So my general idea is to make a job, which requries the animal handler and the growers to work together for a common goal, which would be fertiliser!
The way it would work is that the animal handlers would collect the poop from your tamed animals and leave them in your stockpiles. It should be very ugly and I think it should deteriorate/spoil over time.
The growers should then be able to spread the poop on growing fields, and that way make the soil richer.
There should be research that would allow for a workbench where you can make more advanced fertiliser.
The workbench should be operated by the growers or researchers. (Maybe even add a new skill for working with chemicals?)
I suggest these fertilisers:
Poop, fertiliser, upgraded fertiliser (please find new names)
These fertilisers should work as such:
poop should give 10% richer soil.
fertiliser should give 15% richer soil.
upgraded fertiliser should give 20% richer soild.
Ammount of fertiliser needed per square should be 5 units.
Animals should give off different ammount of poop compared to their size fx:
Cat = 1-3 units
Dog (york terrier) = 1-3 units
Dog (Husky) = 4-7 units
Muffalo = 10-17 units
Different idea :
Have the Manure used to create dirt soil.
As someone whom colony is a cold desert with barely any farmable land, I would gladly like to create some. Even if it take a loooot of Manure per square meter.
Uhh.. How about this:
Set a number of attributes to scale with the skill of the colonist an animal is assigned to.
Reduced filth, increased wool/milk yield, maybe reduced chance to scar from injuries. This gives handlers a dedicated caretaking role. Even with just small bonuses, this makes shepherding a viable and potentially valuable option.
If you REALLY want to amp it up: Set animals to flee from hunting predators (toward the handler) and have handlers actively retrieve food for pregnant pets before they starve.
Efficiency + Less micromanagement = Get a good handler if you want to run a farm.
Quote from: Kegereneku on April 20, 2016, 02:58:39 PM
Different idea :
Have the Manure used to create dirt soil.
As someone whom colony is a cold desert with barely any farmable land, I would gladly like to create some. Even if it take a loooot of Manure per square meter.
That is a great idea. Especially for deserts or ice sheets where there is hardly any workable soil. Maybe for balancing we can have it only give a 90% growth rate.