Chickens

[❄️The Last Frontier 😊]

So my friend and I have been playing for a while but we haven't really felt too much with the tamed animals all that much so I had a quick question

We just got chickens today and I want to find out if I put down a snack of say 100 seeds will they eat those seeds a little by little overlay eat it in one chunk cuz I'm going to lose all the seeds in one thing what's the best feeding pattern to make sure that fed by not overeating

[Zombits]

only way i found is tossing a pack of food in their enclosure . But dont use too many at once , extra food will be lost next time you exit game . suppose you feed 5 chickens , a pack of 30 food at a time should be enough.

When you got plenty of chicken meat and eggs you can safely stop feeding them for a while

[Marker907]

I only put a couple seeds per chicken at a time, I have a fenced yard just let mine roam around lots of eggs, keep a few eggs in storage in case of a bat attack, pen size can limit the amount if you do not pick them up frequently.

[Zep Tepi]

You only need to feed them when you are breeding them. So put down enough so that all your chickens can have a bite, then collect the eggs or put them in a warm area for hatching. Repeat next time you want eggs.

Added: If they stop laying they're probably too crowded. Thin out the flock a bit and try again.

[HangarPilot]

Around "mid-game" I start collecting dandelions as I come across them. I'll pluck all of the ones inside my base or gather a bunch on my way to/from the spawn point when I'm hanging one of the boss trophies.

I'll have 2-4 hens (don't waste time feeding chicks since they don't breed). Toss in 20 dandelions. They will eat as needed and produce eggs. I may feed them a second time before they reach the population limit.

I have a hanging brazier in the chicken coop so all eggs are "warm" and I don't need to even mess with picking them up. I think the population limit is 10 within 10m or something like that, but I actually end up with 16-18 (probably because they keep laying eggs because the population cap of "hens" isn't reached ... that is, it doesn't seem eggs or chicks "count" toward the cap).

No point in feeding them beyond this point since they will not produce more eggs.

When I'm ready, I'll grab the butcher's knife and cull the group down to 4 hens. Grab 20 dandelions and rinse-and-repeat.

[Frank Dunn]

With MassFarming mod, getting lots of carrot/turnip seeds is easy and a source of chicken feed. Stacks of 15 work fine for me.

[❄️The Last Frontier 😊]

Originally posted by HangarPilot:

Around "mid-game" I start collecting dandelions as I come across them. I'll pluck all of the ones inside my base or gather a bunch on my way to/from the spawn point when I'm hanging one of the boss trophies.

I'll have 2-4 hens (don't waste time feeding chicks since they don't breed). Toss in 20 dandelions. They will eat as needed and produce eggs. I may feed them a second time before they reach the population limit.

I have a hanging brazier in the chicken coop so all eggs are "warm" and I don't need to even mess with picking them up. I think the population limit is 10 within 10m or something like that, but I actually end up with 16-18 (probably because they keep laying eggs because the population cap of "hens" isn't reached ... that is, it doesn't seem eggs or chicks "count" toward the cap).

No point in feeding them beyond this point since they will not produce more eggs.

When I'm ready, I'll grab the butcher's knife and cull the group down to 4 hens. Grab 20 dandelions and rinse-and-repeat.

Oh thats a better idea then seeds as seeds more useful for wood where as dandilions lot easier to come by heck we have 2 growing at the entrance to our main base HA HA.

And speaking of picking them up once these things hatch is there any way to pick the dang things up to move them as we had both our chicks get out and took us 30 minutes to corral them back into their pen as I guess they can escape through an iron gate not something I had considered in a game HAHA

[Kursor1]

Whoever said you lose the stack if you log out of the game is incorrect.
The chickens eat 1 seed or other food item per set amount of time (possibly varying slightly depending on the exact food item. Turnips seem to last slightly longer than carrots when feeding pigs, forinstance) However- they will keep eating even if youre not around which can result in the entire stack being gone if you go away for a while, BUT they wont breed while youre away so you'll have nothing to show for that stack. Therefor its best to feed them about what they'll eat in the time you plan to be nearby for.

[Zombits]

Originally posted by Kursor1:

Whoever said you lose the stack if you log out of the game is incorrect.
The chickens eat 1 seed or other food item per set amount of time (possibly varying slightly depending on the exact food item. Turnips seem to last slightly longer than carrots when feeding pigs, forinstance) However- they will keep eating even if youre not around which can result in the entire stack being gone if you go away for a while, BUT they wont breed while youre away so you'll have nothing to show for that stack. Therefor its best to feed them about what they'll eat in the time you plan to be nearby for.

I've tested it again today and you are correct . They must have eaten the whole stack as i was exploring and not logged out, my bad .

