Rimworld How To Feed Penned Animals

Feeding penned animals in RimWorld is an essential part of managing a successful colony. Proper animal care impacts your colony’s food supply, resource production, and overall efficiency. Whether you have livestock for food, wool, or transport, keeping them well-fed ensures their health and productivity. Understanding the best ways to feed penned animals, including what to feed them and how to automate the process, can save you valuable time and resources, making your colony thrive in the challenging RimWorld environment.

Understanding Animal Feeding Mechanics in RimWorld

Animals in RimWorld require regular feeding to maintain their health and happiness. When animals are penned or kept in a designated area, they lose access to natural grazing and must be provided with food by your colonists. Failure to feed animals can lead to starvation, illness, and even death, which affects your colony’s economy and survival chances.

Types of Food for Penned Animals

Not all animals eat the same food, so knowing their dietary needs is crucial. In RimWorld, animals generally fall into three dietary categories:

• Herbivores: Eat grass, hay, or plant matter. Examples include cows, muffalos, and alpacas.
• Carnivores: Eat meat. Examples include wolves and bears.
• Omnivores: Eat both plants and meat. Examples include pigs and boars.

For penned animals, herbivores primarily need hay or fresh grass cut from your fields, while carnivores require meat or raw meat products. Omnivores can eat both types, but feeding carnivores raw meat is generally more efficient.

Why Feeding Penned Animals Matters

Proper feeding leads to healthy animals that produce resources such as milk, wool, and eggs more efficiently. Fed animals also grow faster and breed more reliably, which is vital for expanding your livestock population. Conversely, underfed animals can develop negative mood effects, diseases, and reduced productivity.

How to Feed Penned Animals Effectively

Feeding penned animals requires planning and automation to minimize micromanagement. RimWorld offers several tools and strategies to help colonists feed animals regularly and efficiently.

Building a Pen or Animal Area

Start by designating a specific area or building a pen where animals will be kept. This controlled space prevents animals from wandering off and makes feeding more manageable. Constructing animal sleeping spots and fences helps keep them contained and safe.

Stockpiling Hay and Other Animal Food

To feed herbivores, create a stockpile for hay, which is dried grass collected during the growing season. Harvest grass using colonists with a scythe and store it in a stockpile close to the animal pen. This reduces travel time for colonists when feeding animals.

For carnivores, maintain a stockpile of raw meat or animal corpses near their pen. This ensures your colonists have easy access to feed carnivorous animals.

Assigning Feeding Tasks

Colonists automatically take care of feeding penned animals if you have the Patient animal management system enabled. This system triggers feeding jobs when animals are hungry and cannot graze naturally. Make sure you have colonists with appropriate priorities set for hauling and animal care.

To optimize feeding, assign colonists with high animal handling skills. Skilled handlers work faster and are more efficient at feeding and managing livestock.

Using Animal Zones

Animal zones define where your animals can roam and graze. When animals are penned in a restricted zone with no access to natural grass, colonists must feed them hay or other food manually. Ensure the zone is set correctly to prevent animals from starving outside pens.

Automating Animal Feeding

Automation reduces the time you spend managing your animals and keeps your colony running smoothly. Here are ways to automate feeding in RimWorld:

Prioritize Stockpiles and Hauling

Place hay and meat stockpiles near the animal pens and set high priority for hauling jobs. This ensures colonists quickly move food to feeding areas. The closer the food, the faster feeding occurs.

Use Feeding Troughs

While RimWorld does not have a built-in feeding trough item by default, some mods introduce troughs that hold food automatically, simplifying feeding. Installing such mods can significantly reduce micromanagement.

Optimize Work Priorities

Adjust work priorities so specific colonists focus on animal care and hauling food. This division of labor increases efficiency and ensures feeding jobs are done promptly.

Growing and Harvesting Grass

To sustain a continuous supply of hay, dedicate fields for grass cultivation. Regularly harvest grass with a scythe during growing seasons to replenish your hay stockpile. This strategy provides a renewable food source for herbivores, reducing dependency on trading or wild foraging.

Common Challenges and Solutions in Feeding Penned Animals

Feeding penned animals may pose challenges, especially in harsh environments or during winter. Here are common issues and how to address them:

Food Shortages During Winter

Grass does not grow in winter, causing hay shortages. To prepare, harvest and stockpile sufficient hay during warmer months. Trading with other factions for animal feed is another solution if your reserves run low.

Animal Hunger and Starvation

Animals can become hungry if colonists are busy or if food is far away. Regularly monitor animal needs via the animal tab, and increase hauling priority or assign more colonists to animal care to prevent starvation.

Animal Health and Mood Issues

Starvation causes health and mood penalties in animals, leading to poor productivity. Maintain feeding schedules, and treat sick animals promptly with medical care to keep your livestock healthy.

Tips for Efficient Animal Feeding in RimWorld

• Keep food stockpiles near animal pens to reduce hauling time.
• Assign animal care to colonists with high animal handling skills.
• Plan ahead for seasonal changes to ensure food availability year-round.
• Use animal zones carefully to control grazing and feeding behavior.
• Consider installing mods that improve animal feeding mechanics if desired.

Feeding penned animals in RimWorld is a vital part of colony management that affects animal health, productivity, and your overall success. By understanding animal dietary needs, organizing food supplies, and automating feeding tasks, you can efficiently care for your livestock even in challenging conditions. Proper animal feeding strategies not only keep your animals healthy but also ensure a steady supply of valuable resources like meat, milk, and wool. With careful planning and attention, your colony’s penned animals will thrive and contribute greatly to your settlement’s growth and prosperity.