Cows eating grass?

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by caskett, Apr 19, 2016.

  1. caskett

    caskett Pangalactic Porcupine

    I've noticed that when I plant grass outside of my barn, my cows will eat it very quickly, despite the fact that they always have hay in the barn. This doesn't happen with my chickens or ducks? Is there any way around this so that I can plant grass inside my fenced barn?
     
    • Ghostly Fox

      Ghostly Fox Heliosphere

      Not really. Grass can be used either to collect as hay, or be grown in the area you put your livestock in for them to eat while outside. Fresh grass gives them more affection, and as far as I know, if they are being put out to pasture somewhere that has grass, you don't have to give them hay that day. I'm not sure if they will eat grass if you have already fed them hay, but I wouldn't be surprised if they did- so as far as I know, you can't have livestock in reach of grass without them eating it.
       
      • Ambaaargh

        Ambaaargh Hard-To-Destroy Reptile

        In theory the chicken and ducks are eating grass...but each chicken/duck/coop animal only eats a half grass while the barn animals (cow/sheep/pig) will eat a whole grass square....which causes the grass to deplete faster on their end. But yeah, like Ghostly said, if they eat grass for the day their affection will raise faster and they dont actually eat hay for the day.

        Usually for my farms I try to leave a bit of a field and keep my animals in barn/coop for the first few days of spring to let the grass and stuff get a bit of a headstart.
         
        • caskett

          caskett Pangalactic Porcupine

          Good to know, thanks guys!
           
          • Ghostly Fox

            Ghostly Fox Heliosphere

            Glad to help.
             
            • Omnislash024

              Omnislash024 Big Damn Hero

              I know for a fact my birds eat up the grass, since I keep the coop and the field fenced in. Now usually, they will eat the grass closest to the entrance. If you have alot of animals, you're gonna want a large field, so they don't eat up all the grass. If you feel it's starting to become slim pickings, a few grass starters don't hurt. If you feel they're eating it way too fast though, make the field bigger.
               
              • KKGB

                KKGB Space Penguin Leader

                i rotate which grass fields my animals graze in, so if one field is getting low, i close it off and let it regrow
                 
                • PiperNuthatch

                  PiperNuthatch Space Hobo

                  You could put lightning rods over grass so they can't eat the grass under the lightning rods, making it so it just keeps growing without being depleted.
                   

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