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[Foxite]

I just picked up DF again yesterday after doing other stuff for a while and noticed that, in my new fort, there were feather tree egg yolks, for trade with the elves, on my side. This is strange because my fort is not in a good biome, leave alone has feather trees, and I do not know of a way to seperate the yolk of an egg. I thought the elves may have gifted them to me, but they were on my side of the trade as soon as I opened up the trade menu, and I never heard of other civs gifting you stuff. I also checked if they were foreign-made, but they weren't, which points at that my civ made them. I am also 99.99% sure that they were not there when I embarked.

Again, I thought of them gifting them to me, but the item was not in parentheses in the z-stocks menu, so it was made by my civ, not even my parent civ.

Anyone have an idea of where they came from?

[Sizik]

Might have been brought as food on embark?

[Foxite]

I'm pretty sure they weren't, the only food I brought with me were wolverine meat parts, alcohol, several types of seeds, and some plump helmets.

I actually thought it might have been that the elves actually brought some normal feather tree eggs with them, and when they dropped them off at the depot, they broke. I don't know if they're supposed to be added to the depot as a trading item when that happens, and it beats me where the shell and the white might have gone.

[Eldin00]

I've seen this happen quite a few times, and I think there has even been a forum thread or two about it. When I find them, it's always at my trade depot, and it's always after elven merchants have begun unloading their goods.

My theory is this: The elves bring feather tree eggs to trade, and due to some bug, the eggs break upon being unloaded. The yolks are created when the eggs break, and since they were created in your fortress, you own them.

[Dirst]

Feather tree egss are made of a single material, which is standard egg yolk except that it is colored green.  There are no shells or eggwhites.

Egg yolks are liquid at room temperature, so the eggs are melting.

[Foxite]

Feather tree egss are made of a single material, which is standard egg yolk except that it is colored green.  There are no shells or eggwhites.

Egg yolks are liquid at room temperature, so the eggs are melting.

That sounds true. But uhm, why don't they fall off the tree then when they are created?

[Dirst]

Feather tree egss are made of a single material, which is standard egg yolk except that it is colored green.  There are no shells or eggwhites.

Egg yolks are liquid at room temperature, so the eggs are melting.

That sounds true. But uhm, why don't they fall off the tree then when they are created?

The game doesn't check temperatures on every single thing.  You can make the whole tree out of material that melts at room temperature, and it will be just fine until you chop it down (or it catches fire).  My guess is that the eggs are probably in temperature limbo while on the caravan pack animal and get checked when they are unloaded.

[Varnifane]

So there may be a reason for this other than, *shrug* "Dwarf Fortress".

[thegoatgod_pan]

I think the real question is: why are feather trees laying eggs and can these eggs ever hatch?

[Inevitability]

can these eggs ever hatch?

Nope. Though asking the modders might be worth it.

[Miuramir]

I think the real question is: why are feather trees laying eggs and can these eggs ever hatch?

My understanding is that feather trees are more bird-like than most people realize.  According to the raws they have feathers rather than leaves, and eggs rather than nuts.  The problem is that DF doesn't yet have a way of handling fruit, nuts, drupes, or many other things with multiple materials.  For a real world example, the shell and the meat of the walnut are very different; but in DF it's all one "seed" material, generally focusing on the inner (edible) part and hand-waving the shell.  Similarly, the feather tree has eggs; but since DF can't do multi-material, Toady specified the inner part for consistency. 

There's a raw comment "*** need to go w/ all egg mats when growths support it", which strongly implies that once tree growths can support multiple materials, feather tree eggs will be proper ones with shell, white, and yolk. 

Unfortunately DF also doesn't support crafting use of feathers (as padding, insulation, decor, etc.); the "feather tree down" they produce would seem to be a potentially useful material.  Why the eggs aren't edible is an interesting question; the fact that they lack EDIBLE_VERMIN as well as EDIBLE_RAW and EDIBLE_COOKED implies that by default they're full of something pretty nasty.  Random idea not currently supported by DF: in many takes on the unicorn myth, they are immune to poison.  What if the feather trees only appear in good biomes (like unicorns) is that unicorns are the only species sufficiently immune to an alkaloid poison cocktail in the eggs, and somehow assist in spreading them?  Some rare trace element needed for the eggs only found in sparkly unicorn poop, for instance? 

[Grahar]

I've seen this happen quite a few times, and I think there has even been a forum thread or two about it. When I find them, it's always at my trade depot, and it's always after elven merchants have begun unloading their goods.

I can confirm it. It is rather annoying. I have large amounts of this egg yolk, and dwarves are not hauling it, I cannot use it, neither can I sell it.