v0.31 Talk:Milk

How To Milk

I can't seem to milk correctly. The dorfs'll milk, but they won't haul the buckets of milk anywhere, and just leave them in the workshop.

??? Mr. Anonymous, You're forgetting to have a stockpile with barrels available for the milk to be relocated to. I have fixed this on the milking page. Also, it appears that Dwarven Milk is gone. --The Architect 23:21, 8 April 2010 (UTC)

I think they will also put buckets of milk on piles. It might have to be in a barrel to be used in cooking though. In any case, having the notorious 1 empty barrel on a food stockpile works. Dwarven milk is still in the lists, but obviously you need to have those maggots available. Why should it be gone? --Confused 12:50, 11 April 2010 (UTC)

Perhaps he is referring to the fact that the home civilisation can be without dwarven milk.

Bug Template

This page is short enough that it doesnt need the known bugs tag.--Mrdudeguy 06:33, 11 April 2010 (UTC)

The buggy template is for all features that have bugs. Just because the article is short doesn't mean you should remove the buggy template. Garanis 13:16, 11 April 2010 (UTC)

This is not a bug, it is expected behaviour. If anything, it is the old bug related to handling animals. It also does not disrupt the game in any way. --Confused 13:56, 11 April 2010 (UTC)

Ok, but the way it is written it sounds like a bug. It should be rewritten.Garanis 14:30, 11 April 2010 (UTC)

Milking Schedule

Anyone figured out yet how often creatures can be milked? I'm doing some experiments but I keep forgetting my milking schedule to get any reliable results. --Amade 22:20, 13 April 2010 (UTC)

I'd go with "pretty often" ;) I have.. 9 suitable females and with a dedicated competent+ milker haven't yet got a cancel message, even before with maybe half that number. --Birthright 04:04, 15 April 2010 (UTC)

Well, with three milkable animals (cow, horse, donkey), I set my farm to repeatedly milk, and it cancelled that after milking them all. Then, I set a job in the manager to milk one animal, and it got fulfilled... um, eleven days later. So... say, milked twice a month? Could be different for different animals... 70.72.143.53 11:30, 15 April 2010 (UTC)

The second post is rather worthless information, given that we don't know how much time the milker spends doing other jobs. The animals and buckets could also be distant from the workshop, or any number of other things. I think it's given that a milker working nonstop in a well-organized fortress will go through a dozen or more animals a month, so I would assume we can scrap that info. The info from the third poster is better (we now know an animal can probably be milked twice within 11 days), but still entirely inconclusive. The rate jobs are fulfilled depends on the rate at which the manager signs off on them (information we were not given).The Architect 03:25, 19 April 2010 (UTC)

You're making quite a few assumptions there, Architect, and needlessly criticising people rather than trying to provide anything that helps. How about you get your finger out your ass and contribute something instead? But if you just want to criticise, then here you go. Brand new fort with a proficient milker and just one female cow. I've made a farmer's workshop and placed a furniture stockpile right beside it and a 3x3 meeting area (where the milker and the cow will linger after dismantling the wagon) two tiles away from the workshop. Therefore, everything I need is right beside the workshop and there's no wasted time (and because I still only have seven dwarves, my manager doesn't need an office and tasks are sorted out without waiting for them to faff around in an office for a couple of days); to add to this, all hauling/cleaning duties have been disabled on the milker so he's not wasting time carrying a bucket from the workshop to the stockpile after every failed job attempt. It took a few days for me to get things sorted, but I eventually got the manager to assign 5 milking jobs. The first was completed on 10th of Granite. The second was completed on 1st of Slate. The third was completed on 20th of Slate. The fourth was completed on the 12th of Felsite. The fifth was completed on the 1st of Hematite. This test has enough samples to take into account short delays for eating/drinking/sleeping, but results are fairly consistent - the milker was attempting to milk the cow about once every two days and was successful after 18-20 days. It's believed that a day lasts 1,200 ticks and cows have the tag [MILKABLE:LOCAL_CREATURE_MAT:MILK:20000]. 20,000 ticks is just under 17 days...so, on a hunch I've edited the raws changing that 20000 to 5000, then started a new game with the same setup as above. Cow was first milked on Granite 4th, and then again on Granite 10th. So there you go, the cow can be milked after 20,000 ticks, which is roughly 17 days. -- Pushy 12:16, 29 April 2010 (UTC)

Well your attitude sucks, but at least you've got the info we needed. Thanks. The Architect 17:28, 1 May 2010 (UTC)

Cages

The comment that an animal in a cage can be milked left me with some questions. Perhaps we should clarify:

• Does milking an animal in a cage remove it from the cage?

Yes. The dwarf with the task assigned will go to the cage with the animal and take it to the farmers workshop. Otherwise the farmer er.. Dwarf will have to wander around to find the animal.

• • If so, is it automatically returned afterward? (Is this related to the tug of war issue?)

Sometimes. I haven't done it recently (.03-on) but in that version there was a bug which prevented the animal from being re-caged sometimes. Often the dwarf would put the animal back in the cage.

• • If not, is it milked at the cage, or is the cage carried to the workshop?
• Are there any restrictions on the cage needing to be constructed or non-constructed?

Unconstructed cages are simply stockpile items. Usually cages have to be constructed before animals can be loaded into them. I would assume this is true for milking as well.

• What happens if there are several milkable animals in the same cage?

Probably chooses one randomly.--Kwieland 19:45, 23 June 2010 (UTC)

Masennus 18:13, 23 June 2010 (UTC)

I'm working on setting up a milking station. It will take a while for it to be fully functional as I only have one cow currently. The plan is to have a dedicated farmer's workshop with a 1x1 room with a cage full of various milkable creatures adjacent to it. I'll watch it to see if animals are returned automatically, and if the milker returns them. Let me know if there's anything else I should test.--Masennus 20:01, 23 June 2010 (UTC)

I'd put the cage right next to the "chain" in the farmers workshop (lower right?), as that is where the animals are chained to while being milked. Or maybe it was another corner? You could see for sure if it is a particular place they are milked.--Kwieland 01:48, 24 June 2010 (UTC)