Animals Feeding

[ESOS]

If you put your animals such as chickens, rabbits, sheeps, cows, alpacas outside they will find and eat by themselves right? do you still have to add foods inside the hen or barn?

[Justin]

Yes but they must be out for 4 hrs for it to count

[Freya]

there are grasses at the southern part of your farm. This still counts as ''fodder'' for them right? Or do the animals have to be near it to count? Distance doesnt count?

[Justin]

Originally posted by Freya:

there are grasses at the southern part of your farm. This still counts as ''fodder'' for them right? Or do the animals have to be near it to count? Distance doesnt count?

They just have to be outside for 4 hrs.

[Maplewood]

Unless this remake changed it, you need to plant fodder grass for Barn animals to eat. Coop animals will feed themselves.

Do not leave them out when it is not Sunny weather or they will get upset.

[ESOS]

Originally posted by Dawn:

Unless this remake changed it, you need to plant fodder grass for Barn animals to eat. Coop animals will feed themselves.

Do not leave them out when it is not Sunny weather or they will get upset.

Ops I didn't pay attention to the weather, I always let them out everyday unless it's raining lol
I've been let them out without food inside their house for 14 days now and they still have no ♥️, is it that hard or I did something wrong? I guess I'm gonna have a trouble winning chicken festival lol 😅
From now on I'll just put their food inside their houses and won't let them out again lol 😅

I let them out first in the morning so I'm pretty sure it's more than 4 hours outside their houses because I always finish my day around 6 PM

[Maplewood]

Originally posted by ESOS:

Originally posted by Dawn:

Unless this remake changed it, you need to plant fodder grass for Barn animals to eat. Coop animals will feed themselves.

Do not leave them out when it is not Sunny weather or they will get upset.

Ops I didn't pay attention to the weather, I always let them out everyday unless it's raining lol
I've been let them out without food inside their house for 14 days now and they still have no ♥️, is it that hard or I did something wrong? I guess I'm gonna have a trouble winning chicken festival lol 😅
From now on I'll just put their food inside their houses and won't let them out again lol 😅

I let them out first in the morning so I'm pretty sure it's more than 4 hours outside their houses because I always finish my day around 6 PM

In my experience it is relatively easy to gain affection with animals in most of these games. However, if you leave them out in the rain, snow, or in storms, they will not be happy.

The main benefit to outdoor time is the prize of Perfect produce. This comes from an animal who would give you Large produce, who has won a festival, and has spent many hours outdoors.

Once you have an animal who produces Perfect produce, they have a small chance - less than 1% - of giving X produce. This will be necessary if you wish to marry the Goddess or Kappa, as you will need to acquire at least X Wool and X Yarn this way; the others you can cook using each of the previous ingredients, e.g. Milk (S) + Milk (M) + Milk (L) + Milk (G) + Milk (P) = Milk (X)

If you're not pursuing a "perfect farm" or trying to marry a deity, then I don't find there to be much benefit to letting animals graze. Unless you're just trying to save on fodder. That's also useful.

[Justin]

I don't think it's possible to leave animals outside. They will automatically return home at 8pm, even if you do nothing. I don't think they'll even leave during inclement weather.

You can also hand-feed animals fodder to improve their relationship values and get them producing better quality items sooner.

[Maplewood]

Just tested it on my Switch; that is correct, animals will not exit the barn if you ring the bell while it is raining. Additionally, the ability to push them out of the barn manually has either been removed or simply does not work during rainy days.

Interesting that they removed this part of the game, but I suppose it's one of the quality of life updates.

ESOS's lack of relationship with their animals is likely due to not feeding them for 14 days, then...

[MetalGearOpz87]

Originally posted by Dawn:

Unless this remake changed it, you need to plant fodder grass for Barn animals to eat. Coop animals will feed themselves.

Do not leave them out when it is not Sunny weather or they will get upset.

lol Are you serious? Must be a new thing, because I didn't have that problem with the original Friends of Mineral Town. I would get plat produce from my animals leaving them out on sunny days. I was wondering why their affection levels haven't gotten up as quickly as they used to.

[Maplewood]

Originally posted by MetalGearOpz87:

lol Are you serious? Must be a new thing, because I didn't have that problem with the original Friends of Mineral Town. I would get plat produce from my animals leaving them out on sunny days. I was wondering why their affection levels haven't gotten up as quickly as they used to.

Yes, I am serious. It is well documented that animals have a chance to become unhappy when not fed. In the GBA original, Cows & Sheep do not feed themselves, and must be fed with planted Grass.

I mentioned that the remake may have changed this, but that I am not certain of this.

[MetalGearOpz87]

Yes, you always have to feed them with grass. Still true for this remake. I just didn't know about how sunny weather can affect the chicken's affection. As I said, I don't think was a problem with the original. By the end of the year, their affection would max out. Not the case here. lol

[Maplewood]

Originally posted by MetalGearOpz87:

Yes, you always have to feed them with grass. Still true for this remake. I just didn't know about how sunny weather can affect the chicken's affection. As I said, I don't think was a problem with the original. By the end of the year, their affection would max out. Not the case here. lol

I'm sorry, there appears to have been a misunderstanding. It's not that Sunny weather is an issue for this, but rather that non-Sunny weather is an issue.

In the GBA games, leaving animals outside during Rainy or Snowy weather could cause them to become Unhappy the same as not feeding them. This is not an issue in the remake, as you cannot make your animals go outside during these weather types.

In both the GBA games and the remake, Inclement weather - the kind which keeps you indoors - prevents you from feeding your animals, and as such has the same effect as not feeding them that day since you are forced to stay inside and go to bed, advancing to the next day.

While I could be wrong, to my memory affection is gained based on interactions made with each animal. Petting, milking / shearing, brushing, and feeding all grant affection. This has always made chickens the hardest to get affection out of, as you can only pet them and feed them, compared to cows and sheep which have an additional action set.

When an animal is Unhappy, as described above, it does not gain affection from being Pet, and it cannot be Milked or Sheared. Thus, it cannot gain Affection that day unless Brushing makes it happy again. That said, I do not know how much of this is the same in the remake. I do not remember the last time I had an animal go Unhappy while playing.

Taking an animal outside supposedly also granted them affection, but I am not certain of this; it may have just been for getting higher-quality products after winning a festival.