[18.1722] Caravan animals prioratising food to eat in an undesirable order

[Calahan]

This bug report is based on comments in the A18 feedback thread about how caravan animals are currently (as of 18.1722 it seems) eating food in an order that is undesirable from the player's perspective. There was a previous bug report posted about this, and was fixed for A18. I do not know if this is a new bug, or a variation/reoccurrence of the previous bug: Which can be found here for reference: https://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=33073.0

Here are the relevant parts of the post from the A18 thread (I've quoted the posts rather than move them here as the posts are also part feedback as well).

Unfortunately there still doesn't seem to be a way of prioritising food while travelling; your animals will eat fine meals (as opposed to grazing/hunting while your pawns will not eat the food that is likely to spoil quickest

On a related note, why will tame non-grazing animals (dogs, wolves etc) not hunt the local vermin?

[Calahan]

@ All - Does anyone has any more information about this bug? And specifically whether caravan animals will eat hay and/or kibble and/or raw food before eating meals.

[BlackSmokeDMax]

They will also eat your quest cargo as well. Meaning if you are hauling crops for a quest, the animals will eat them, possibly making your whole trip worthless. Some way of locking down cargo against consumption would be very welcome. (Bonus points for being able to change your mind in case of emergency!)

[Dashthechinchilla]

In my experience, grazing animals like muffalos basically have zero food requirements. I have not paid attention while crossing barren biomes like desert. The only animals you have to worry about eating your food is carnivores, like bears and warg.

As far as priority, I thought they ate in order of spoilage. They do seem to skip incomplete portions until all food is gone through. So like those potatoes your colonists were carrying when they started packing will still be there if there is not enough for a full meal.