Food and Ranching
The food chains and critter ranches that feed a colony. From Mealwood and a Musher through farm tiles to Hatch, Drecko, and Pip setups.
At a glance
| Purpose | Feed the colony, and turn critters into renewable resources |
| Solves | The food crisis, and later the coal, plastic, and reed fiber supply |
| Dupe need | 1000 kcal per cycle each (game-defined) |
| Early answer | Mealwood plus a Microbe Musher |
| Long answer | Farm tiles, cooking, and ranches feeding renewable loops |
Food chain, early to mid
- Mealwood. Hardy early crop, grows into Meal Lice. Feed it to a Microbe Musher for basic rations.
- Farm Tiles. Piped irrigation and fertilizer, and critter-edible. Move here off Planter Boxes as you scale.
- Cooking. Cooking kills germs on food and raises food quality and morale. Route food through a kitchen, kept away from toilet output.
- Better crops. Bristle Blossom (wants light and clean water), Sleet Wheat (cold biome), Pincha Pepperplant (hot, needs Phosphorite), Nosh Sprout (Rust biome, CO2 atmosphere, makes Tofu), and Mushroom (grows in CO2 and dark).
Each crop wants a specific temperature, pressure, and irrigation. Mismatch any and it stops growing or wilts.
Ranching basics
- Groom a wild critter two days running to tame it.
- Eggs hatch in about 20 cycles, or roughly 4 in an Incubator.
- Stables cap around 8 critters. Overcrowding gives a debuff.
Key ranches
| Critter | Eats | Gives |
|---|---|---|
| Hatch | Rock | Coal (about half the eaten mass) plus meat |
| Drecko | Mealwood (grows in oxygen) | Reed Fiber when sheared in a Hydrogen room |
| Glossy Drecko | Mealwood | Plastic when sheared in a Hydrogen room |
| Pip | Plants seeds into farm tiles | Renewable wild crops without irrigation overhead |
| Pacu | Algae and more | Meat and eggs (retuned down in the Aquatic pack) |
| Shove Vole | Regolith | Meat |
Do this in order
- Plant Mealwood and build a Microbe Musher to stop the starvation clock.
- Add Farm Tiles and a kitchen, and cook food to kill germs and raise morale.
- Start a Hatch ranch for renewable coal and meat.
- Build a Drecko ranch (hydrogen on top, oxygen below, or use suits) for Reed Fiber and Plastic.
- Use Pips to plant wild crops in tight spots for low-overhead food.
Watch out for
- Keep the kitchen away from toilet output, or Food Poisoning multiplies on food and water.
- The Drecko ranch is the classic stratified build: their food grows in oxygen, but they need hydrogen to be sheared, so the room layers hydrogen over oxygen.
- Do not over-print dupes. More mouths mean more food, and the crisis returns.
Related
Food is crisis three on the crisis order cheatsheet. Ranch outputs feed power (coal) and building chains. Plastic and coal both tie into the heat and gas systems in heat management and plumbing and gas.