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[wuphonsreach]

So, I have a rather difficult noble who likes to change their mind about what exports are and are not allowed right before the caravan leaves the map.  As a result, they ordered 15-20 dwarves to be chained up for anywhere from 30-800 days.

Since I had a lot of exceptional gold chain in the melt pile from training up a smith, I created (2) rows of chains (c), with food (F) stockpiles along the outside and drink (D) stockpiles up the middle.

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FFFFFFFFFF
ccccccccccc
DDDDDDDDDDD
ccccccccccc
FFFFFFFFFF
The theory was that the 20 dwarves chained in a line would be able to reach food / drink and take care of themselves during their long incarceration.

That's not happening.  They're all thirsty / hungry and my nurses aren't able to keep them fed/watered.  I've lost 3-4 to dehydration so far.

Is our understanding incorrect?  Will chained up dwarves not eat / drink by themselves, even if food/drink is within reach?

[Hyndis]

Do not rely on other dwarves feeding them. Build your cells so prisoners will take care of themselves.
 
Build a prison cell like this:
 

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XXXXX
XJJJX
D.#.X
XJJJX
XXXXX
 
X = wall
D = door
J = chain used for justice, 6 prisoners per cell
# = floor grate over drinkable water
. = stockpile that accepts edible raw plants (ie, plump helmets)
 
Dwarves in prison will be able to chat with other prisoners and get happy thoughts from making friends and chatting with friends. They will also have unlimited supplies of plump helmets and water. This is of course assuming you can grow enough plump helmets to supply the prison cells, but plump helmets are never in short supply.
 
At no point will a dwarf ever die of hunger or thirst, nor will they be unhappy while in prison. Often times my prisoners are ecstatic while in prison due to being so social with other prisoners, which is odd, but the dwarves seem to enjoy it.

[wuphonsreach]

Well that's the problem, they're not eating/drinking by themselves.  Even though there is a food/drink stockpile within 1 tile of the chain.

[Hyndis]

Are the stockpiles actually full? If you have stockpiles but they're empty, that won't work.

Reason why I prefer plain water through a grate (so no one can drown) and plump helmets is that its trivial to ensure an effectively infinite supply of both.

[Sutremaine]

What are the exact stockpile settings, and is there another stockpile that takes empty barrels or pots?

[wuphonsreach]

You may be onto something.  While the drink stockpile is setup correctly (and pulls from a nearby drink stockpile), and even though it shows that there are pots/barrels in it, all of the pots/barrels have been drunk dry and not replaced.

None of the (still sane) ones are hungry, so maybe they are eating from the food stockpiles (prepared food only, no barrels) which do have food.

My usual setup is a 3x3 cell, fully engraved.  Masterwork metal (and decorated if possible) chain in the center with bed, chair, table.  Then a 2-tile food and 2-tile drink stockpile.  Which leaves 1 open square for something like a statue.  This was a panic setup because of the 20 dwarves being convicted all at the same time.