Topic: Disturbing your Laying Hens? (Read 2462 times)

Eric Blank · « **on:** December 19, 2012, 12:29:20 am »

I've been having some trouble breeding some egg-laying species. Specifically, it appears, to me at least, that if animals are disturbed while incubating their eggs, the eggs will never hatch. I'm pretty sure they aren't just not being fertilized, purely by the sheer volume of adult males and females present; it's probably snowing spores in the males' pastures, and some eggs ARE hatching, but nowhere near as many as I'd have hoped.
I've observed that females which are never bumped off their nest boxes will successfully hatch their clutch, while females who are disturbed by any other creature occupying the tile the nest box is on will fail to incubate their clutch, and the eggs will remain there for years, sometimes, with the female never laying another clutch. I've also noticed that my animals will lay eggs again immediately after the last clutch hatches; while the offspring are still on the nest box. Which means, I believe, that second clutch of eggs is already doomed.

I'm concerned that this may be severely hampering my ability to breed egg-laying animals. Has anyone else been having trouble breeding egg layers without strictly separating those whom you want to breed into a different, otherwise-empty pasture, where they won't be disturbed?

Here are the raws for the specific creature I've been breeding;

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Like I said; I have successfully gotten some of the eggs to hatch, but far from a respectable number. I'd like to come up with a solution. Clearly, it would easily be possible to dramatically increase the number of eggs laid, but that still doesn't help the fact that so many of them never hatch.

Urist McMontros · « **Reply #1 on:** December 19, 2012, 01:44:51 am »

Can confirm. Haven't had a SINGLE clutch hatch successfully since the beginning of my fortress. Strange, considering I was able to do this without a problem in previous versions of DF.

Urist Da Vinci · « **Reply #2 on:** December 19, 2012, 01:50:51 am »

Have also not been able to hatch eggs laid by chickens that were brought with me on embark. I brought hens and roosters. I forbid the eggs after they have been laid to prevent dwarves from collecting them.

XXSockXX · « **Reply #3 on:** December 19, 2012, 05:44:49 am »

I pasture breeding birds into a separate room and then lock the door. That works. Forbidding the eggs can work too, but you have to be fast enough to do so. With tamed animals it's even worse, as they can be disturbed by animal trainers. If you lock those in they can revert to wild before the eggs hatch.

Eric Blank · « **Reply #4 on:** December 19, 2012, 10:35:05 am »

That's a problem I'm having, yeah. I've got these animals locked away in their own pasture with nest boxes, but apparently while they're waiting to lay another clutch, they disturb those females who have already laid theirs. And of coruse it's difficult to keep dwarves from disturbing them again when it comes time to get the few hatchlings out. My solution has been to tear down ALL the nest boxes and take all the eggs, then rebuild them and leave before the animals lay their next clutch, and lock them in. That way I always get a couple of them to hatch, but still not a majority, usually. I think the best I got so far was 5/9.

MasterShizzle · « **Reply #5 on:** December 19, 2012, 11:10:53 am »

Have your main egg-laying boxes in a pasture with the females, along with an "incubation chamber" of sorts for the hatchers.

Code: [Select]

#########
#N#N#N#N# <- Enclosed nest boxes
#d#d#d#d# <- Doors
#.......#
#.N.N.N.# <- General use nest boxes
#.......#
#.N.N.N.#
#.......#
#.N.N.N.#
#.......#
#.N.N.N.#
#.......#

The second one of your birds goes to an enclosed nest box, set the door to "locked" status (forbidden, tightly closed) so that nothing else gets in or out of the door. The hen will stay on the nest box, because there's nowhere else to go, and she'll remain undisturbed until her babies hatch.

I do this same setup with my turkeys, works great. Whenever I need another batch of poults all I do is lock a door and wait for them.

Urist McMontros · « **Reply #6 on:** December 19, 2012, 12:09:38 pm »

Quote from: MasterShizzle on December 19, 2012, 11:10:53 am

Have your main egg-laying boxes in a pasture with the females, along with an "incubation chamber" of sorts for the hatchers.

Code: [Select]
######### #N#N#N#N# <- Enclosed nest boxes #d#d#d#d# <- Doors #.......# #.N.N.N.# <- General use nest boxes #.......# #.N.N.N.# #.......# #.N.N.N.# #.......# #.N.N.N.# #.......#
The second one of your birds goes to an enclosed nest box, set the door to "locked" status (forbidden, tightly closed) so that nothing else gets in or out of the door. The hen will stay on the nest box, because there's nowhere else to go, and she'll remain undisturbed until her babies hatch.

I do this same setup with my turkeys, works great. Whenever I need another batch of poults all I do is lock a door and wait for them.

So the poults are going to the loo, only they're laying eggs?

Eric Blank · « **Reply #7 on:** December 19, 2012, 12:22:45 pm »

Sounds like a long damn time to be sitting on the pot, but that is an excellent solution. Thanks.

Oaktree · « **Reply #8 on:** December 19, 2012, 12:55:11 pm »

I just put a series of enclosed nest boxes next to my kitchen and have a 1x1 pasture area in the "cell" I assign a hen/egg-layer to. They sit there *all* the time. If I want to hatch a clutch I just lock the door and wait.

Aspgren · « **Reply #9 on:** December 19, 2012, 02:04:02 pm »

Quote from: XXSockXX on December 19, 2012, 05:44:49 am

I pasture breeding birds into a separate room and then lock the door. That works.

Works for me too. In my last fort I've had 4 out of 4 batches of chickens hatch. I have not tried putting breeding-ducks and breeding-hens in the same room.

flameaway · « **Reply #10 on:** December 22, 2012, 12:20:21 pm »

I have turkeys and had been having problems with them consisting hatching poults. Of course I had my nest boxes in the middle of a high traffic area.

First couple of clutches whent fine, apparently because my population was low meaning the traffic through the nest boxes wasn't enought ot disturb them. Then I went a couple of years without hatchign a poult. Annoying because I was counting on the meat and skins for leather.

So I read this thread and dug out a 5x5 room filled it full of nest boxes, put a door on it and locked it...

Within a season I had so many damned poults that it took a whole season to jam them in a cage. Not a single clutch failed to hatch.

Thanks.

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Author Topic: Disturbing your Laying Hens? (Read 2462 times)

Eric Blank

Disturbing your Laying Hens?

Urist McMontros

Re: Disturbing your Laying Hens?

Urist Da Vinci

Re: Disturbing your Laying Hens?

XXSockXX

Re: Disturbing your Laying Hens?

Eric Blank

Re: Disturbing your Laying Hens?

MasterShizzle

Re: Disturbing your Laying Hens?

Urist McMontros

Re: Disturbing your Laying Hens?

Eric Blank

Re: Disturbing your Laying Hens?

Oaktree

Re: Disturbing your Laying Hens?

Aspgren

Re: Disturbing your Laying Hens?

flameaway

Re: Disturbing your Laying Hens?