Feeding goats/pigs/chickens frequency

[Philip Haycock]

How do you guys gauge when to feed your livestock?

 

If you feed them each time they empty the troughs it seems like overkill. Lately I've just been keeping an eye on their weight and feeding once in a while but if they were left for a few months with no food then is there any harm? 

[Streetwind]

Feeding keeps the animal's weight up, which influences the number of items obtained when killed. But animals only lose weight over the winter, and regain it automatically come spring... and even then only with the Harsh Winters setting enabled (IIRC). So unless you're dependant on receiving the full complement of drops from killing your animals during the winter, there's no need to worry - they'll bounce back on their own later.

Feeding also triggers breeding. If you already have enough animals and don't need more, or if the females have given birth recently and cannot become pregnant again yet, feeding them is either pointless or even counterproductive.

The only exception might be chickens, which may not lay eggs unless fed. I'm not entirely sure though, because I've never tried raising any.

Bottom line is, I never feed my livestock at all unless I want to trigger breeding, and then just enough to do that.

[Philip Haycock]

4 hours ago, Streetwind said:

Feeding keeps the animal's weight up, which influences the number of items obtained when killed. But animals only lose weight over the winter, and regain it automatically come spring... and even then only with the Harsh Winters setting enabled (IIRC). So unless you're dependant on receiving the full complement of drops from killing your animals during the winter, there's no need to worry - they'll bounce back on their own later.

Feeding also triggers breeding. If you already have enough animals and don't need more, or if the females have given birth recently and cannot become pregnant again yet, feeding them is either pointless or even counterproductive.

The only exception might be chickens, which may not lay eggs unless fed. I'm not entirely sure though, because I've never tried raising any.

Bottom line is, I never feed my livestock at all unless I want to trigger breeding, and then just enough to do that.

Makes perfect sense, thank you. 

[nacnud4]

If you do want to maintain a good weight on one of your animals throughout the winter, do you know how often you should feed them?

Also, if your animal drops weight from good to decent, can they gain weight back up to good through feeding alone or do you have to wait until spring?