Hay strategy

[PookieDoodle]

Ok, with the addition of new farm animals I went a little overboard. I've got two big barns and one big coop. They're all packed. I tried to plan ahead with seeding and growing more fiber for hay, but it's the second week of Winter and I'm already out. Can anyone offer some advice on how to prepare better with a large herd of farm animals? It seems like all I do is search for fiber. And I HATE buying hay from Marnie. It's not even about the money. It's her attitude. She's always going on about how much she loves animals, then she's never at her farm so you can buy stuff to take care of yours. But that's another topic.

 

[Ereo]

Buy the grass at the shop. At least a quarter of my farm is grass. I plant 30-50 grass starters on the last day of winter. Every time the grass is fully grown, I thin it out with the normal scythe. When the silo is full, I empty it completely and put the hay in a chest. I now have more hay than my animals can ever eat. Depending on the space and your animals, you might need to replant at some point during the year. If you put some fenceposts in the grass, the animals can't eat that und you have a permanent starter.

 

[PookieDoodle]

Buy the grass at the shop. At least a quarter of my farm is grass. I plant 30-50 grass starters on the last day of winter. Every time the grass is fully grown, I thin it out with the normal scythe. When the silo is full, I empty it completely and put the hay in a chest. I now have more hay than my animals can ever eat. Depending on the space and your animals, you might need to replant at some point during the year. If you put some fenceposts in the grass, the animals can't eat that und you have a permanent starter.

I got a little out of my comfort zone this year, but I hate to sell animals. I will dedicate some of my land to growing grass. Thanks for the great advice!

 

[CDoggy]

I agree with Ereo, I just empty my silo when it gets full then I just refill it.

 

[Worblehat]

Seems like having multiple silos would be the obvious solution. Each silo can support 240/28 animals for the duration of winter. You probably want a bit of a buffer in case of rain at the end of fall and/or beginning of spring, so call it eight animals per silo. You have 36 animals, so you'd want five silos.

 

[Lew Zealand]

I do exactly as Ereo says though I have 3 Silos for 2 full animal structures: 1 Barn and 1 Coop. The 720 total Hay gets me through the Winter with about 100 Hay to spare, so do as Worblehat says - get 5 Silos and dedicate a lot of your Farm space to grass growing. And on Fall 28, use the Golden Scythe to clear your farm completely out as that gets you a lot of Hay to fill that last Silo.

Plus, the Golden Scythe with a Skull Shirt, Black Beanie and Black Pants makes you look like Gangsta Death for the Stardew Valley Spirit's Eve Costume Party that evening.

Edit, I tried this out and I think the Skeleton Shirt and Black Simple Dress is actually better as it more completely projects the threat of Golden Death swooshing down upon unwary partygoers. 'Cuz my arm blocks out the skull:

Could take the Moon Boots off next time but they kinda match my eyes and hair, so that's a no-go. And taking the pic on the Beach suggests that I should be playing chess with Max Von Sydow.

Trying the Black Long Dress next.

Edit 2: thwarted! No Sunflowers to make the dress and it's still spring for another few days. This is the penalty for marrying Haley as Sunflowers are her cheap Loved gift and I'm too lazy to go all the way to the Desert to get more Coconuts.

 

[Anhaga]

I'm a third for the "multiple silos" strategy--I usually have 2-3 silos for 1 coop and 1 barn (each fully upgraded). Silos don't take up too much space, so it's not hard to fit more than one.

 

[Elenna101]

I agree with the multiple silos, mostly because if/when you upgrade to a deluxe coop or barn, you get an autofeeder which automatically puts the hay in for you, and then you can't withdraw it anymore. Which can be an issue for the "get one silo and take out the hay when it's full" strategy.

 

[imnvs]

My beach farm, I have two barns and 1 coop, all of them full. I can confirm that 5 silos full at the end of Fall will guarantee you make it through the Winter without having to buy hay. If you go to the showcase and take a look at my Amethyst's Purple farm you can see how much open space I have in the most recent screenies, and just know that all of that open space has grass growing in it when it isn't Winter. The animals rarely get past the statues, too. To make sure everything is full up by the end of Fall you'll want to do as Ereo suggested, occasionally thinning it out with the scythe (and I use the golden scythe as you get more hay from it), then letting all the holes you punched in it have a chance to grow back before doing it again. Do this all year long and you should be able to fill all 5 silos without a problem by the end of Fall. I don't bother pulling hay out of the silos. I also save all the hay that I get in the mail or that I get from festivals, and that's sitting in a chest as an "emergency backup" in case I'm not able to fill the silos by the end of Fall.

 

[CryogenCrystals]

Yep, multiple silos works well, even for a noob player such as myself. I too clear a fair bit of land, plant grass all over when winter turns to spring. I too only partially clear the farm land grass so that it grows back faster, seems to work well. I do this all spring and summer to fill my silos. I don't have nearly as many animals as some though and am just starting out, finally on my "third year" in-game.

