I know if there is "grass" in front of the coop or barn, the animals will eat that instead of hay and get a mood boost. Does that only refer to the kind of grass you can plant with grass starter in farmable land, or does the grass in forage areas (say on the forest farm map) qualify for this as well?
Thanks. I suspected that. I do see some information about "grass feeders" where people put a fence post over a grass starter so the grass can spread but the starter can't be eaten. After winter, can you plant a new starter there or do you have to remove/replace the fence?
A quick test in my own save seems to show you cannot plant grass on an occupied square with a fence post or lightning rod (which was how I was shown the feeder trick, using lightning rods) already in place. You will have to pop the fence post or rod up and then replace it after planting grass.
I tried using this in a rather small enclosure that had cows and chickens. While it kept the starter from being eaten, I actually ran into a problem where the posts were in the main animal tracking lanes for when they would try to get back into the barn and coop at night. It was funny seeing a chicken just keep walking back and forth between two posts until midnight. I had to actually walk into it to 'bump' it off it's track and keep bumping it to steer it to the coop door. Just something to keep in mind so your animals don't get stuck outside at night and possibly eaten by wolves, if, like me, you don't bother closing the doors at night so you don't check them every night before going to bed. Another option I read (but haven't tried), is, if the animals are stuck like that, move to a different map then back to your farm and they should be in their proper home for the night.
PSA, grass starter will also not spread if planted on grass like the patch above the central pond on the forest map. It has to be placed on tillable soil. Most people probably know this already, but I spent my first couple years definitely not knowing it and wasting a lot of money.
This works best if you're off the map when the clock hits 5. If you leave after they've started to shuffle inside sometimes they're still there when you come back. I've had animals pace back and forth even with nothing obstructing their path. Sometimes so bad they'd even do it after I pushed them into the doorway. Seems to happen more when they stray really far from their home barn/coop.
I had a cow fall asleep outside and I had to keep bumping it over and over before it finally 'woke up' and made its way back into the barn. Shoulda let the wolves have it... haha
True fact that I might have possibly just made up! The 'wolves' are really just the feral roaming packs of Joja employees that lurk in the crevices of the valley! They feed upon wayward livestock, and lose many cans of Joja Cola and their eyeglasses into the rivers and ponds! On nights when the moon is a silver eye, they can be seen howling upon the mountainside, and it's those nights that Linus huddles in his tent and chants words of protection until the welcome return of daylight...
As long as you leave the barn door open the game skips the random animal attack check. It only occurs if an animal is "locked" outside.
I was under the impression that leaving the door open overnight had a negative impact on their overall mood-- they didn't like the draft or the chill from the outside. Now, I've only ever kept a few coop-animals so I've never had the barns full of livestock that others have tried, so, perhaps this isn't the case...
I've heard leaving the doors open affects mood as well. I'm very diligent with my livestock care, I think I've maybe accidentally left the doors open once or twice ever. Its harder to track them down for petting and milking when they're running all over the yard, but maybe that's more of an issue when you keep LOTS of animals (as I tend to do lol).
Open or closed has no effect on mood or friendship. Sleeping outside or being outside past 7:00pm will absolutely destroy their mood though. I do like to close the doors but thats because having a lot of animals wandering around outside before you pet and milk/shear them is a nightmare to get sorted out.
All those broken CDs are the result of Sebastian's unquenchable thirst for throwing various things as hard as possible against the mountain face.
Something I didn't learn until I started my second game. I used to diligently lock the coop door at night so I could pet them before they left in the morning. I also got annoyed at how, even when they were let outside every day, they got through my hay at an amazing rate. Well I discovered that if the door is left open overnight then they don't eat the hay. But if you shut it, it must make the check for if there's grass available before you get up and let them out and then they eat the hay. Now I only use up hay on rainy days and in Winter. I just have to find my chickens in the morning.