Optimal Corpse-Eating

[Didact04]

Question: is it more efficient for your pet flesh-eating war monster to eat directly off of the corpse, or for the body to be chopped up?

I know having it be butchered carries a penalty for whoever did it, but as far as food values go I was curious on what would technically be the most efficient way to feed your animals after a raid.

[Praeses]

Good question, I would also like to know.

Another question, if I may be so rude to do a slight high-jack - what's the most efficient way to get nutrients out of meat for my colonists? Times are tough and they've had no choice but to start eating human meat...should I go the nutrient paste or simple meal route?

[Pickle]

I'm wondering too, especially because I'm thinking about doing a special room with a human corpses stockpile, forbidden to colonists, so that wargs will haul corpses in there and get rid of them alone. That would be awesome.

Nutrient paste is better to save food, but you'll get malus for butchering humans, eating nutrient paste, and coocked canibalism. That can destroy your colony too, with berseck crisis, blood everywhere and so xD

[ison]

I'd like to know too.

[makapse]

eating human meat means your colony is doomed any way. its a -15 mood i think for cooked meat and add a -4 for nutrient paste and the efficiency is the same like for all other foods, nutrient paste uses 6 meat for 80 or 85%? food while simple meal uses 10 for 85or 90% ? So if amount is scapce use the paste but the mood penalty will kill you either way

[Negocromn]

curious

not that it matters in my current colony as the bodies are just a supplement in my pigs diet, but still

[Rahjital]

I just did a quick test using debug mode, and the results are clear: butcher them. I had two caged wargs eat 6 bodies whole, and another two wargs eat 6 bodies-worth of meat. The meat lasted about 30% longer than the bodies alone. If you make kibble out of the meat, you can probably double that still, though I haven't tested that, and wargs won't eat it anyway.

[Tynan]

I just did a quick test using debug mode, and the results are clear: butcher them. I had two caged wargs eat 6 bodies whole, and another two wargs eat 6 bodies-worth of meat. The meat lasted about 30% longer than the bodies alone. If you make kibble out of the meat, you can probably double that still, though I haven't tested that, and wargs won't eat it anyway.

Funny that worked out just about how I'd have balanced it.

[Limdood]

I just did a quick test using debug mode, and the results are clear: butcher them. I had two caged wargs eat 6 bodies whole, and another two wargs eat 6 bodies-worth of meat. The meat lasted about 30% longer than the bodies alone. If you make kibble out of the meat, you can probably double that still, though I haven't tested that, and wargs won't eat it anyway.

Funny that worked out just about how I'd have balanced it.

Its actually a little odd...in the course of butchering any sort of corpse for consumption, there are certain to be discarded or wasted bits that wouldn't be overlooked by a scavenger in the wild. 

I would expect corpses to give MORE nutrition for that reason (but obviously can't be consumed by pawns)

[Dougalishere]

i do feel kinda sad how colonies of cannabals without the trait just all go insane inside of about a month

[StorymasterQ]

The title of this thread alone is worthy of my list. Let's see if I can get some great quotes from this.