I also rotate my grazing fields in spring and summer so they never run out of grass lol. So while the barn animals are eating one field, the other is growing back, then I rotate.

 

[PookieDoodle]

Robin's building me another silo and I've got some fiber growing. Great idea about rotating the grazing fields!

 

[PookieDoodle]

Yep, multiple silos works well, even for a noob player such as myself. I too clear a fair bit of land, plant grass all over when winter turns to spring. I too only partially clear the farm land grass so that it grows back faster, seems to work well. I do this all spring and summer to fill my silos. I don't have nearly as many animals as some though and am just starting out, finally on my "third year" in-game.

I also rotate my grazing fields in spring and summer so they never run out of grass lol. So while the barn animals are eating one field, the other is growing back, then I rotate and never run out of grass.

Awesome fence set up you've got. Thanks for posting the pic.

 

[Ereo]

I agree with the multiple silos, mostly because if/when you upgrade to a deluxe coop or barn, you get an autofeeder which automatically puts the hay in for you, and then you can't withdraw it anymore. Which can be an issue for the "get one silo and take out the hay when it's full" strategy.

I don't like the look of silos, so I usually build less than I need.
A cherry bomb placed next to the feeding bench destroys a couple of the hay in it, and then you can take it as much as you want.

 

[imnvs]

Robin's building me another silo and I've got some fiber growing. Great idea about rotating the grazing fields!

I prefer the method where you put something down on top of the grass so the animals can not eat from that location, allowing grass to spread out from there nightly, ensuring there will always be some.

A cherry bomb placed next to the feeding bench destroys a couple of the hay in it, and then you can take it as much as you want.

Explosive ammo may be a bit less destructive and accomplish the same thing. It's also cheaper.

 

[Ereo]

Explosive ammo may be a bit less destructive and accomplish the same thing. It's also cheaper.

I don't keep machines in the barn (don't set off a bomb next to your cheese makers!) and the cherry bomb gets two hay if placed right.
Ammo might be cheaper if you make them, but I usually have some cherry bombs around (you know, for normal reasons. Like my spouse giving me one for breakfast, or someone mailing me a gift. And then, there's always monster loot). And I never use them for mining.

I have to admit I have ignored the slingshot since I got it, so that is definitely worth a thought if you're out of bombs.

 

[imnvs]

I have to admit I have ignored the slingshot since I got it, so that is definitely worth a thought if you're out of bombs.

It's not just a "out of bombs" thing, though. See, the slingshot with explosive ammo... that's about the only way I use the slingshot. You don't want to be near an explosion, so let's be honest, shooting explosions at a distance is just about perfect. It can be a lot quicker than planting bombs. Yes, for large groups of rocks you need a bigger explosion, but you can find and be gifted those bombs that make bigger explosions. For small groups of rocks, though, near walls or other obstructions? Or when you're actually hunting monsters and there's a monster on the other side of the rock? I mean, you don't want to walk up and use the pickaxe, unleashing the monster on yourself right there. Running up and planting a bomb works... or you just stand back, not even approaching, and you shoot the monster with the explosive ammo. It does some damage and it blows up all the rocks in your way too.

 

[Elenna101]

I don't like the look of silos, so I usually build less than I need.
A cherry bomb placed next to the feeding bench destroys a couple of the hay in it, and then you can take it as much as you want.

Huh. Good to know!

 

[Mukaofssn]

Ok, with the addition of new farm animals I went a little overboard. I've got two big barns and one big coop. They're all packed. I tried to plan ahead with seeding and growing more fiber for hay, but it's the second week of Winter and I'm already out. Can anyone offer some advice on how to prepare better with a large herd of farm animals? It seems like all I do is search for fiber. And I HATE buying hay from Marnie. It's not even about the money. It's her attitude. She's always going on about how much she loves animals, then she's never at her farm so you can buy stuff to take care of yours. But that's another topic.

Guess one you start clearing more trees, the grass starts proliferating well during the warmer seasons. Having two silos is a good idea and you can keep removing some grass using the scythe. BTW, You can find lot of fibers in the mines.

 

[LRangerR]

The "hay chest" that ereo spoke of is definitely a valid solution, but only as a poor-man's silo. But, silos are so ridiculously cheap that the only reason you should ever be using that strategy is if you don't have enough clay or something (which does happen). So yeah, multiple silos and plenty of grass, like most everyone else said, is my opinion here.

 

[Rhiannon]

I also use the silos, growing fields and fresh grass rotation feed system. Works out really well and I never have to buy hay. I get a lot of free hay as gifts so I keep that as my emergency backup but so far haven't needed it.