They do eat a lot and stopped laying eggs in their small area i built for them after there was 12 chicken. Not planning to expand on chicken for 1-2 players

[HangarPilot]

Originally posted by ❄️The Last Frontier 😊:

And speaking of picking them up once these things hatch is there any way to pick the dang things up to move them as we had both our chicks get out and took us 30 minutes to corral them back into their pen as I guess they can escape through an iron gate not something I had considered in a game HAHA

Sadly no way to pick them up. I simply let escapees mature and then butcher them.

I do a wall 2m high (such as a normal full wall piece). When they bunch up they will start stacking on top of each other and can come over a half-wall.

I not 100% certain but I "think" I've had issues where they clip through floors or walls. What I believe is happening is that an egg (or chick) is right next to a wall and when they hatch (or mature) they spawn "in" the wall or floor or whatever and then pop out the other side.

Seemed more common when I was picking up eggs and throwing next to the wall that had a fire on the other side. I also has instances where I found feathers and meat like they must of somehow clipped through the wall and hit the fire.

Since I started going with a hanging brazier for warmth I rarely have escapees. Eggs are dropped more in the middle of the floor as the chickens do their thing and I don't move them.

Somebody mentioned saving some eggs in case of disaster and that's probably I good idea but I don't bother. There's so little use for money that I always end up with a chest full of coins. I can always buy more eggs if something happens. The addition of Hildir's Request means you can actually get your first eggs for free so now I have even more money!

[❄️The Last Frontier 😊]

Originally posted by HangarPilot:

Originally posted by ❄️The Last Frontier 😊:

And speaking of picking them up once these things hatch is there any way to pick the dang things up to move them as we had both our chicks get out and took us 30 minutes to corral them back into their pen as I guess they can escape through an iron gate not something I had considered in a game HAHA

Sadly no way to pick them up. I simply let escapees mature and then butcher them.

I do a wall 2m high (such as a normal full wall piece). When they bunch up they will start stacking on top of each other and can come over a half-wall.

I not 100% certain but I "think" I've had issues where they clip through floors or walls. What I believe is happening is that an egg (or chick) is right next to a wall and when they hatch (or mature) they spawn "in" the wall or floor or whatever and then pop out the other side.

Seemed more common when I was picking up eggs and throwing next to the wall that had a fire on the other side. I also has instances where I found feathers and meat like they must of somehow clipped through the wall and hit the fire.

Since I started going with a hanging brazier for warmth I rarely have escapees. Eggs are dropped more in the middle of the floor as the chickens do their thing and I don't move them.

Somebody mentioned saving some eggs in case of disaster and that's probably I good idea but I don't bother. There's so little use for money that I always end up with a chest full of coins. I can always buy more eggs if something happens. The addition of Hildir's Request means you can actually get your first eggs for free so now I have even more money!

Problem I have with coins is one team member thinks he's a bank and wants stacks of gold laying all over HA HA

[Zep Tepi]

They can clip through when they hatch or mature. It's a good idea to double wall your coop for that reason, if you're not raising them in a pit or a troll cave.

Added: With a gap in between not just two walls or fences touching.

[DrEpilepsy]

Can they eat entire stacks, or do I have to drop them one at a time?

[Nerevar]

the best way to not need tons of seeds to feed em is to make a chicken tower and only feed the chicken pairs on top. this way a stack of 100 seeds/barley lasts a very long time. around 10-12 ingame days assumeing a player is present and in loading range.

[The Energizer_Bunny Snarl]

yes i am trying to build a chicken coop for eggs...but....chickens mechanics are stupid. cant pick them up. tossing items in the game is like a dumb minigame in itself. everyones little chicken farm coop idea doesnt work - they clip through the walls so you cant build close to them to adjust - perma faces in wall. they wallhug a corner so you cant move them with stupid pushing/jumping on them - so you cant pickup eggs. eggs can be laid perfectly on a round log - ie not fall off to a pickup bin. they dont eat the grain i throw at them even if their hungry and its right next to them - id imagine because 'dev mechanics are hilarious win' ?

its just kinda boring. the 'free to invent' and build and play about chill...

looks like ill not give a noodle about anything interesting builds and build a 4x4 on flat ground and occasionally swing a weapon and kill stuff, pickup an egg when i walk past. cool. thrilling. fun...

this game seems more about exploiting glitches than enthralling play.

[Twinkies]

It didn't take me much time to realize that placing an egg in a 1x1 box, sealing it, allows the hen to grow perfectly inside. Once I grasped this concept, it was time to construct the hen house! Two hens, positioned side by side in crystal boxes with the bottoms removed, each situated above a pit about 10 meters deep. It was remarkably straightforward, almost irresistibly so.