderly. Though I don't know why the hen hens turn elderly. But roostros do it cause they get stressed out that there are too many hen hens to be with. Yeah, elderly isn't completely useless, the meat eaters will still eat the elderly chickens.

There's a rule about the coops, that 12 adult chickens (no matter if it's a mix of roostros or hen hens) they won't make any more chicks. So you will need to remove some chickens for them to start reproducing again. That's a reason I have a chicken silo, so my coops won't get overcrowded. Don't worry they never age while in the silos so they are safe to store in the silos.

Also, roostros are rarer than hen hens, so you might wanna save any roostros you find, you'll never know if you'll need on in the future.

If you're worried that stealing from nests around the map wouldn't let the chickens work or mature when you take them back to your ranch, don't be. They still work if you steal them from the nests around the map and bring them back to your ranch for raising or to stuff in the meat eaters corrals.

I hope I helped with your chicken problem. If you're worried about not making good steady money from the slimes you already have; I suggest getting a pond and 4 puddle slimes. Over 4 puddle slimes and they'll be too shy to plort. But Puddle slimes swim and consume the water in their pond to make plorts. So by the end of every day you should have some plorts to collect from the pond :D They are handy since they can care for themselves.

I know you have a lot of comments to try out, good luck :D I hope you find a way that works for you :D If you have any more early on Slime Rancher questions, feel free to friend me. I'm not a developer, but just a great fan of the game, and haven't gotten to the ending myself. So I think I'm a good source to answer some beginner questions.You don't have to, just putting it out there. :D Good luck :D Have fun! :D

Going to go through with some corrections to actual details again, despite having the right deal for concepts.

1: "stressed out" as you like to put it is far from descriptive of the actual mechanic. Each time an egg is laid, the rooster and hen make an elder check. What you continuously refer to with more hens stressing out a rooster is not technically the case, but rather the rooster making more checks. The same net result is present, more hens per rooster means faster eldering, but this description implies fewer hens means more chicks in the long run, which is not the case in any consistent manor.

1.5: hens are a bit different in the fact that they are the source of the check. 1 hen to 2 roosteros won't make checks any faster than 1 hen to 1 roostro. the inverse, however, is true as the roostro is just checked for and then the other checks are run.

2: chickens will still breed at the pop cap of 12/24, just not if above it. This is also checked by the chicken's detection radius rather than the coop itself.

The rest of the comment is quite accurate although your earlier statement of meat eaters getting hungry faster is false according to the code.

In the end, definitely some details worth reading, with those corrections in mind.

[Lucius]

Originally posted by purplecharmanderz:

2: chickens will still breed at the pop cap of 12/24, just not if above it. This is also checked by the chicken's detection radius rather than the coop itself.

This is definitely very important info. I had thought that they would stop breeding once they hit 12; didn't know they would only stop if it's above 12. Which is why I kept the population check at 3 roos and 3 hens, giving me a very, very slow production rate.

Furthermore, I think other breeds of chicken might have a slower breeding rate. I find the briar hens to be producing eggs and other hens much slower than your ordinary normal hens.

[Pilgor]

Originally posted by purplecharmanderz:

Originally posted by Pilgor:

Yeah, I think getting them chicks that you take from the wild nests is a good idea, just to overstock their corrals with chickens.

I don't know why you would be having trouble raising chickens unless you have a lot of roostros in your coops. Roostros are the colorful chickens, being male. And they get very stressed if there are too many mates so they'll age themselves into elders and won't make any more chicks. The same thing can happen with Hen hens (of any kind of hen hens) they can get stressed out and age into being elderly. Though I don't know why the hen hens turn elderly. But roostros do it cause they get stressed out that there are too many hen hens to be with. Yeah, elderly isn't completely useless, the meat eaters will still eat the elderly chickens.

There's a rule about the coops, that 12 adult chickens (no matter if it's a mix of roostros or hen hens) they won't make any more chicks. So you will need to remove some chickens for them to start reproducing again. That's a reason I have a chicken silo, so my coops won't get overcrowded. Don't worry they never age while in the silos so they are safe to store in the silos.

Also, roostros are rarer than hen hens, so you might wanna save any roostros you find, you'll never know if you'll need on in the future.

If you're worried that stealing from nests around the map wouldn't let the chickens work or mature when you take them back to your ranch, don't be. They still work if you steal them from the nests around the map and bring them back to your ranch for raising or to stuff in the meat eaters corrals.

I hope I helped with your chicken problem. If you're worried about not making good steady money from the slimes you already have; I suggest getting a pond and 4 puddle slimes. Over 4 puddle slimes and they'll be too shy to plort. But Puddle slimes swim and consume the water in their pond to make plorts. So by the end of every day you should have some plorts to collect from the pond :D They are handy since they can care for themselves.

I know you have a lot of comments to try out, good luck :D I hope you find a way that works for you :D If you have any more early on Slime Rancher questions, feel free to friend me. I'm not a developer, but just a great fan of the game, and haven't gotten to the ending myself. So I think I'm a good source to answer some beginner questions.You don't have to, just putting it out there. :D Good luck :D Have fun! :D

Going to go through with some corrections to actual details again, despite having the right deal for concepts.

1: "stressed out" as you like to put it is far from descriptive of the actual mechanic. Each time an egg is laid, the rooster and hen make an elder check. What you continuously refer to with more hens stressing out a rooster is not technically the case, but rather the rooster making more checks. The same net result is present, more hens per rooster means faster eldering, but this description implies fewer hens means more chicks in the long run, which is not the case in any consistent manor.

1.5: hens are a bit different in the fact that they are the source of the check. 1 hen to 2 roosteros won't make checks any faster than 1 hen to 1 roostro. the inverse, however, is true as the roostro is just checked for and then the other checks are run.

2: chickens will still breed at the pop cap of 12/24, just not if above it. This is also checked by the chicken's detection radius rather than the coop itself.

The rest of the comment is quite accurate although your earlier statement of meat eaters getting hungry faster is false according to the code.

In the end, definitely some details worth reading, with those corrections in mind.

Thank you purplecharmanderz. I'm glad you help out with making sure the information was correct. I'm glad you went into more detail to explain things out better. Also you informed me more of how the chickens worked, which is a topic I didn't know why they gotten stressed or the cause of what made them elderly. So it was nice to read your explanations :D

I never intended to misinform anyone, I explained it in the way I knew how the chickens worked. And I forgotten about the update that 12 rule doesn't matter anymore, back when I played it more often, that's when the 12 rule was a thing.

I'm glad you could clear things up so no one was misinformed. Have a wonderful day/night :D