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[OluapPlayer]

Breeding egg-laying animals is somewhat unintuitive in the current version of the game, especially for new players. To make things flow more naturally, I think nest boxes could use a toggle similar to that found in coffins.

My thought is to have nest boxes have a "Y or N" toggle that reads along the lines of "Harvest eggs automatically", set to Y by default. Setting it to N would make it so dwarves will no longer haul any eggs laid in that specific nest box, avoiding the hassle of having to navigate menus to manually forbid eggs every time you want them to hatch. This streamlines and automates the process for the player, while opening up the possibility of things like planning specific nest boxes specifically for breeding poultry, if they feel the desire to do so.

[Doorkeeper]

+1, this is something I wanted for a long time too. It would be kinda like setting hives un-harvestable so that the colony can be used for splitting.

This should be able to be set from the (q) 'Set Building Tasks/Prefs' option, like all other buildings.

Another useful option would be the ability to assign a nest box to a specific egg-laying animal, so that only the assigned animal can use the nest box...and maybe, an option to assign on a creature-level as well, ex. a chicken nest box that any chicken can use. This would prevent unwanted animals from claiming and occupying a nest box.

[FantasticDorf]

+1 Probably nessescary, its so janky a fresh-green player isn't going to understand the forbid button's nuances without a good amount of playtime, you get bombarded by questions broadly related to it on the discord.

Also door pathing is a enormous issue with nestboxes being unrestricted to any animal wanting to claim a nestbox in the fort over distance (if you do something similar to what i do and keep them in compact rooms), perhaps it could be tied back into the big meta-discussion on the FotF thread about nestboxes being zone based or least have more UI.

[Uthimienure]

+1  been wanting long time

[SixOfSpades]

Instead of a simple [Y/N] toggle, a better option would be to allow the user to set a limit on harvesting. Each nest box would have a "Remain" setting, ranging from 0 through 9, plus a final value of "all". Setting it to 0 would be the equivalent of [Y], allowing all eggs to be collected, and setting it to "all" would prevent collection. The intermediate values would be a compromise: Setting the value to 1, for instance, would mean dwarves would collect all the eggs in that box except the last one, meaning each egg-layer gets to raise 1 offspring per generation and your breeding stock will slowly increase.

[Mobbstar]

+1, but it'd be interesting to generally have the ability of "locking" containers including nest boxes, display cases, workshops, etc.

[callisto8413]

+1  Been using doors and just locking Dwarves out of the pens but sometimes I have mixed birds some of which I want to bred and some of which I don't so this would be easier.

[Moeteru]

Instead of a simple [Y/N] toggle, a better option would be to allow the user to set a limit on harvesting. Each nest box would have a "Remain" setting, ranging from 0 through 9, plus a final value of "all". Setting it to 0 would be the equivalent of [Y], allowing all eggs to be collected, and setting it to "all" would prevent collection. The intermediate values would be a compromise: Setting the value to 1, for instance, would mean dwarves would collect all the eggs in that box except the last one, meaning each egg-layer gets to raise 1 offspring per generation and your breeding stock will slowly increase.

This is a really good idea. The only thing I'd add is that regardless of the setting unfertilised eggs should be collected, possibly after some delay, otherwise nest boxes could end up being blocked indefinitely.
Maybe there should also be a note explaining this behaviour on the same screen so that new players aren't confused.

[SixOfSpades]

The only thing I'd add is that regardless of the setting unfertilised eggs should be collected, possibly after some delay

Are unfertilized eggs even in the game? (I haven't actually played in some time.)

[Mobbstar]

Are unfertilized eggs even in the game? (I haven't actually played in some time.)

Yes, egg-layers can lay eggs even if they aren't (or in case of mods are biologically incapable of being) fertilised. Unfertilised eggs are indistinguishable from fertilised ones, but will never hatch. I believe the mother will brood them until she dies, or until either the eggs or the mother are removed.

[FantasticDorf]

Are unfertilized eggs even in the game? (I haven't actually played in some time.)

Yes, egg-layers can lay eggs even if they aren't (or in case of mods are biologically incapable of being) fertilised. Unfertilised eggs are indistinguishable from fertilised ones, but will never hatch. I believe the mother will brood them until she dies, or until either the eggs or the mother are removed.

Hence farmers keep roosters around to stud hens with when they need to pump up numbers or keep them away, sight of the rooster makes the chicken expectant but for the farmers benefit this event rarely comes. Its probably not game-realistic, which players simply have the benefit of the doubt or a subsection of modded eggs (the famous spider silk-egg mod for instance) but until toady mods in a distinction it simply persists for the purposes of convenience.

Like how milk is made more effieciently for calves instead of culminating in the cow like a byproduct of the resource as presented in-game.