Eggs

[Mikhail Reign]

I've got a nice little chicken pen going. About a year in I noticed something weird. I'm now getting a few unfert eggs mixed in with my fert ones. I always thought that the breeding mechanic was pretty much 'if there is roosters, they are fert', so I thought it pretty strange to be finding unfert eggs.

Anyway, not a gripe, but confused as how this happens. Could it be that some of the chickens are old and that effects fertility? Could it be that the rooster was outside, while the hen is in the pen when the egg is first 'created' (both areas accessible to both animals)? Or is it just possible for eggs to be unfert when laid even when the hen was near a rooster and I just haven't noticed till now.

[skullywag]

The rooster does infact mate with the hens. Do you have more hens than he can handle now? Need to know more about the numbers here to help further.

[Mikhail Reign]

Wow. No way. Is there an animation or anything? I've never seen the chickens (or any animal for that matter) interact with each other at all, so I just assumed it was 'in the same room/area/close proximity' deal. Currently I've got 1 rooster, 15 hens.

[skullywag]

select your rooster and watch the bottom left info panel for what (or who) "hes doing"

[RickyMartini]

Believe it or not, but the roosters have a certain "limit" as to how many hens they can fertilize.

The limit itself is not a number, but the rooster needs time to fertilize the hens. He has to walk up to them and then perform the fertilization. Add to it that the rooster has to eat and sleep during the night and you'll see that it's not really possible to fertilize more than 20-30 hens per day, meaning some hens will hatch the egg without it being fertilized.

It's simply a limitation of the game mechanics.

[falcongrey]

Believe it or not, but the roosters have a certain "limit" as to how many hens they can fertilize.

It's simply a limitation of the game mechanics.

Or in this case, the 'Rooster's mechanics! 

[Barley]

Speaking of which, are unfertilized eggs a viable alternative for meat? As in, can they be used to cook fine meals as a substitute for meat?

[StorymasterQ]

Believe it or not, but the roosters have a certain "limit" as to how many hens they can fertilize.

It's simply a limitation of the game mechanics.

Or in this case, the 'Rooster's mechanics! 

Surely it should have been "cock mechanics"?

[Mikhail Reign]

Speaking of which, are unfertilized eggs a viable alternative for meat? As in, can they be used to cook fine meals as a substitute for meat?

Both types of eggs can

[forumaccount]

Believe it or not, but the roosters have a certain "limit" as to how many hens they can fertilize.

The limit itself is not a number, but the rooster needs time to fertilize the hens. He has to walk up to them and then perform the fertilization. Add to it that the rooster has to eat and sleep during the night and you'll see that it's not really possible to fertilize more than 20-30 hens per day, meaning some hens will hatch the egg without it being fertilized.

It's simply a limitation of the game mechanics.

Wow, that's great to hear. I wanted my colony to produce a mix of fert and unfert, so I was letting roosters roam for a few weeks, killing them, buying more roosters later, repeat.

In alpha 13 I think I'll try two partially-overlapping animal areas so that sometimes the rooster in area 2 is physically incapable of visiting a random portion of the hens in area 1.

[skullywag]

Its also 2 eggs per simple meal. They are very high in nutrition.

[forumaccount]

Its also 2 eggs per simple meal. They are very high in nutrition.

This is also true irl! Goats and chickens are extremely energy-efficient producers, whether you're talking dairy and wool, or just meat. I might try to mod in space goats (coast to coast) for alpha 13.

[Mikhail Reign]

Believe it or not, but the roosters have a certain "limit" as to how many hens they can fertilize.

The limit itself is not a number, but the rooster needs time to fertilize the hens. He has to walk up to them and then perform the fertilization. Add to it that the rooster has to eat and sleep during the night and you'll see that it's not really possible to fertilize more than 20-30 hens per day, meaning some hens will hatch the egg without it being fertilized.

It's simply a limitation of the game mechanics.

Wow, that's great to hear. I wanted my colony to produce a mix of fert and unfert, so I was letting roosters roam for a few weeks, killing them, buying more roosters later, repeat.

In alpha 13 I think I'll try two partially-overlapping animal areas so that sometimes the rooster in area 2 is physically incapable of visiting a random portion of the hens in area 1.

I found that 20 hens serviced by 1 rooster (in tight quarters to ensure maximum fert) will result in a little less then 1/3 of the eggs being unfert.

[StorymasterQ]

I feel that this is a good time to ejaculate my mind.

People, you're working your cocks to death here. You should let it rest, so it will rise again to its full glory.

[Mikhail Reign]

Semi related to the topic, so I decided to continue it instead of making a new one. Everyone has noticed that stacked eggs split the difference for remaining time until hatched right? I had a stack of eggs that didn't hatch until it got to the stack capacity so no new eggs could be added to bring the timer down.

Pretty crazy when like... 50 chickens all hatch at once, and then moved as one to their area, with a colonist running behind them culling them. Just looked like he was creating chickens until I realized it wasn't just one chick, but 50, all on the same tile.